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Seven - New Line Platinum Series

Seven - New Line Platinum Series

List Price: $26.99
Your Price: $20.24
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Better the 2nd time around
Review: First and foremost the original release of this movie on DVD was awful. There were no extras anywhere to be found AND you had to flip the disc. It did not come on one side as is the standard for most movies now. This release pays for all of the previous mistakes by adding commentary by Pitt, Freeman, and Director Fincher. Those who like the extras, as I do, will easily enjoy the deleted scenes. Fincher also reveals an original ending done in storyboard fashion that would have greatly changed the way that the movie is perceived. That you are going to have to see for yourself.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Not with all the bells and whistles
Review: OK, let's get it out of the way, this new edition of SEVEN DVD is a superb package in its own right. Its AC3/DTS-ES anamorphic double-layer presentation with custom-made stereo tracks is just pure AV geek paradise and the imaginative graphic design is state-of-the-art grunge chic. But the external cardboard mini-slipcase is cheapo stuff. With all the ecstatic raves we hear on the net about the transfer, I still see some NTSC artifacting (esp. in an external scene where our killer gets out of a cab at a police station..look them bricks!). Some of the priceless outtakes with Blondie Boy Pitt blowing his lines (available only in Criterion's superb CAV LD platters..remember those?) are not to be found anywhere on these discs (easter egg?). As are the numerous cool TV spots. Then again, the behind-the-scene featurette where they show a color correction process is fascinating stuff.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Se7en - Top notch movie on a top notch platinum dvd
Review: Se7en is an incredibly powerful, high-quality movie and there are already plenty of terrific reviews on this site to draw upon.

I've owned the VHS version of Se7en for years and have been waiting a long time to add this to my DVD collection. The platinum DVD release is just icing on the cake, quality+. I've owned it for a week now and wish I could rate this 6 out of 5 stars. Hats off to the crew that re-mastered this for the home theater. Folks, this is a must-own, period!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: good movie for horror and mystery fans alike
Review: This was a very good movie at first I thought it was just going to be on of those dumb horror movies trying to copy silence of the lambs but it is so much better than that it starts out by leaving you hanging and keeeps you hanging on the edge of you r seat to the stunning conclusion see this movie peace out

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Seeing Is Believing
Review: The only sin one can committ is if you do not buy this movie. It is a modern classic that gives us thrills and chills through the entire 127 minutes. Never once do you sit there bored to death because the story is moving too slow. The movie follows Detective Mills (Brad Pitt) and Detective Somerset (Morgan Freeman). Somerset is retiring and Mills is taking his place. That is before a serial killer going by the name of John Doe (Kevin Spacey) strikes and begins his masterpiece of murders using the seven deadly sins. I would have to say that this is one of the best movies ever made. David Fincher continues his absolutely brilliant directing career as well. This DVD offers some of the best extras ever. With multiple commentaries with the actors, director, producer, sound. Also included are quite a few deleted scenes that add to the background of the story, plus two deleted endings to boot. If you get the chance, I highly recommend you to pick this disturbing film up.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Chilling Movie, Overrated Package
Review: Since I am one of many who believes Silence of the Lambs is the nadir of its genre, I can't give Se7en five stars. I can't fault its performances, but the story, though inventive, is not all that complex, and there are a few convenient (Morgan just happens to have a buddy in the "Bureau") plot devices that seem dubious to me. It's not flawless, but neither is Lambs.

I love Morgan Freeman, and while I'm not all that impressed by Brad Pitt, I sure seem to have a lot of his movies.

The packaging of the new release is clever and artsy, but the content of the extras disk is really not that impressive. I haven't listened to the audio tracks yet, but the supplemental disk touts uncut and extended takes, alternate endings, blah blah blah, but none of these is very different from the final version, and they're not really worth watching for subtle differences. I'd have preferred a lame Making Of documentary, or interviews, or even a bloopers reel.

Buy this only to have a good edition of a very good movie, but don't expect good frills on the second disk.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: I still love the movie but . . .
Review: In 1995 David Fincher unleashed SE7EN upon unsuspecting audiences. The movie was dark, grim, and unrelenting: An instant masterpiece, and for audiences in the know it presented a challenge in theater selection. Prestige theaters, in select cities only were given master prints processed through the Silver Retention process (CCE) which in which the silver leached out during processing the negative is rebonded to the final master. (only a couple hundred of the 2,500 prints released underwent this process). David Fincher and his Cinematographer Darius Khondji intentionally chose this process to enhance the contrast levels and also allow the film world to bleed into our own. In his words "I didn't want to see the frame around the screen"

In 1996 The Criterion Collection releases it's 4 disc, (7 sides) boxed edition of SE7EN amidst some of the most outstanding laserdiscs ever produced (Brazil, Dead Ringers etc.). The Criterion SE7EN used a pristine CCE print to pull their master off of and was so exacting that the box actually included set-up instructions for your TV/Monitor to get best results, which had the pleasant side-effect of making all other videos look better too. Additionally Ken Klyce (Sound designer) returned to remaster the film to optimize it for home theater viewing. Criterion's SE7EN was packed to the brim with extras and supplemental material and is without a doubt one of the best laserdiscs ever produced. Critics however note that the print is somewhat grainy and unstable, artifacts of the CCE process which David Fincher noted on his subsequent "The Game" laserdisc commentary, were somewhat intentional and present because he likes to push the print as far as it can possibly go.

In 2000 New Line Home Video releases it's Platinum Series DVD of SE7EN. The new DVD promises even more bonuses and an even newer re-master of the film and audio masters to take advantage of even newer technology. However here a major change in philosophy seems to have occurred, one which commentary on the DVD acknowledges and which film-bufs have been observing for some time with concern. Rather than going to a pristine CCE print for it's video transfer, New Line went back to a master negative and digitally altered it to approximate a final CCE print. While this has resulted in a DVD print that is cleaner, more consistent and less grainy there has been a significant cost. The overall color tone, and contrast levels of the film are wildly different from the vision created by Fincher in 1995 and the clarity of the picture (or rather the apparent lack of it) no longer as clearly paralells the murky moral tone of the film. It is significant to note that high contrast, and grain are things which DVD does poorly. On the audio side changes have also been made. The audio is again richer and cleaner, and gives better emphasis to the dialogue. Environmental effects and ambient sound have however been mixed down both in tone and volume and as a result no longer has the same kind of visceral psycho-acoustic impact that it used to have (rain effects in the gluttony crime scene in particular spring to mind).

What we have here is a different bird from what Fincher hatched in 1995; one that may in many respects be more palatable and comfortable for the home theater audience (The DVD audience to be precise) but regardless it is a bird which was born beautiful, elegant and stunning and has had it's DNA noticeably tinkered with. Yes the rough bits and minor flaws have been shed but so finely balanced was the creation that it was those very bits which gave the film it's primacy, strength and impact. Ultimately the 1996 Criterion Laserdisc remains the definitive presentation of this masterpiece.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: "SE7EN" Reasons to buy this DVD...
Review: I thought this movie was incredible the first time I saw it - I love films that DON'T end the way you expect them to, that don't follow the safe and true path, so if you don't already own the videotape or the original DVD release, that alone is a great reason to buy (or at least rent) this new DVD.

We'll start off there...

1. It's simply a great movie. A modern classic. The screenplay is just brilliant. The characters are developed and complex. Screenwriter Walker hit upon a great idea and ran with it. (And I am bitterly jealous.) Even if New Line were able to get away with making it into just another cheesy cop flick, the idea would have been intriguing. Walker went the extra mile, though, and pushed himself to try new twists and turns. Kudos to him and directory David Fincher, Brad Pitt, Morgan Freeman and everyone else who pushed to keep the plot's integrity. The acting is superbe, Gweneth Paltrow is a true angel and Kevin Spacey (yes, lovably average-looking Kevin Spacey from "American Beauty") just resonates with evil.

2. It's not just my assumption that New Line tried to "emsculate" (my word) the "SE7EN" script; it's on the record now with the "Stars" commentary track. It's never been easy to get a movie made when it cuts against the grain (just ask Terry Gilliam). Studio suits are notorious whimps when it comes to trying out new stuff, as Fincher, Pitt and Freeman attest to. Though the suits may not think so, I think the director and actors are being nice - they don't name so many names. But they do talk about the battle with the studio to keep the picture from being watered down and turned into just another blasé film version of a TV cop show. Plus you get to feel like one of their buds as they talk fairly candidly about what was going on during production, their thoughts and feelings about the story, etc. It is particularly interesting to list to Morgan Freeman analyse his character's psyche and hear how he came to certain acting choices - a gem for other actors. The "Stars" audio track is often quite funny, too, as with Fincher and Pitt's observations about how the dead GLUTTONY guy was "enhanced" (again my word) to recompense the actor for having enduring hours of make-up and playing a stiff.

3. Speaking of commentaries, the "Sound" commentary track with Fincher, Author Richard Dyer, composer Howard Shore and sound designer Ren Klyce is an enlightening treat, one I've never experienced before (though I don't own every DVD out there). They explain the complex process of applying the different continuous sounds of the city and music in a digestible fashion. It'a fascinating, too, to watch the movie with the background noise brought to the fore and the dialogue and up-front sound effects cut out. Very surreal.

And tying into that...

4. The sound has been remixed for the home theater, and it will blow you away. There's background noise everywhere, just like in a real city. It's crisp, it's clear, it's there in your face (or rather your ear, if you prefer). Why, their creation is alive! It's aliiiiive!

5. The "Story" commentary track with Fincher, Dyer, screenwriter Andrew Kevin Walker, editor Richard Francis-Bruce and New Line production president Michael De Luca breaks the story down piece by piece. This track alone should be a film school student's dream come true; it dissects the movie nearly scene by scene. Wannabe screenwriters and movie directors should listen to this track over and over again.

6. The picture quality on this new DVD cannot be overstated. It has been transferred from the original negative and it is simply sumptuous. It's not a post card, mind you, and it's not meant to be, but it no longer has that "ER" faded feeling to it, either. For example, the all important color RED really JUMPS OUT out at you from the darkness now, adding to the creepiness of the moment. When something is supposed to be disgusting, again like the dead GLUTTONY guy, it is. It's just so real and vivid, like you're there in the moment. It's unlikely that many movies will ever get the loving treatment "SE7EN" has received for this new DVD release, and it's a shame. This makes those movies that have been rushed out onto DVD to make a quick buck (and there are plenty of them) look that much crappier. (Ever see "Splash" on DVD?) That's why people who love movies, and not greedy MBA schmucks, should run movie studios.

7. Although I've watched the movie's original opening (I think they could have kept it in, but with the new vibrating title sequence), there's still a ton of stuff on the second supplemental DVD I haven't yet had time to explore. I have the "Fight Club" DVD, though, and even though that's a different studio (Fox), I am confident that David Fincher will not let me down, so my 7th reason for getting this DVD two-pack is all the fun exploring all the extra stuff, such as extended scenes, the fourth "Picture" commentary track, and veiwing the dead GLUTTONY guy frame by agonizing frame. (If that's your thing, Sicko.)

This film may actually convince me to put off my mother's heart transplant so I can buy a DVD-ROM.

(Shut up, Mom! No one lives forever! Geez.)

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Interesting Sermon
Review: This movie is surely an interesting sermon on why the seven deadly sins are so deadly. This movie does exactly what the killer wants, to preach a sermon on the 7 deadly sins. The plot in this movie is very original, and the ending is IMPOSSIBLE to figure out. You think you have it figured out, but you do not until the very end. My only problem is that it takes a second to figure out what the 7th sin commited at the end is, so if you missed the lecture on what the 7 sins are, study the box cover for a few minutes.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Possibly one of the best of our time and a "New Classic"
Review: This is one of the best movies ever made. The plot is rock solid and moves forward at a pace that keeps the viewer guessing, however slow enough to keep the viewer wondering. Morgan Freeman delivers an excellent prerformance as the calm cop looking to retirement. His performance is an excellent contrast to Brad Pitt's strong preformance of an over zealous detective looking to establish a reputation in his new environment. Kevin Spacey brings the manipuative John Doe to life. No collection is complete without this one.


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