Se7en - 4K Blu-ray Review

[Michael Scott]

Se7en



Movie:
4K Video:
Video:
Audio:
Extras:
Final Score:

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Movie
WOW, I can’t believe it’s been 30 years already. I remember being 17 years old in 1999 and checking this out on VHS because I could finally checkout R rated movies from Blockbuster on my own (yes, I was alive during the Blockbuster era) and being absolutely blown away by this new guy named David Fincher who had made so many waves 4 years earlier with Se7en. I still remember sneaking into the downstairs TV room late at night while my parents were asleep and watching it with headphones on so I wouldn’t get caught (I came from a very conservative family when it came to R-rated films), and getting GROSSED out at the Lust death scene.
Fast forward 26 years and Se7en still holds up today as one of the best 1990s dark thrillers. It was a masterpiece that put David Fincher on the map (even though he started his film career with Alien 3, nobody paid attention to him till this one) as a powerhouse director. It’s somber, full of great performances, and CREEPY to the bone with a twist ending that has been memed to death over the last 30 years due to its out of the blue element of surprise.

In an unnamed city, veteran detective William Somerset (Morgan Freeman) is a week away from his 30-year retirement party and he’s just gotten a murder case that threatens his last week on the job. Not to mention a brand new detective named David Mills (Brad Pitt) who is eager and chomping at the bit. To make matters worse, Detective Somerset is not so sure that the case that he’s working on is a simple murder. This has all the earmarks of a serial killer, and that means a long drawn out investigation. Despite his better judgment, Somerset helps out young Detective Mills hunt things down and is drawn straight down the rabbit hole into the mind of a serial killer who is choosing his victims based on the seven deadly sins.

Se7en is probably one of the darkest 90s thrillers in my recent memory (not talking about true horror films or the like) and it’s incredibly well done. Mills and Somerset hunting down the mysterious John Doe (Kevin Spacey) is helped out by said killer scattering clues across his murder scenes, slowly unraveling layers of horror and despicable murder that make the entire film set the viewers on edge. Each kill gets more and more gruesome, and even though they don’t show super gore or anything, the sheer creativity and morbidity of the kills will send chills down your spine. The “lust” kill scene still creeps me out to this day, and I’m a grown 43 year old man! But that ending is what sets the film apart. Back in the mid-90s everyone was expecting an Alex Cross type of good guy ending, but Fincher decided to go out of left field and keep the audience guessing with an ending where both sides win, and both sides lose. Something that was rather novel and not tried that often in the 90s (the angst and dark nihilistic side of filmmaking came out in the 2010 era when everything had to be dark and depressing).

The film is rounded out by some Oscar-worthy performances by our 3 leads (and a 23 year old Gwyneth Paltrow), with Morgan Freeman standing front and center in the film’s limelight. While it’s really a “buddy cop” sort of situation, Freeman acts as the moral center for the film, balancing his bitter cynicism with hopeful optimism, and balancing out the extremes of his partner. Pitt is still amazing in the role, and that ending conundrum also allows his moment in the spotlight to shine. But holy cow, Kevin Spacey absolutely STEALS the few scenes that he’s actually in the movie. Spacey has a way of playing delectable bad guys (who knew art would imitate real life), and his tightrope walk of mental insanity and criminal genius is amazing.




Rated R for grisly afterviews of horrific and bizarre killings, and strong language




4K Video: Video:

On the surface I would have assumed that they used the same source master for the 2010 Blu-ray edition that I’ve had sitting on my shelf for the last 14 years. The base image looks VERY similar, with no signs of any color grading tweaks, or changes to the visual look (as is the case with many new remasters). BUT, this was actually taken from a brand new 8K master taken directly from the original elements for this 30th anniversary release. And while I did say that the base image looks extremely similar, they are NOT without their upgrades. What we have here is a much more fine tuned and clean looking version of the 2010 disc, complete with much better black levels, finer details, and better grain replication.

Said grain is nice and rich, with good structure and not a sign of any swarming. Sure we get a few minor spikes in the grungy city apartments, but overall it’s a very clean and organic looking grain structure. Being that so much of the film is shot indoors in low-light apartments black levels are of paramount importance, and they certainly shine here. That back alley chase where Brad Pitt has his shootout/chase with John Doe looks magnificent, with inky blacks and wonderful complimentary tones with the rain pouring down. Fine details are good, but the film’s visual aesthetics means we don’t get this dazzling looking image that most people associate with 4K UHD discs. The same goes for the HDR application. It accentuates those black levels that I gushed about earlier, and turning it off and on in my player showed that they REALLY do add that little bit of “oomph” to make those black levels amazing. And while it may not be a show-stopper disc that you use to demo your home theater, this is an incredibly authentic and accurate representation of Fincher’s work (though I have heard there are a few minor revisionist CGI tweaks in there, but the only one I could pick up is Kevin Spacey’s stand-in near the end of the film looks more like Spacey himself).







Audio:

Much like the video, it may SEEM like Fincher gave us the same thing by giving us a 5.1 DTS-HD MA track instead of an Atmos, but that’s not really correct. The original Blu-ray was an upmixed 7.1 track that was also reportedly changed from the original 5.1 theatrical mix and added some minor surround tweaks that weren’t exactly like the original (such as reverb added to the NIN song at the beginning, some background vocals, and even some panning effects). HOWEVER, this 5.1 DTS-HD MA mix is a completely remixed track from the original sound designer and is meant to replicate more accurately the theatrical mix. All I can say is wow, it’s not night and day different, but if you’re familiar with the film then it sounds more organic and punchier than the 7.1 mix on the Blu-ray. Vocals are crisp and clear, and surround activity is normal, while bass just punches you in the chest (this was the 90s, so 9mm and .45acp gunshots sound like howitzers) The infamous Nine Inch Nails opening song sounds WAY better with all that reverb, and overall this is probably the pinnacle of the film’s home video audio.





Extras:

• Audio Commentaries
-- The Stars: David Fincher, Brad Pitt, and Morgan Freeman
-- The Story: Richard Dyer, Andrew Kevin Walker, Richard Francis-Bruce, Michael de Luca, and David Fincher
-- The Picture: Darius Khondji, Arthur Max, Richard Francis-Bruce, and David Fincher
-- The Sound: Ren Klyce, Howard Shore, and David Fincher
• Deleted Scenes
• Deleted Scenes with Commentary
• Alternate Ending
• Alternate Ending with Commentary
• Production Design
• Still Galleries
• Theatrical EPK
• Mastering for Home Theater
• Exploration of the Opening Title Sequence

Final Score: ​

Se7en remains one of the most disturbingly creepy, and awesome thrillers of the 1990s, and marks the breakout success of David Fincher (let's not talk about Alien 3) as it shot him straight to superstardom. The film is a wild array of fantastic performances from Pitt, Freeman, and Spacey alike, and the 4K UHD disc is quite the stunner (especially the audio track). On a nerdy side trail, I have mixed feelings about the digipack packaging. On one hand, this is an incredibly classy looking foldout digipack, but on the other hand, the disc is held in place with ye olde “cardboard sleeve” method, which is notoriously my least favorite method of disc retention). But at the end of the day, that is simply a minor annoyance and I still have to give this one a Highly Recommended rating.


Technical Specifications:

Starring: Morgan Freeman, Brad Pitt, Kevin Spacey, Gwyneth Paltrow, R. Lee Ermey
Directed by: David Fincher
Written by: Andrew Kevin Walker
Aspect Ratio: 2.39:1 HEVC
Audio: English: DTS-HD MA 5.1, French, German, Spanish DD 5.1, Spanish, Czech, French DD 2.0, English DVS 5.1
Subtitles: English SDH, French, German SDH, Spanish, Czech, Danish, Finnish, Korean, Mandarin (Traditional), Norwegian, Swedish
Studio: Warner Brothers
Rated: R
Runtime: 127 Minutes
Blu-ray Release Date: January 7th, 2025

Recommendation: Very Good Watch

 

[Sonnie Parker]

I remember the movie, but I don't remember seeing it. I think I did, but none of the trailer is ringing a bell.

 

[Todd Anderson]

WhAt's IN thE BOX???????

Ha, aha... ahhhh.

Crazy movie.

This one DEFINITELY needed an audio upgrade. I thought the Blu-ray sounded thin and lifeless. Look forward to experiencing the update!

 

[Travis Ballstadt]

This is one of the best movies ever made, in my opinion. But I'm not sure how you can say it doesn't look much different from the blu-ray release. I guess you need to clarify which release. This film has a crazy backstory and it's easy to lose track of what it's supposed to look like. In fact, very few people have actually ever seen what it's supposed to look like until now. Fincher's original limited theatrical run was struck with such an expensive and labor-intensive process that once it hit theaters nationwide it already looked different. I was lucky enough to see one of those limited run prints in San Francisco, but it's been so long I don't recall details, I just know it looked different when I bought the laserdisc, the dvd and the blu-ray.

The Mysterious Case of Se7en - Not on Blu-ray

Se7en is a dark crime-horror fantasy, written by Andrew Kevin Walker, directed by David Fincher with cinematography by Darius Khondji. The film was a success both commercially and critically. However due to the complexity of the photographic process, it is difficult to be certain that any of the...

notonbluray.com

 

[Michael Scott]

This is one of the best movies ever made, in my opinion. But I'm not sure how you can say it doesn't look much different from the blu-ray release. I guess you need to clarify which release. This film has a crazy backstory and it's easy to lose track of what it's supposed to look like. In fact, very few people have actually ever seen what it's supposed to look like until now. Fincher's original limited theatrical run was struck with such an expensive and labor-intensive process that once it hit theaters nationwide it already looked different. I was lucky enough to see one of those limited run prints in San Francisco, but it's been so long I don't recall details, I just know it looked different when I bought the laserdisc, the dvd and the blu-ray.

The Mysterious Case of Se7en - Not on Blu-ray

Se7en is a dark crime-horror fantasy, written by Andrew Kevin Walker, directed by David Fincher with cinematography by Darius Khondji. The film was a success both commercially and critically. However due to the complexity of the photographic process, it is difficult to be certain that any of the...

notonbluray.com

View attachment 77180

haha, yeah I should have clarified that it was the Warner 2010 Blu-ray (which used the 2000 Datcine transfer if I remember correctly)..... they're VEEEERY simiilar in grading. there are some minor tweaks here and there, but it looks like they graded very similarly. Although the HDR highlights can make some of the skin tones a HAIR more olive than the 2010 Blu-ray when you A/B them side by side. this is PURE nitpick, but it's EVER so slightly cooler than the Blu-ray. you can usually tell in night time city shots (such as the infamous fight in the rain with Pitt and Spacey). I couldn't tell at first glance, but when I was a/b ing the two scenes I noticed that the 4K looks a tad cooler there. It's really hard to tell though. Unless you're being obsessive about it I would never have noticed.

I haven't seen the Italian Blu-ray in like 7 or 8 years and I forgot just how neutral that one looked comparatively

 

[Michael Scott]

WhAt's IN thE BOX???????

Ha, aha... ahhhh.

Crazy movie.

This one DEFINITELY needed an audio upgrade. I thought the Blu-ray sounded thin and lifeless. Look forward to experiencing the update!

the audio has always been a point of contention for me with Se7en. the Laserdisc is the ONLY release out there that is a near clone of the theatrical mix. Every single audio release for home video has been a tinkered remix. The DTS ES 6.1 release for DVD was borked from the get go, and the 7.1 mix on the Blu-ray had all sorts of issues (the reverb, added sound effects etc) and as you said, was kinda thin. This mix sounds GREAT in many ways and I loved it. but it's not the theatrical mix. It's a brand new remix from the stems by the original sound designer, but like Fincher, he tweaked the audio a bit and it's not a direct clone of the theatrical mix. BUT, outside of the LD track ,it's probably the best one out there.

 

[MusicManLen]

I have the 2012 Steelbook from the UK but your excellent review will cause me to rewatch my copy and consider the 4K upgrade.
My copy is probably on par with the 2010 USA Blu-ray you have.

 

[MichaelBrown]

Masterpiece. I can rewatch it over and over again.

There's an online fun theory that this is Gotham City.