Don Shanahan
With the turn of the calendar to 2025, David Fincher’s breakthrough film Se7en celebrates its 30th anniversary. To commemorate the occasion, the popular psychological thriller from New Line Cinema arrives to 4K Ultra HD and 4K UHD Blu-ray disc for the first time. It arrives on store shelves on January 7th in several different packaging editions, including Steelbook. Film Obsessive received an advance copy of the 4K UHD disc for our “Off the Shelf” physical media review series.
As an true treat and an additional celebration for Se7en‘s 30th anniversary, the newly re-mastered version of the film will be brought back to the big screen, including its first-ever run on IMAX. Worldwide theatrical offerings with exclusive engagements at IMAX locations begin on January 3rd and later for international events. To purchase tickets, or for further information, please visit www.imax.com/seven.
THE FILM
Directed by three-time Academy Award nominee David Fincher (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, The Social Network, Mank) from a screenplay by Andrew Kevin Walker, Se7en stars Brad Pitt and Morgan Freeman as two police detectives, Mills and Somerset–one is new in town and one is a grizzled veteran–in a city that always seems to be deluged by rainy weather. In discovering a series of bodies and smattering of clues, Mills and Somerset are tasked to track a brilliant and elusive serial killer (later revealed to be played by an uncredited Kevin Spacey). The unnamed perpetrator has been orchestrating a string of horrific murders, where each kill targeted a practitioner of one of the Seven Deadly Sins referenced in the Bible.
Future Shakespeare in Love Oscar winner (and former Brad Pitt squeeze) Gwyneth Paltrow also stars as Mills’ wife trying to acclimate the married couple to a new city and her husband’s intense assignment. Fincher guided the action – physical, mental and spiritual – with a sure understanding of what terrified us then and still does now. His dramatic filmmaking led to a stunning denouement that still has the power rip the scar tissue off the most hardened soul.
Thirty years ago at the 68th Academy Awards, Se7en received its lone Academy Award nomination for Best Film Editing for Richard Francis-Bruce. Critical reassessment in the decades since—including a Fincher ranking here on Film Obsessive—have lionized this movie greatly, and it’s often credited for sparking a modern cinematic run of neo-noir thrillers obsessed with serial killers that buzzes and inspires today. Se7en was included in Roger Ebert’s 2011 book The Great Movies and it has earned a place in lauded reference book 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die.
THE DISC
Prior to this new 4K UHD editio of Se7en, the gold standard physical media version of Fincher’s film was released in 2001. New Line Cinema issued a two-disc Platinum Series DVD with packaging emulating one of John Doe’s specaled black-and-white composition journals. It followed a rare Criterion LaserDisc edition with a host of special features between the two discs. The Blu-ray DigiBook that followed in 2010 did up things to 1080p and 7.1 loseless audio soundtrack.
Naturally, this new disc counds as Se7en bring availabe for the first time in 4K resolution with high dynamic range (HDR). The 4K restoration of Se7en was completed at Warner Bros. Discovery’s Motion Picture Imaging (MPI) and was sourced from the original camera negative. The restoration was overseen by director David Fincher himself.
In the special features department, there’s good news and bad news. The good news is the sizable library of perks from the Platinum Series DVD and DigiBook Blu-ray have been upgraded and included in this 4K-UHD disc release. The bad news is that there is nothing—and I mean nothing—new. This has been a previously discussed lament here on “Off the Shelf” from these Warner Bros. Home Entertainment anniversaries. They’ve cleaned and dressed movies like Se7en here for double-dip buyers, but made no effort to bring people back together with new retrospective content. Especially for a memorable and resonant movie like this, fans would drool to hear from the surviving stars or Fincher himself for a sit-down weighing and reflecting on this movie’s impact. Maybe someday, Warner Bros. will think as sharper as their high-definition picture. So, all we can report here on “Off the Shelf” is the roster of carrovers described below:
Four audio commentaries: Compared to new releases that skimp on commentaries, Se7en blessed us years ago with FOUR outstanding audior tracks, each still titled for their focus:
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- The Stars: Brad Pitt, Morgan Freeman, and director David Fincher
- The Story: Film critic Richard Dyer, screenwriter Andrew Kevin Walker, editor Richard Francis-Bruce, former New Line Cinema exec Michael De Luca, and director David Fincher
- The Picture: Cinematographer Darius Khondji, production designer Arthur Max, editor Richard Francis-Bruce, film critic Richard Dyer, and director David Fincher
- The Sound: Sound designer Ren Klyce, composer Howard Shore, film critic Richard Dyer, and director David Fincher
Deleted scenes and alternate endings: The Se7en disc includings six deleted scenes and their two long-appreciated “alternate” endings– one un-shot and shown through animated storyboard and the original “test” ending that was changed slightly after preview showings.
Still photographs: Milking the investigation and profiler side to the Se7en odyssey, one featurette brings forth photo collections hinted at in the film, including John Doe’s notebooks and photographs, the history of Victor’s decomposition, crime scene photographs taken by police, and various production photos. This menu item also includes a commentary from photographer Melodie McDaniel.
Exploration of the Opening Title Sequence: In a very true-to-the-90s fashion, Se7en opening title scene has been dissected for years, thanks to five separate featurettes that have been included in previous disc editions. The five pieces–two of which have audio commentaries of examination from members of the design and audio teams– break down early storyboards, prior rough cuts, and the final edit.
Production Design: Running just under nine minutes, this small featurette describes the designs of the detailed crime scene environments and diversely stylish locations from the film.
Mastering for the Home Theater: This last featurette took audiences through a three-titled process (Audtion Mastering, Video Mastering, and Color Correction) of how Se7en was previously transferred to earlier forms of home medua. This diary with expert team commentaries is likely now antiquated with the steps taken in this recent HDR and 4K restoration, but it counts as a time capsule to old methods.
