Seven (Single Disc Edition) Reviews

• This Masterpiece is More Than Just a "Thriller"

  
  By AU5SQBPSNOIM on 2000-12-06
  There is a hidden message in Se7en. Screenwriter Andrew Kevin Walker sarcastically labeled Se7en as his "loveletter to New York City."

  Sadly mistaken for simply "just-another-horror-flick," Se7en has been done a grave dishonor by the majority of the viewing public who neither have the empathy nor the intuition to understand the deep message it carries. Comparing this poetic and cautionary masterpiece to "The Silence of the Lambs" is a terrible misconception. The Silence of the Lambs was an excellent film about the innerworkings of investigative profiling and the psychopathic personality (although only partly represented and definitely not generalizable to the psychopathic population of today) through Dr. Hannibal Lecter. Se7en on the surface may seem similar - a film consisting of a plot about two cops "hunting" down a "mad" (another misconception) psychopathic serial killer.

  However, under the skin, these two films are entirely different in contextual substance.

  In The Silence of the Lambs, the plot is as deep as it goes. The relationships and interactions between the characters are the core of the story. Sentiments are decided based on the events that occur in result of another's actions. That is as deep as it goes.

  Rather than being "plot-based" entertainment, the themes in Se7en are theological, philosophical, moral, and cultural. The entire film is based around the dialogue between Somerset (Morgan Freeman) and Mills (very well-portrayed by Brad Pitt), and the philosophy and motivation behind John Doe (Kevin Spacey in his best performance). Within the film is the continuing philosophical dialogue between Mills and Somerset, two contrasting characters that happen to be working on the same side. Mills' nature is impulsive, passionate, yet plagued with inexperience and naivete, while Somerset is weathered, subdued, with polished character, lore, logic and practicality, with a touch of lost hope. Neither men are able to get much anywhere with the investigation (at least without a little bribery - another testament to why this movie is NOT about investigative profiling or techniques), as Somerset replied to Mills when Mills asked him what 'they were really doing if they weren't investigating,' "just picking up the pieces."

  It is the weakness of Mills that leads him to be devoured by the wrath of John Doe in the end, a man, neither psychotic or equivalent to the Devil (yet seemingly so), but calculate, methodical, and patient. On the same token, it is Somerset's experience and venerability that keeps him from being targeted by Doe.

  "If we caught John Doe and he were the devil, if he were actually satan, that might live up to our expectations. But, this is not the devil. It's just a man," admonishes Somerset.

  One of the most haunting ironies I find in Walker's script well portrayed by Fincher's cast is the uncanny similarities between John Doe, the antagonist and Somerset, the protagonist. If you watch that one scene in the car, you will realize that Somerset agrees with Doe, yet although realizing that their consensus does not justify Doe's irrational, yet seemingly rational killings. With Doe's philosophy explaining his intolerance for the prevalence and trivialization of the deadly sins, Somerset's continuous argument that we are becoming too apathetic of a society, only motivated by such things such as our temptations and self-indulgence, there is admittedly a strong parallex that exists between the two characters. Yet, they stand opposed to one another, because while Somerset, although discouraged, managed to keep his faith in mankind, Doe did not, and could not tolerate the injustice any longer.

  With the current decline in the immaterial and spiritual life, and the ascending obsessional mindset of psychological egoism, existentialism, atheism, and hedonism, there is no message needed more than the one represented in this fine film by Fincher. We as a people must return back to faith, lest we become tyrants and slaves to our sins that will devour us in the end.

  "You see a deadly sin on almost every street corner, and in every home, literally. And we tolerate it. Because it's common, it seems trivial, and we tolerate it, all day long, morning, noon and night. Not anymore. I'm setting the example, and it's going to be puzzled over and studied and followed, from now on." - John Doe, Se7en.
  
  

• DOUBLE DVD - Excellent Package of a Great Film

  
  By A3RB00R6GOWEK2 on 2000-12-04
  SE7EN - Can anything more be said about what a great film this is???? Well, now, YES because New Line's new Double DVD is a fantastic package and a MUST for any fan of the film. The film has once again been remastered from the original film elements and it has never looked better -- even better than the old Criterion laserdisc. Colors, shadowings, sound, contrast have all been adjusted for optimum effect (one of the extras on disc 2 shows the before-and-after on several scenes). Just check out the green lamps in that library scene - WOW! The film is on Disc 1 and there are 4 separate commentary tracks...the most interesting one in my opinion is Track 2 which discusses the genesis of the project from script, to selling it to a studio and the fight to retain the original ending. Fincher is always interesting, but hearing Andrew Kevin Walker discuss his inspiration for writing the script and the struggles to get it made is even more fascinating. The voice behind one of the most original screenplays in years is pure genius. "Extras"-filled Disc 2 features deleted scenes (including the original opening)...most of which are just slightly extended scenes from the film (you see more of "Pride", etc.). There is also an alternate cut of the ending with different shots that was test-screened to an audience plus a storyboard of a different ending that was never shot. All of these come with or without commentary. An analysis of the opening credit sequence offers different angles and commentaries on 3 variants of the sequence. There are still galleries with commentaries by the photographers. Yes, "Sloth" victim's decay is included in the photos (unfortunately, not as clearly as it was presented on the Criterion LD) as well as John Doe's notebooks and lair. There is only one theatrical trailer (where are all the tv spots, etc. that were on the LD?????) and a short EPK. There are also some DVD-rom features on both discs (script-to-scene, etc.) to round it all out.

  Only downside is that a lot of the extras on the Criterion LD are NOT INCLUDED HERE in any form. Although Criterion holds the rights to their original commentary track (Featuring Fincher, Pitt, Freeman, Rob Bottin , Walker, etc) and some other extras, surely NEW LINE owns the rights to the tv spots and other such promo materials. Where, for instance, is the great gallery of original artwork and poster concepts that so playfully used the number 7 or the sins as the backdrop???? New Line created these so why aren't they included here? The Criterion disc also had out-takes and many other things not included here, so don't ever toss that disc out! It's sure to be valuable some day. And with this DVD, which also includes items NOT on the Criterion LD, they combine to make the ultimate "SE7EN" collection.
  
  

• Let he who is without sin try to survive.

  
  By A1YEGVH2JJUQ8B on 2000-06-14
  Seven is a very disturbing thriller about a serial killer,John Doe(Kevin Spacey), killing people via examples of the seven deadly sins - gluttony, greed, sloth, lust, pride, envy and wrath. The story begins with Detective Mills (Brad Pitt) being assigned to Detective Somerset (Morgan Freeman). Detective Somerset is due to retire at the end of the week, and Detective Mills is moving up in the world, and is to take Somerset's place. This is a very disturbing movie. It will keep you enthralled and glued to your seat for the entire 127 minutes. Indeed, I was staggered that I never once lost concentration or was bored with this movie.This is a movie with an unexpected ending that is absolutely unpredictable and which is not at all a "Hollywood" style ending.

  The disc itself. The movie is presented in its origianl form, 2.35:1 aspect ratio, letterboxed not Anamorphic.The picture is dark in itself however the detail is quite good and crisp with very few problems (odd shimmer effect in certain scenes). The sound is recorded in Dolby Digital 5.1 which has no audio sync problems and the use of the surround mainly during rain sequences adding tone. The track was bass heavy in spots and gave the .1 channel a working. There is a small section of extras , a 6 min featurette, production notes and Star bios. My only complaint is this disc however a FLIPPER, yes it is on 2 sides!, split after the conversation between Morgan freeman and Gweneth Paltrow in the coffee shop. Just as suspense is building the film requires a turn over. Please note film distrubutors this is annoying and in the age of DVD unnecessary.I hope that the film is re-released as a dual layered film and includes some of the extras from the Lasedisc version.

  All said and done the film is one of the best, along with Silence of the Lambs, in its genre and the disc even with its faults is a qaulity purchase.
  
  

• Septenary of Horror.

  
  By A3D6TFYRMIV3ZL on 2004-05-30
  "At first sin is a stranger in the soul; then it becomes a guest; and when we are habituated to it, it becomes as if the master of the house." - Tolstoy.
  
  Although not originating from the bible, the concept of deadly sins is almost as old as Christian doctrine itself. Theologians like 4th century Greek monk Evagrius of Pontus first compiled catalogues of deadly offenses against the divine order, which 6th century pope Gregory the Great consolidated into a list of seven sins, which in turn formed the basis of the works of medieval/renaissance writers like St. Thomas Aquinas ("Summa Theologiae"), Geoffrey Chaucer ("Canterbury Tales"), Christopher Marlowe ("Dr. Faustus"), Edmund Spenser ("The Faerie Queene") and Dante Alighieri ("Commedia Divina"/"Purgatorio"). And in times when the ability to read was a privilege rather than a basic skill, the depiction of sin in paintings wasn't far behind; particularly resulting from the 16th century's reformulation of church doctrine, the works of artists like Hieronymus Bosch and Pieter Bruegel the Elder brought the horrific results of humankind's penchant to indulge in vice back into general consciousness with surrealistic eloquence, reminding their viewers that no sin goes unseen (Bosch, "The Seven Deadly Sins") and that its commission leads straight into a hell reigned by gruesome, grotesque demons and devils whose sole purpose is to torture those fallen into their hands (Bosch, "The Hay-Wagon" and "The Last Judgment;" Bruegel, "The Triumph of Death" and "The Tower of Babel").
  
  More recently, the seven deadly sins have been the subject of Stephen Sondheim's play "Getting Away With Murder" and a ballet by George Balanchine ("Seven Deadly Sins"); and on the silver screen the topic has been addressed almost since the beginning of filmmaking (Cabiria [1914], Intolerance [1916]). Thus, "Se7en" builds on a solid tradition both in its own domain and in other art forms, topically as well as in its approach, denouncing society's apathy towards vice and crime. Yet - and although expressly referencing the writings of St. Thomas Aquinas, Chaucer and Dante - David Fincher's movie eschews well-trodden paths and grabs the viewer's attention from the beginning; and it does so not merely by the depiction of serial killer John Doe's (Kevin Spacey's) crimes, which could easily degenerate into a mindless bloodfest that would defeat the movie's purpose. (Not that there isn't a fair share of blood and gore on display; both visually and in the characters' dialogue regarding those details not actually shown; but Fincher uses the crimes' gruesome nature to create a sense of stark realism, rather than for shock value alone.) In addition, Doe's mindset is painstakingly presented by the opening credits' jumpy nature, his "lair"'s apocalyptic makeup and his notebooks, all of which were actually written out (at considerable expense), and whose compilation is shown underlying the credits. The movie's atmosphere of unrelenting doom is further underscored by a color scheme dominated by brown, gray and only subdued hues of other colors, and by the fact that almost every outdoors scene is set in rain. Moreover, although screenwriter Andrew Kevin Walker explains on the DVD that the story was inspired by his observations in New York (and the movie was shot partly there, partly in L.A.), it is set in a faceless, nameless city, thus emphasizing that its concern isn't a specific location but society generally.
  
  Central to the movie is the contrast between world-weary Detective Somerset (Morgan Freeman) who, while decrying the rampant occurrence of violence in society, for much of the movie seems to have resigned himself to his inability to do something meaningful about this (and therefore seems to accept apathy for himself, too, until his reluctant final turnaround), and younger Detective Mills (Brad Pitt), who fought for a reassignment to this particular location, perhaps naively expecting his contributions to actually make a difference; only to become a pawn in Doe's scheme instead and thus show that, given the right trigger, nobody is beyond temptation. As such, Somerset and Mills are not merely another incarnation of the well-known old-cop-young-cop pairing. Rather, their characters' development over the course of the film forces each viewer to examine his/her own stance towards vice.
  
  Morgan Freeman and Brad Pitt perfectly portray the two detectives; while Freeman imbues his Will Somerset with a quiet dignity, professionalism and learning, muted by profound but not yet wholly irreversible resignation, Pitt's David Mills is a brash everyman from the suburbs with an undeniable streak of prejudice, a penchant for quick judgment and a thorough lack of sophistication, both personally and culturally. Notable are also the appearances of Gwyneth Paltrow (significantly Brad Pitt's real-life girlfriend at the time) as Mills's wife Tracy and ex-marine R. Lee Ermey as the police captain. Yet, from his very first appearance onwards, this is entirely Kevin Spacey's film. Reportedly, Brad Pitt especially fought hard for his casting; and it is indeed hard to imagine "Se7en" with anybody other than the guy who, that same year, also won an Oscar for portraying devilish Keyser Soze in "The Usual Suspects": No living actor has Spacey's ability to simultaneously express spine-chilling villainy, laconic indifference and limitless superiority with merely a few gestures and vocal inflections.
  
  While "Se7en" can certainly claim the "sledgehammer" effect on its viewers sought by its fictional killer, the punishment meted out to Doe's victims - taking their perceived sins to the extreme - pales in comparison to that awaiting sinners according to medieval teachings. (Inter alia, gluttons would thus be forced to eat vermin, toads and snakes, greed-mongers put in cauldrons of boiling oil and those guilty of lust smothered in fire and brimstone.) Most serial killers have decidedly more mundane motivations than Doe. And after all, this is only a movie.
  
  Right?
  
  "Sin ... engenders vice by repetition of the same acts, [clouding the conscience and corrupting the judgment.] Thus sin tends to reproduce ... and reinforce itself, but it cannot destroy the moral sense at its root." - Catechism of the Catholic Church (1994).
  
  Also recommended:
  Getting Away With Murder
  Red Dragon (Widescreen Collector's Edition)
  The Silence of the Lambs (Two-Disc Collector's Edition)
  Cabiria
  Intolerance
  The Divine Comedy (The Inferno, The Purgatorio, and The Paradiso)
  The Canterbury Tales (Penguin Classics)
  Aquinas: Selected Writings (Penguin Classics)
  Bosch : C. 1450 1516 Between Heaven and Hell (Basic Series : Art)
  
  

• incredible acting, highly disturbing story

  
  By A2B7BUH8834Y6M on 2000-07-29
  I was in angst how to rate this film... my knee-jerk reaction was to give it 5 stars because of the realistic portrayal of a sick serial killer and the incredible acting by every member of the cast. The film was finely filmed and put together and the acting was flawless, but on the overall star meter I have to ask myself, "Would I ever recommend this film to anybody, anywhere, under any circumstances?" And the resounding answer is "No!"

  I saw it a few years ago when so many people made such a big deal on how good it was. And good it was indeed, but it has to be one of the most sick, disturbing films I have ever seen. I continued to ask myself, "Why?" Why would anyone feel compelled to make a movie like this? It offers no solutions, no social redeeming values, it doesn't educate, it just reviles and sickens and brings out the worst in humanity. I've seen some sick & twisted films before, but never have I felt so covered with mind filth as when I finished watching this horrific nightmare of a tale that is too real in light of today's violent society.

  Kevin Spacey is bone-chilling as he portrays the sick serial killer who is out to dispense judgement to those who commit the seven deadly sins. His twisted, perverted mind is very like that of a real serial killer who has their own perception of right and wrong, not realizing how deceived they've become.

  The search to find the killer keeps you on your toes, but the ending is very predictable and the movie itself is a disgusting heap of violence, blood, sinew and twisted sexual perversion. I have got images dancing around in my head since seeing this film that I can not remove. If I had known how awful this experience would have been, I would have avoided the film altogether.

  Film students and horror & mystery buffs may still enjoy it (especially if they have cast iron stomachs) and fans of Morgan Freeman and Kevin Spacey will not be let down by their masterful performances -- BUT I feel compelled to warn anyone who has yet to see this film... THINK, think very long and hard if this is a film you feel like you can not live without seeing. Frankly, I would have been better off as a human being had I not seen it, and I certainly could never watch this again. To say the least, this is not a film for kids... but in my opinion, it's not a film for people of any age.
  
  

• "SE7EN" Reasons to buy this DVD...
  By A3M4MIU0HIMUT9 on 2000-12-22
  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.)
  
  

• I still love the movie but . . .
  By A3BZTIB28MC82V on 2000-12-23
  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.
  
  

• Seven-A disturbing and entertaining DVD
  By AWFPO0SDMD4QR on 2001-01-04
  In 1995, Director David Fincher joined Morgan Freeman and Brad Pitt in
  the years most disgusting, tense and talked about films. Seven is a
  look into a persons liking for gore and blood, all done through the
  theme of the 7 deadly sins. Unlike Fight Club, another Fincher film,
  Seven was made right before the DVD format was introduced. The
  initial release of Seven on DVD was less then spectacular. The New
  Line Platinum series is visually one of the most stunning releases to
  come along in a while. Sonically, this release will surround you with
  sound elements of such clarity and depth, it may seem too real at
  times. The 2 disc package is similar to the Fight Club package. It
  has two nicely designed discs in an attractive package. The menu
  design on the discs are very impressive. What may seem confusing at
  first becomes quickly understandable and easy to navigate throughout.
  Disc 1 has the movie along with commentary by David Fincher, Morgan
  Freeman and Brad Pitt. It also has commentary by the Screenwriter,
  the Editor, a Professor of Film Studies and the new Line President of
  Production. These commentaries are very insightful, informative and
  entertaining to listen to. The scene selections are nice, shown with
  still pictures and a title of each sequence. Disc 1 also has a simple
  'color bars' setup. Picture quality of this movie is outstanding to
  say the least, especially if you compare this release with the
  previous DVD release. The original negative was used this time, and
  the darkness of this film has never looked so incredibly clear.
  Contrast and colors are beautiful...not too saturated for this type of
  film, but quite stunning. Sharpness is well executed throughout the
  film and I found it hard to see any grain or dirt on the picture.
  This is obviously a first class transfer and the anamorphic widescreen
  picture is superb. Sound quality is even more amazing. When you go
  to your setup in the menu, you have a choice of English or French
  subtitles. You also have a choice of stereo Surround Sound, Dolby EX
  Surround Sound or DTS ES Surround Sound. Whatever type of system you
  have, this film shines. If you have a surround system with a great
  subwoofer, you will not believe your ears. This film has been rebuilt
  from the ground up and remixed for DVD. Effects elements and
  atmospheric sound effects will simply blow your mind. Dialogue is
  clean and clear. The sound department responsible for this soundtrack
  should be applauded. They did a superb job. Disc 2 has a bunch of
  extras that will keep you busy for quite a while. The first extra on
  the disc is an "exploration of the opening title sequence."
  You get to choose from different angles and different audio options
  while watching this sequence. You can watch an early storyboard
  drawing of the title sequence, a rough version of the opening and the
  final version of the opening title sequence. You can choose from a
  surround mix, a Dolby EX mix that was made just for this DVD, or a
  high quality 24bit/96Khz stereo mix. It's amazing how many options
  you get to pick from just to watch something about the opening title
  sequence! You can also listen to commentary by designer Kyle Cooper
  or the Sound Engineers Brent Biles and Robert Margouleff. Wow! The
  next pick on Disc 2 is where you get to see "Deleted Scenes"
  and "Extended Takes" from the film, all with or without
  David Finchers commentary. There are seven scenes to choose from and
  are all fascinating to watch while listening to the commentary. The
  next pick on Disc 2 are the "Alternate Endings." You have
  your choice of the original "test" ending with or without
  David Finchers commentary. You also can look at an animated
  storyboard of an unshot ending. This was done really well and both
  offer subtle differences and insight into the ending that is in the
  film. Next, you can look at a bunch of Production Design stills with
  commentary. This was also done very well, considering how amazing the
  Production Design really is for this film. You next have choices of a
  bunch of other still photographs from the film, including John Doe's
  photographs, Victor's decomposition, police crime scene photographs
  and production photographs. These come all with commentary, and this
  is the first disc where I actually enjoyed still photos on a
  DVD....very well done. Another choice you have on Disc 2 is called
  'The Notebooks." This is a very informative sequence of stills
  with commentary on how those infamous notebooks were created. When
  you choose "Promotional Materials," you can watch the
  theatrical EPK or the movie trailer. As with most DVD's, you can
  choose "Filmographies" where you can see the resume's of all
  the actors and many crew members. Finally, for all you technical
  people out there, you can choose "Mastering for the Home
  Theatre." This is a fantastic look into the film to video
  transfer of Seven, as well as the color correcting, telecine, audio
  mastering and mixing of Seven for the theatre as well as the remixing
  for the DVD. All are played with scenes from the film comparing the
  last release and this release of Seven. The commentary is both
  educational and entertaining to listen to. In conclusion, Seven is a
  must have DVD. Picture quality is outstanding. Audio quality is
  fantastic, and the extras are wonderful. If you loved Seven in the
  movies, or want to replace your old DVD release with this one, buy
  Seven and prepare yourself for 2 hours of amazement. If you are a
  lover of crime thrillers then get this disc. If you enjoy Morgan
  Freeman, Brad Pitt or David Fincher then get this disc. It would be a
  sin NOT to get this DVD! Enjoy!
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• A stunning psychological thriller that you will never forget
  By AXHMUN6GC0WEH on 2005-09-11
  Wow. That's how I have to start off this review of "Seven". This is absolutely one of the most disturbing, chilling and intelligent suspense thrillers I have ever seen. A killer uses the Seven Deadly Sins as his inspiration for murder, and Brad Pitt (as the newly assigned and eager David Mills) and Morgan Freeman (the cynical veteran inner-city cop William Somerset), are the two detectives assigned to the case.
  
  Morgan, as always, is amazing in his role, one that is right up there with his performances in "Glory" and "The Shawshank Redemption". There is only one scene in which he actually smiles and laughs, but that's about it. He engrosses himself in this role and plays it with deadpan seriousness. He also muses about how society is changing and not for the better, and this is a major influence for his decision to retire from the force. Brad Pitt, who is equally as good, provides some comic relief, spouting some of the funniest quips in the movie. But you never lose sight of the fact that this is a dark, hard-edged drama with horrible things happening to the victims of "John Doe" (Kevin Spacey), the brilliantly calculating but equally insane, creepy murderer who never leaves a fingerprint behind at a crime scene (and you will go "ugh" when you find out just why that is so). He, however, always leaves a small clue at each gruesome crime scene for Somerset and Mills to find to link one victim to the next. Doe feels it's his duty to "turn the sin against the sinner". There is a method to his madness, though: He chose his victims carefully, according to the way they lived their lives. He doesn't feel that they are "victims" but people who all deserved to die, and he believes that he was the one who was "chosen" to eliminate them.
  
  "Seven" is symbolic of several things in this film: Of course, as I mentioned earlier, the Seven Deadly Sins (Gluttony, Greed, Sloth, Lust, Pride, Envy, Wrath) are the killer's inspiration; Somerset has only seven days to retirement and he was given this assignment as his final investigation; seven is the also the amount of days that transpire between the beginning and the ending of this case; and seven are the amount of victims that are at John Doe's mercy in that time span.
  
  Gwyneth Paltrow portrays Mills' wife Tracey, and there is a certain sadness to her character, something she reveals to Somerset one day while they are having breakfast in a diner. Even though her role is not one that is major throughout this movie, she is a crucial element that plays itself out in the climax of the film.
  
  One thing I've noticed that adds to the somberness of this film is that in every scene, practically every day, it is dark, dreary and raining. The last day, as a change of pace, the rain has stopped and the sun comes out. The movie's climax takes place in the desert, and what transpires between Somerset, Mills and John Doe will totally knock you out. I remember not being able to breathe during the last few minutes of "Seven" because I was literally on the edge of my seat. With great performances, a stellar script and exceptional direction, "Seven" is an excellent film that you will never forget.
  
  
• The preeminent serial killer movie
  By ABN5K7K1TM1QA on 2000-07-02
  We plummet the depths of depravity here. Arrogance never got such a cinematic comeuppance (not to mention gluttony, pride, greed and the rest of the seven deadly sins), nor was innocence ever made such an alien as in this masterpiece of monstrous intent. Morgan Freeman stars as William Somerset, a wise and modest big city homicide detective ready to retire who finds himself partnered with David Mills, an arrogant young detective effortlessly depicted by Brad Pitt. As they try to find the killer there develops between them a nice chemistry that helps to make this an engrossing movie. Kevin Spacey arrives after a bit as "John Doe," a 20th century version of a medieval scribe obsessed with sin morphed into a monster from hell. He sees himself as the personal judge, executioner and torturer extraordinaire of a vengeful god gone amuck.

  Momma, lock the doors and bar the windows. Don't let this video into your home. You'll watch it, every last minute, and your kids will watch it, several times, their eyes between their fingers, and the end result will be a cynicism about humanity so deep that it'll take the blood of the lamb to wash it clean.

  Well, that, or the realization that this is just Hollywood up to its old tricks. After all it's only a movie-or is there something more to this extraordinary commercialization of evil? One of the penetrating things about Seven is the implication that, through the Christian concept of sin and by our very nature, we ourselves create the serial killer and give him a justification to turn upon us and do his wretched deeds. The ending slyly suggests the triumph of evil; and indeed this cagey movie would be depressing beyond redemption were it not for the three things: One, the modest wisdom projected by Morgan Freeman; two, the essential innocence of Brad Pitt's character; and three, the fact that the horrible deeds are the work of only one man. Whether he is just an insane "nut-bag" as Pitt's character exclaims, or part of our nature as the film implies, is an interesting question.

  Serial killer film makers of the future will try to top this one, but I doubt if it will happen any time soon. This is already a classic. Incidentally, I do wonder about these guys (Walker and Fincher) who lie awake nights dreaming up this stuff. I hope they're only doing it for the money.

  By the way, perfect font for the credits.
  
  

• Better the 2nd time around
  By A27CX8DB1CJ9LH on 2000-12-26
  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.
  
  
• Like being stabbed in the heart with an icicle
  By A1N16ZSJ1BXJFL on 2002-08-03
  It really, truly is. There are very few movies that present this aura of hopelessness without making it too over-the-top or corny. Road To Perdition (the best film I have seen so far this year) is a movie that succeeds at this, and is one of the few that has done it since Seven.

  Instead of beating around the bush, Seven gets right into it, and introduces you to two very well-developed characters that are as different from each other as God and Satan. One is the cocky, overconfident David Mills, not so much a rookie, but definitly too young to know what he is doing (Brad Pitt in, I believe, the best performance of his career.) The other is soft-spoken, intelligent, by-the-book veteran William Sommerset, a man that has seen the ropes and knows which ones not to try and balance on. With a 400+ pound man tortured beyond anything either of them has ever witnessed, the detectives are off on the trail of a killer that is elusive, intelligent, ruthless, and, as Sommerset calls his worse characteristic "patient." The reason that this movie had such an impact with Hollywood and the general theater going public is the reason that a killer with such motives was never introduced with quite the level of ferocity. Certainly, we all have heard of Ed Gein and Jack The Ripper, both supposedly assassins of sin, but never has a character of such magnitude and with so many dimensions like John Doe been introduced. Even though Kevin Spacey's role was short lived, he deserved an Academy Award nomination for his performance. It was chilling to the point of hating it when it looked like he was looking at you.

  By the end, you are not only shocked, you are drained. When it seems that every horrible thing has happened, it just keeps getting worse. You seriously feel like you have been dried out and need water. This shows the movie's brilliance. You are drawn into the lives of characters that seem simplistic, but are developed on a very realistic level, especially Mills. The acting was excellent, the direction and set design are worthy of applause, and the script was written with power, a rarity in today's cinematic vision. You feel like these characters are people you know, and you feel for them. You laugh with them, and you certainly gasp and cry with them. This movie is one of the most amazing films ever to be produced in the last twenty years of film. David Fincher has, for the most part (with the exclusion of Alien 3 and Panic Room which both were big wastes of time) to be one of the most underappreciated and brilliant directors ever to come along. Brad Pitt is not just some pretty boy looking for the fast buck. The man knows how to act and does it very well. Morgan Freeman is impossible not to like in any role he is in and Gwyneth Paltrow's softness and beauty just make for the perfect touch to contrast with Kevin Spacey's sinister soul. This movie will always be remembered and is going to be a classic. Not so much because the content is like poetry, but because the content is real, and is something that no one ever saw before.
  
  

• What do filmmakers owe an audience?
  By A3TITHTROK18MQ on 2002-05-29
  For the entirety of this movie, the viewer is pulled down into the bleakest depths, dragged through the darkest corners of a most pitiless, murderous mind, and there -- as the closing credits roll -- we are left. Which is the most unworthy thing a filmmaker can do. I was genuinely outraged by "Seven", not because of its sadistic violence, but because it could find no cause to transform that violence into some kind of redeeming moment. In "Seven", the filmmakers do the easiest thing possible: create a fiendish murderer who kills in the most gruesome ways imaginable. That's EASY. A truly good film would have taken that premise and done something creative with it; fashioned a story that would have released the audience from its unrelentingly bleak grip with an ennobling insight, event, word, moment ... anything. As it is, this movie only seems intent on sucking the viewer as far as possible into the abyss. There's nothing remarkable about an achievement like that. In "Poetics," Aristotle discusses "catharsis" in Greek tragedy as something owed the audience by the playwright. A drama may steep an audience in cruel travail, but to be truly successful as art, the work must purge those intense audience emotions -- bring "catharsis" to the events of the drama. There is no catharsis in this movie. The only reaction left to us is anger for being so manipulated by the filmmakers.

  And it is a shame, because I thought at one point this movie had the potential for greatness (the cinematography is magnificent), difficult as it was watching and as contrived as the plotline is. Because, of course, I expected a worthy director, a worthy writer, would finally take this dark vision and transform it into light, even if just a small hint of light. That doesn't happen. As viewers, we have been exploited ... and [taken advantage of]. This isn't art. This isn't good movie making. This is profiting in meanness.
  
  

• Not worth the money
  By A3GLS7XCRY8H8E on 2000-07-10
  I don't want to comment on the movie as such, because there are enough reviews out there - just a short comment : this film is fantastic.

  The DVD on the other hand is awful. There are 2 things which I noticed once I popped open the case and threw it into the player:

  first: the movie plays over 2 sides of the DVD. You actually have to pop the DVD out at about 60 minutes into the movie, turn it over, and then you get to watch the second half. I find this annoying considering that a dual layered DVD can store 2 and more hours of video on one side...

  second: the video image is non-anamorphic widescreen. that's not really a bad thing altogether, but in this case it kills all the fun you could have watching the movie. the black letterbox bars at the top and the bottom of the image "flicker" throughout the entire movie - since the format of the visible image is 2.35:1, the black bars are rather large. The consequence is really that the entire image seems to "flicker", because the black widescreen bars are colored different shades of black 4 times a second. basically, the only way you'll get rid of this flickering effect is to turn the brightness of your TV or computer monitor down. however, considering that "Seven" is already a rather dark picture, turning down the brightness results in seeing only pitch-black. the visible image (i.e. the image "between" the letterbox bars) is really great. if the picture had been mastered anamorphic, then this would be an excellent video transfer.

  another disappointing thing is the lack of extra features. having seen the laserdisc "criterion" edition of "Seven", I find this DVD release rather insulting. The background information on the stars does not at all compensate the lack of, say, a commentary audio track, or some behind-the-scenes vignettes, or other extras (the laserdisc "criterion" edition featured hundreds of still images - like the pictures that Mills and Sommerset find along with one of the tortured victims, and other pictures from the set).

  I sincerely hope that New Line will decide to release a decent DVD some time in the future. Untill then, I suggest to keep away from this DVD - the most important argument being the poor video mastering (i.e. the flickering of the widescreen bars).
  
  

• Unfortunate - Need to flip this one...
  By on 1999-11-23
  For all people loving suspense, this is a nice addition to your collection, However, I do not like having to turn over a DVD in the middle of a movie, much less a thriller.
  
  
• Brilliant...and Disturbing.
  By A8SGLDOPCFPM3 on 2002-03-19
  I wish more movies like Se7en were made, and not because I'm into only creepy, unsettling films. Se7en simply doesn't pull any punches. The excellent characters, script, music, and atmosphere all work together to create the perfect canvas to paint this brutal tale of a serial killer that tortures and kills specific people in accordance with the seven deadly sins. Everything in Se7en has been tweaked to perfection. The movie captures your attention so completely that you can't look away, even at some of the truly morbid scenes. And let's not forget the acting! Brad Pitt, Morgan Freeman, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Kevin Spacey are all simply outstanding. Every word they utter seems real, unlike most Hollywood films where the characters are contrived and simply not believeable. The ending is shocking and depressing, more than equaling the rest of the film.

  As if Se7en wasn't awesome enough, the DVD is simply loaded!! This is one of those rare cases when a movie DESERVES to be stocked full of extras! Obviously, this movie is not for the squeamish or weak of heart, but anyone who can handle this kind of a movie will discover one of the best films of the 90's.
  
  

• welcome to the toilet
  By AI85YA6BLDGYA on 2004-06-21
  I really, really didn't like this movie. Really. It really is an affront to human dignity. Oh of course, it's super-clever, and superbly realised and quite intelligently put together and well-acted and packs a hard punch. I am not denying any of that. What I find so offensive is that this film deliberately co-opts and manipulates the viewer into identifying with and sympathising with darkness. I would almost say that the making of this film verges on being a criminal act against human decency. I am not an old, grey-haired prudish conservative. I'm young, I'm handsome, I'm pretty, I'm intelligent and as cool as they come and I have to say that this is one of the very few films I have watched that has left me feeling morally contaminated. Another reviewer who expressed similar views has received 11 unhelpful votes. I take these to mean - 'shut up and don't spoil the party for the rest of us'. You folks are at one party I don't want no piece of. Good luck to you !
  
  
• I love dark movies... I hated this.
  By A26TI9X1PXD3H2 on 2000-09-25
  If you haven't seen the movie (just don't..ok? Go buy "Peeping Tom") skip the spoiler that's coming up.

  Let me emphasize that I love dark movies. I thought "Blue Velvet" was a charge of pure energy.

  Maybe this was too realistically disgusting or maybe it was just bad. Either way, I thought it was revolting and sadistic. Even if the movie's makers are getting such a kick from torture, there should be some kind of "wink" at the audience, an acknowledgement of evil within us all, or something. Or maybe I just want a different movie because I hated this so much.

  The atmosphere was fairly well done and Kevin Spacey is Kevin Spacey, which is of course to say, he's great. He has all your attention when he's on screen. The other leads are wasted or bad. Brad was just bad. The pacing is deadly slow in places -- one can't get by on atmosphere alone.

  To add insult to injury, the instant I saw Paltrow go all pink saying she was pregnant I knew that she was a goner. The exact nature of her demise was one I couldn't have guessed..until I saw..."the package"... At that point it was all I could to stop myself from tracking Morgan Freeman down and say..."Why, Morgan, WHY were you in this gory piece of claptrap?"

  The worst sort of Hollywood nonsense -- pointlessly violent, weighed down with a smarmy self-importance and twitchy bad acting from Brad Pitt -- AND predictable.

  Avoid. I'd rate it a minus, if I had that option. (Excluding Specey.)
  
  

• A lusty good time
  By A2NC5BMF6QWC5B on 2006-04-22
  "Seven" is one of those movies I enjoyed thoroughly from start to finish. And yet I wandered around in gloom the rest of the day.
  This is a movie filled with vivid death and mounting mystery. The premise is brilliant and the acting superb. A twisted killer is afoot and he is slicing, dicing, overfeeding, and generally having a great old time offing people in accordance with the seven deadly sins. The victims become stark symbols of man's greed, lust, envy, gluttony and so on. It's a brilliant mind that conceives of such a blueprint of death, and it's that brilliant mind that makes him so difficult to catch. Unless, of course, he wants to be caught.
  The movie is gory and violent and those things are wonderful for your film going experience. What gets you is the low lighing, the constant rain, the dolorous music. David Fincher wants you to feel gloomy and he achieves this. Throw in a nasty, jarring ending and you'll wander away from this movie feeling like somebody tortured and killed your dog.
  I mean that in a good way. A must see movie.
  
  
• Septenary of Horror.
  By A3D6TFYRMIV3ZL on 2007-01-25
  "At first sin is a stranger in the soul; then it becomes a guest; and when we are habituated to it, it becomes as if the master of the house." - Tolstoy.
  
  Although not originating from the bible, the concept of deadly sins is almost as old as Christian doctrine itself. Theologians like 4th century Greek monk Evagrius of Pontus first compiled catalogues of deadly offenses against the divine order, which 6th century pope Gregory the Great consolidated into a list of seven sins, which in turn formed the basis of the works of medieval/renaissance writers like St. Thomas Aquinas ("Summa Theologiae"), Geoffrey Chaucer ("Canterbury Tales"), Christopher Marlowe ("Dr. Faustus"), Edmund Spenser ("The Faerie Queene") and Dante Alighieri ("Commedia Divina"/"Purgatorio"). And in times when the ability to read was a privilege rather than a basic skill, the depiction of sin in paintings wasn't far behind; particularly resulting from the 16th century's reformulation of church doctrine, the works of artists like Hieronymus Bosch and Pieter Bruegel the Elder brought the horrific results of humankind's penchant to indulge in vice back into general consciousness with surrealistic eloquence, reminding their viewers that no sin goes unseen (Bosch, "The Seven Deadly Sins") and that its commission leads straight into a hell reigned by gruesome, grotesque demons and devils whose sole purpose is to torture those fallen into their hands (Bosch, "The Hay-Wagon" and "The Last Judgment;" Bruegel, "The Triumph of Death" and "The Tower of Babel").
  
  More recently, the seven deadly sins have been the subject of Stephen Sondheim's play "Getting Away With Murder" and a ballet by George Balanchine ("Seven Deadly Sins"); and on the silver screen the topic has been addressed almost since the beginning of filmmaking (Cabiria [1914], Intolerance [1916]). Thus, "Se7en" builds on a solid tradition both in its own domain and in other art forms, topically as well as in its approach, denouncing society's apathy towards vice and crime. Yet - and although expressly referencing the writings of St. Thomas Aquinas, Chaucer and Dante - David Fincher's movie eschews well-trodden paths and grabs the viewer's attention from the beginning; and it does so not merely by the depiction of serial killer John Doe's (Kevin Spacey's) crimes, which could easily degenerate into a mindless bloodfest that would defeat the movie's purpose. (Not that there isn't a fair share of blood and gore on display; both visually and in the characters' dialogue regarding those details not actually shown; but Fincher uses the crimes' gruesome nature to create a sense of stark realism, rather than for shock value alone.) In addition, Doe's mindset is painstakingly presented by the opening credits' jumpy nature, his "lair"'s apocalyptic makeup and his notebooks, all of which were actually written out (at considerable expense), and whose compilation is shown underlying the credits. The movie's atmosphere of unrelenting doom is further underscored by a color scheme dominated by brown, gray and only subdued hues of other colors, and by the fact that almost every outdoors scene is set in rain. Moreover, although screenwriter Andrew Kevin Walker explains on the DVD that the story was inspired by his observations in New York (and the movie was shot partly there, partly in L.A.), it is set in a faceless, nameless city, thus emphasizing that its concern isn't a specific location but society generally.
  
  Central to the movie is the contrast between world-weary Detective Somerset (Morgan Freeman) who, while decrying the rampant occurrence of violence in society, for much of the movie seems to have resigned himself to his inability to do something meaningful about this (and therefore seems to accept apathy for himself, too, until his reluctant final turnaround), and younger Detective Mills (Brad Pitt), who fought for a reassignment to this particular location, perhaps naively expecting his contributions to actually make a difference; only to become a pawn in Doe's scheme instead and thus show that, given the right trigger, nobody is beyond temptation. As such, Somerset and Mills are not merely another incarnation of the well-known old-cop-young-cop pairing. Rather, their characters' development over the course of the film forces each viewer to examine his/her own stance towards vice.
  
  Morgan Freeman and Brad Pitt perfectly portray the two detectives; while Freeman imbues his Will Somerset with a quiet dignity, professionalism and learning, muted by profound but not yet wholly irreversible resignation, Pitt's David Mills is a brash everyman from the suburbs with an undeniable streak of prejudice, a penchant for quick judgment and a thorough lack of sophistication, both personally and culturally. Notable are also the appearances of Gwyneth Paltrow (significantly Brad Pitt's real-life girlfriend at the time) as Mills's wife Tracy and ex-marine R. Lee Ermey as the police captain. Yet, from his very first appearance onwards, this is entirely Kevin Spacey's film. Reportedly, Brad Pitt especially fought hard for his casting; and it is indeed hard to imagine "Se7en" with anybody other than the guy who, that same year, also won an Oscar for portraying devilish Keyser Soze in "The Usual Suspects": No living actor has Spacey's ability to simultaneously express spine-chilling villainy, laconic indifference and limitless superiority with merely a few gestures and vocal inflections.
  
  While "Se7en" can certainly claim the "sledgehammer" effect on its viewers sought by its fictional killer, the punishment meted out to Doe's victims - taking their perceived sins to the extreme - pales in comparison to that awaiting sinners according to medieval teachings. (Inter alia, gluttons would thus be forced to eat vermin, toads and snakes, greed-mongers put in cauldrons of boiling oil and those guilty of lust smothered in fire and brimstone.) Most serial killers have decidedly more mundane motivations than Doe. And after all, this is only a movie.
  
  Right?
  
  "Sin ... engenders vice by repetition of the same acts, [clouding the conscience and corrupting the judgment.] Thus sin tends to reproduce ... and reinforce itself, but it cannot destroy the moral sense at its root." - Catechism of the Catholic Church (1994).
  
  Also recommended:
  Getting Away With Murder
  Red Dragon (Widescreen Collector's Edition)
  The Silence of the Lambs (Two-Disc Collector's Edition)
  Cabiria
  Intolerance
  The Divine Comedy (The Inferno, The Purgatorio, and The Paradiso)
  The Canterbury Tales (Penguin Classics)
  Aquinas: Selected Writings (Penguin Classics)
  Bosch : C. 1450 1516 Between Heaven and Hell (Basic Series : Art)
  
  
• THE ONLY REVIEW YOU NEED TO READ
  By A3CP8CMJWBM5YR on 2000-02-05
  New line cinema is working on the SPECIAL EDITION re-release of this dvd to be released hopefully in march or april 2000. It will be a single sided, anamorphically enhanced version, something the first dvd release was not. It will also contain commentary with David Fincher, Morgan Freeman, and Brad Pitt, as well as alternate scenes and story boards. It will be very similar to the previosly released Criterion Laserdisc, if not Identical.

  The Currently available DVD was two sided to improve picture quality. By spacing the film out over two sides, they could reduce the compression rate. This disc was also released before the days of dual layered discs. But seeing as how it cost me twenty bucks, watched it 20 times, and I had it for 2 years, Id say I got my moneys worth out of it. I just wouldnt buy this particular disc anymore.
  
  

• Sorry, Folks
  By on 1999-07-20
  I saw through this film immediately. I knew what was going to happen, and how it would end. Anyone with enough sense to consider which of the deadly sins haven't yet been enacted will be two steps ahead of this tedious, overly self-conscious movie.
  
  
• Repellant violence and shoddy scriptwriting
  By on 2002-02-25
  I am amazed at the cast of fine actors who were willing to be involved in this gratuitous gore-fest. The scenes between Morgan Freeman and Brad Pitt are meandering, meaningless filler as the director waits, slavering, to spring another disgusting image on the viewer.
  What truly disturbs me is the positive response this primer for murder and degradation elicited from the public. Now, that's scary.
  
  
• Seven - An intense thriller from start to end!
  By A16X61RLY1YJL7 on 2004-03-28
  "Se7en" can clearly be counted among the tops in the murder/mystery thriller type movies of all time as it is an extremely intense film that frightens the soul and fills the entertainment need for such movies. Fair warning to the faint of heart as the graphics of this film are just as intense as the script itself. Much of this film is based on the script being as intense as it as the two primary characters are trying to figure out who the killer is before he/she makes it all the way through the seven deadly sins; what I find difficult to believe when watching the film though is that the screenwriter felt it was necessary to resort to excessive bouts of cursing as opposed to reasonably intelligent verbiage. I'm far from being a prude of any sort however, a thing can be taken too far and the language of this film was taken too far too often.

  Performance wise, what else can be expected of Morgan Freeman other than another marvelous performance! There are very few films in which he's starred that one could say weren't good films and parts for him; he continues to be one of the top actors in the industry. Brad Pitt gives another great performance in this film despite his part being the one in which the screenwriter overindulged in a lack of intelligent writing. Kevin Spacey's actual screen time is very limited in this film but his performance is extremely powerful. Gwyneth Paltrow, such the beauty that she is, has a limited role in the film but leaves an impression nonetheless.

  Director David Fincher who is probably best known for such films as the more recent "Fight Club" and "Panic Room" shows an exceptional stylistic flair in "Seven" that carries over to his other films. He certainly deserves a fair amount of credit for this films success over the years.

  The Premise:

  New York City's finest, Detective Lieutenant William Somerset (Morgan Freeman) finds himself mired in an investigation of a serial killer only one week from retirement. In comes his replacement, Detective David Mills (Brad Pitt) who is eager to take over the case all on his own however, their Captain played by the high spirited retired Marine Corps Staff Sergeant turned Hollywood actor, R. Lee Ermey, refuses to just hand the case over to Mills.

  What follows from there is an extremely intense film in which the two detectives are desperately trying to find a killer who is forcing his victims to more or less kill themselves based on the seven deadly sins before he makes it all the way through them...

  I highly recommend this film to any and all who are interested in this particular genre of filmmaking as it is, as stated above, an extremely intense thriller type film that will keep one guessing all the way to the extraordinarily frightening conclusion. {ssintrepid}

  Special Features:

  The one true incongruity of this particular original DVD release of the film is that it is a two sided disc that only contains about half the film on the first side. I don't know where New Line came up with their compression rate for this film and why but very few videophiles, myself included, are appreciative of having to flip a disc to continue the movie! Fortunately, this particular release is out of stock and there are newer version out there in which this technical error has been alleviated.

  -Cast & Crew bios
  
  

• Awesome movie, but don't get the single-disc edition
  By A2SHLO0LDL67Z on 2006-05-09
  This is an outstanding thriller, one of my favorite movies. However, if you are thinking of buying this movie, do NOT buy the single-disc edition unless you feel like having to flip the disc over halfway through the movie. I bought this edition, not knowing that half of the movie is on one side of the disc and half on the other side. That is so retarded. I see the logic for a 3 or 4 hour movie having this, but not a 2-hour one like this one. Go with the New Line Platinum Edition, which has the whole movie on one side. I used to own the NLP edition so I know that's how the dvd is. I'm definately returning this edition and getting the NLP edition.
  
  
• A psychological thriller with a shocking ending ...
  By A3MFU0GVZUVH3K on 2007-05-04
  This is one of those movies that makes you cower in your seat as you cover your eyes repeatedly while viewing it. Real scary stuff; one of the most frightening in its genre.
  
  This movie was well formulated and the cast well-chosen. Brad Pitt is perfect in the role of the young detective who wears his emotions on his sleeve, while Morgan Freeman is wonderful as the older, more patient but cynical mentor who tries to help the younger man.
  
  Kevin Spacey plays the part of the insane killer who is on a misguided mission to save mankind from sin, murdering sinners to do so. He's great in this role, also, leading the detectives from one bloody, gory crime scene to another and another, until he turns the tables on them in a surprise move.
  
  The ending, though shocking and unexpected, is a brilliant piece of writing, but it ruined the movie for me. I not only gasped at the ending, I cried for both detectives. The movie left me craving a happier, more equitable kind of justice, so I had to lower my rating to 4-star, despite the extremely high-caliber of the acting and the screenplay.
  
  SIDENOTE: You may have noticed that Amazon has made some changes to its website. If it looks the same to you right now, look out for a new format that will be rolling out gradually in the weeks to come. If you can see the changes, especially the review format, I'd like to know what you think. Please leave me a comment with your opinion.
  
  "Love the new look" or "Hate the new look" comments are perfectly acceptable.
  
  My e-mail address is at top of this review. Thank you for your time."
  
  
  
• An absolute masterpiece - moving, compelling and intelligent
  By on 1999-01-27
  I watched this film for the first time three years ago in a film festival. As soon as the closing credits sequence (one of the most imaginative ever committed to celluloid, incidentaly) popped on the screen, I turned to my friends and said "I love this film!"

  Well, this may sound a bit revolutionary, since Seven can hardly be accounted as a feel-good flick. But that is the whole point. Seven is as ground-breaking, in a way, as Citizen Kane was, the proof that there still are filmmakers that have the courage to defy conventional Tinseltown formulas and follow their initial convictions all the way to the end.

  I have talked to people who deemed Seven a violent film. In my opinion, nothing could be more wrong. I can mention hundreds of more violent films, films where we see the hero blowing the 'baddies' to pieces without the slightest qualm of conscience. Bar the final scene, there is not one instance of violence in Seven. We can only see the shocking aftermath of violence, and that is what makes some people judge it too gruesome. But that is the whole point. This film is appalled at the way how our society has become innured to horror. It is a film about the consequences of violence, a bit like Pulp Fiction, but while in Tarantino's work the line between morality and entertainment was somewhat blurred, in Seven it is as visible as the central reservation. It is as if Fincher and his writer, Andrew K. Walker are sending a concerned message to the young auteur, something along the lines of "Please, please, DO NOT glamourise violence."

  Much of the credit for this masterpice must go to the brilliant script by Andrew K. Walker, who took the semblance of order sustained by most Hollywood thrillers and put it in a washer machine in hot spin for about two hours, creating a moral haze where things are much, much more important than just catching the 'bad guy' (although there is quite a surprise here). My salute to cinematographer Darius Khondji, who managed to brilliantly and succintly convey moral darkness with his gloomy, oppressive photography, as immerse in a quasi-apocaliptic feel as "Blade Runner" was. Howard Shore (he who scored "The Silence of The Lambs") once again demonstrates that there is no rivalling him when a feeling of despair and desquiet is to be achieved by the means of music.

  Finally, kudos for the impressive acting - at last, a film where Brad Pitt can display his acting abilities rather than his torso. Morgan Freeman positively sparkles in what must be the performance of his career, his humanity and virtue the very ocean through which the film drifts. However, the most impressive performance, albeit in a mere twenty minutes, is that by thespian wonder Kevin Spacey, in what surely must be the most unsettling portrayal of evil since Robert Mitchum in "The Night of The Hunter". If his appearance at the police station doesn't blow your socks off, then you must surely have been lobothomised during the last twenty-four hours.

  And what is more, at last a film that ends in a note as unique as the one that opens it. In the emotional turmoil that descends during the last ten minutes, you might not even notice how the characters remain as convicing and fully-rounded as before, how Freeman's character still upholds the values he has defended throughout the whole film. A thriller that is intelligent, moving, absorbing, and where a) the serial killer is not only moral but also literate, a twisted but intrincate opponent, very, very far away from the usual goggle-eyed psycho-babble and b) the filmmakers have the strength and the courage to present us with an ending where the loosers are the winners and the winners are the loosers... well, in this day and age that comes close to revolutionary.
  
  

• A Dark, Well-Made Masterwork Of The Macabre.
  By A3N3SN2DDD4HCJ on 2001-01-07
  David Fincher's "Seven," according to one of the experts on one of the commentaries in this DVD edition, has become some sort of modern classic. It doesn't surprise me. "Seven" takes typical cop-film ideas and morphs them into a dark, creepy, memorable tale of serial murder. The violence of the film is psychological, because what's really disturbing is the things the film makes you think about, not on screen gore. Look closely and you'll see that there is not that much violence in the movie, it's the brilliant way in which Fincher and writer Andrew Kevin Walker (8MM, Sleepy Hollow) set up mood and atmosphere. The cinematography is dark, beautiful and shadowy, giving the impression that there are evil things lurking in the shadows or just down the hall. The characters can be believed, and we really do care about them when the final shock comes. The performances are also superb, not least Kevin Spacey's serial killer, John Doe, who seems like a cousin of Hannibal Lecter. "Seven" also has a mind, the details of the plot are complex because they are not just materialistic things, you really have to think, to examine the ideas and thoughts in the story. This is the film, which I think, remains David Fincher's masterpiece. His latest, "Fight Club," was less intelligent or memorable. It was good, but doesn't go in league with this masterwork of the macabre. "Seven" raises chilling little feelings in you, disturbing thoughts and ideas, which is what great horror is supposed to do, yet it never loses intelligence. This special DVD edition will offer more material to better understand the film's structure, there's even a look at the making of John Doe's notebooks. "Seven" is a must for those who love a smart, creepy tale.
  
  
• Terrible movie
  By A1JGUI5VT6GGJW on 2004-07-16
  I'm obviously in a minority here. But IMO the movie just sucked. The thing that irritated me throughout the movie was the darkness and by that I mean the absense of light. The lighting is artificially dimmed for effect and it just doesn't work. Nobody works and lives in such poor light. The black and white film noirs work beautifully, but this movie seems stage-managed. Amongst contemporary movies, the lighting in "Dark City" was very natural and fit in well with the theme of the movie. This is a one gimmick movie and it got old within the first 5 minutes. I count this, along with "Absolute Power" and "Behind Enemy Lines" as amongst the worst 10 movies I have seen.
  
  
• Great Movie - Terrible DVD
  By A1LP3YND1VWNDO on 2000-01-28
  I love the movie. This article has nothing to do with that. The makers of this DVD should be ashamed of themselves. Only half the movie comes on each side, meaning that during the movie, you have to get up and flip the disc. That is just plain unacceptable. A DVD holds 4.5-4.7 GB per side. Long movies like Pulp Fiction have room so it is hard to believe that Se7en, clocking in at at a measly 127 minutes has to be double sided. Also the widescreen VHS edition of Se7en contains a mini commentary and the theatrical trailer. It is a shame that the DVD contains neither. This is an awfully planned DVD, but salvages some merit in the fact that I still like the movie enough to buy it.
  
  

• Fight Club (Two-Disc Collector's Edition)
• American History X
• Memento
• 12 Monkeys (Special Edition)
• Pulp Fiction (Two-Disc Collector's Edition)