B-Movies: Se7en

B-Movies & Couch Classics
Reviews of Movies Often Overlooked or Forgotten

Se7en
1995, New Line Home Video

By Arik Ben Treston

Few recent films have been able to so cathartically affect audiences in recent years as much as the recent DVD release of Se7en. Written by Andrew Kevin Walker (8MM, Sleepy Hollow) and directed by the sublimely twisted David Fincher (The Game, Alien 3, Fight Club), this gritty crime drama/noir/thriller surprised, sickened, and blew audiences away with its serpentine twists and discoveries.

For those who want to own the DVD you are in luck. New Line has done right by this film in deciding to re-release it on DVD in a full-blown collector’s edition. It was put out a couple of years ago without any features and you had to flip the double-sided disc. Ah, the old days of DVD. The film has been meticulously remastered and transferred with immense care onto two discs; disc two is supplemental material. A documentary on the transfer shows just how much better they have made this look and sound, in both DTS and Dolby Digital, compared to its earlier DVD release.

Aside from a beautiful anamorphic widescreen transfer, you can also find three commentary tracks, one of which includes Fincher, Brad Pitt, and Morgan Freeman in an illuminating study into the psyche of the film; numerous short documentaries, including a documentary on the now famous (and often imitated) opening titles with multiple angles and audio tracks to explore it further; animated storyboards; deleted and extended scenes; alternate ending (which sounds more interesting than it turns out to be); and the usual extras of production notes and production photographs.

Never has ‘gritty’ looked so good. Fincher could have gone the ultra-slick looking route or the darker, grainy look that he wisely chose. This unnamed city seems to smell through the screen and its dirt and pain can be felt. Every single aspect of this film holds up perfectly on repeated viewings, especially on this new transfer. My plaudits for this film apply as well to the perfectly done ending credits. This film leaves you wrung-out and the credits don’t begin to make anything better. Fincher has cleverly set the credits to scroll down from the top, blowing away our collective perception of how credits roll. Trying to follow them and comprehend everything that you see is daunting for the eyes and your brain just doesn’t understand why the hell this is happening. Even to the bitter end, Se7en stays perfectly disturbing. There are some staple DVDs that belong in a home library and this is absolutely one of them. While not an easy one to sit through often, it is worth having it to be able to peer into the world of the dark and depraved every couple of years without ever setting a real foot in there.