Se7en Blu-Ray Review

Rated R (Grisly Afterviews of Horrific and Bizarre Killings, and for Strong Language)

Running Time: 2 Hours & 7 Minutes

Cast-

Morgan Freeman-Detective William Somerset

Brad Pitt-Detective David Mills

Gwyneth Paltrow-Tracy Mills

?????-Johnathan Doe

John Cassini-Officer Davis

Peter Crombie-Dr. O'Neill

Reg E. Cathey-Dr. Santiago

R. Lee Ermey-Police Captain

Richard Roundtree-District Attorney Martin Talbot

John C. McGinley-SWAT Team Leader California

Richard Portnow-Dr. Beardsley

Mark Boone Junior-Greasy FBI Man

Martin Serene-Wild Bill

Leland Orser-Crazed Man in Massage Parlor

Richard Schiff-Mark Swarr

Directed by David Fincher

"What's in the f*cking box?!"

Note: This is a review of the bare-bones Canadian Blu-Ray released by Alliance in 2009, which was superseded by the US DigiBook Blu-Ray a year later.

Serial killers have always been a fascinating subject in film, whether it'd be in literature or movies. Unfortunately, they seem to be in short supply nowadays. Going back to 1995, we have "Se7en," directed by David Fincher, who also made "Fight Club," "Zodiac," and recently, "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button." The film is fourteen years old now but it still has a rather loyal fan-base. I first found out about it from an off-handed remark dealing with the "Saw" franchise and looked the film up on good 'ol IMDB. I was immediately hooked from its premise but disappointingly, it was not released on Blu-Ray at the time. Well, that's about to change as "Se7en" is now available on the high-definition format but don't celebrate just yet, because it's only sold in Canada.

In an unnamed city drenched with rain and urban decay, Detective William Somerset (Morgan Freeman) is a burnt-out cop who's a week from retirement. On his final case, he meets his replacement, Detective David Mills (Brad Pitt), a young, hotheaded, and ill-tempered cop who volunteered to be transferred to this precinct. The two investigate the murder of an obese man who has been force-fed spaghetti and then kicked in the stomach until it burst. A day later, another murder takes place, this time of famous Defense Attorney Elliot Gould, who has been forced to rip out a pound of his flesh. On the floor is the word 'Greed,' written in blood. Soon after, Somerset finds the word 'Gluttony' carved into a wall at the obese man's home. Both detectives come to realize that the killer is basing his crimes on the seven deadly sins: Gluttony, Greed, Sloth, Lust, Pride, Envy and Wrath. With time against them, Somerset and Mills must capture the killer and prevent the other five murders from taking place.

Despite its age, "Se7en" features an intriguing mystery and one of the most fascinating serial killers ever created on film. The only derivative aspect of the film is the characters Freeman and Pitt play. They're the standard cop archetypes that we've seen before: the burnt-out cop who just needs to do one last case before retiring and the hotheaded, idealistic, and naive cop who believes that even in the darkest of times, a difference can be made. That's not to say that the actors are bad in their roles, far from it but Freeman is a lot more natural than Pitt, who's a little clunky while conveying his character's impulsiveness. With Freeman's Somerset, you get the feeling that he's been living in this city for far too long and you learn through his conversations with Mills' wife, Tracy (Gwyneth Paltrow), that he even forced his close girlfriend to have an abortion because he knew, deep down, that bringing a child into this world would be punishment. Somerset is always pessimistic but everything he says makes sense. Brad Pitt's David Mills goes through a transformation by the end of the film but I will not reveal how. At the beginning, he's overly optimistic and believes that the world isn't all that bad, except for the occasional wackjob that needs to be put in his or her place. He has a loving wife so what has he got to be disappointed about? One of the best scenes is when Mills and Somerset are at a local bar and they discuss how people are so apathetic to everything around them. Mills says 'No, I don't agree with you' and Somerset remarks to him that 'You gotta be the hero. You want to be the champion. People don't want a hero, they want to eat cheeseburgers, play the lotto and watch television.' If you think about it, that's true. We act like we care but deep down, it's just easier to walk away and not involve yourself. As mentioned before, the only thing that holds back Pitt's performance is when his character starts acting impatient because the actor comes off like a child having a temper tantrum. Nonetheless, both actors deliver great performances.

The most memorable character of "Se7en" would be the serial killer himself, John Doe. I won't reveal the actor that plays him because it's all part of the surprise. He only appears for the final half-hour but, boy, is it something! The speech he gives where he justifies his actions is incredibly well-written and delivered with the right amount of menace. This is a guy who totally believes that what he is doing will be admired and followed for generations. Although we never see the killings actually take place, we do see the brutal aftermath and it may be too disturbing for some people. The Sloth victim is tied to a bed for one year, where his skin and muscles have atrophied and looks almost corpse-like. Even more shocking is the Lust victim, where a man was forced to use a strap-on dildo with a razor-sharp blade to rape and kill the girl. Be warned, "Se7en" is most definitely not for the faint of heart.

Fincher has shot the film in a style that's similar to "Fight Club." Everything is dark and gloomy, full of shadows and drenched in rain. This is a city where hope has died out long ago and no one even cares. Unfortunately, this style is once again not fit for Blu-Ray. At times, we see amazing detail, especially on the actors, but other times, the film looks like it was up-scaled from the DVD version. It has also been converted into the incorrect aspect ratio, 1.78:1, where it should've been 2.35:1 like the theatrical release. Rather than using progressive scan, the image is interlaced, resulting in some artifacts during the desert scenes. At least the audio is top-notch, where we're treated to Howard Shore's somewhat bombastic score but overall, I would recommend you hold out for an official US release.

Received on September 22, 1998, "Se7en" was received largely positive reviews with 79% on Rotten Tomatoes. Critics hailed it as 'a brutal, relentlessly grimy shocker with taut performances, slick gore effects, and a haunting finale.' The film was a commercial success, with the final domestic gross coming in at $100.1 million. Factoring in foreign box office receipts, "Se7en" stands at $327.4 million. Not bad for a movie with a low $33 million production budget. If you have never seen "Se7en" before, I highly urge you to do so now, but get the DVD, not the Blu-Ray. It is one of the best films of the serial killer genre and features some great performances while also some asking difficult questions about human nature. Is John Doe right? Are we so self-centered that we are blind to the suffering of others? Like "Fight Club," David Fincher has created a phenomenal film that is still talked about fourteen years later.

Final Rating: 4.5 out of 5

"Innocent? Is that supposed to be funny? An obese man...a disgusting man who could barely stand up; a man who if you saw him on the street, you'd point him out to your friends so that they could join you in mocking him; a man, who if you saw him while you were eating, you wouldn't be able to finish your meal. After him, I picked the lawyer and I know you both must have been secretly thanking me for that one. This is a man who dedicated his life to making money by lying with every breath that he could muster to keeping murderers and rapists on the streets! A woman...so ugly on the inside she couldn't bear to go on living if she couldn't be beautiful on the outside. A drug dealer, a drug dealing pederast, actually! And let's not forget the disease-spreading whore! Only in a world this sh*tty could you even try to say these were innocent people and keep a straight face. But that's the point. We see a deadly sin on every street corner, in every home, and we tolerate it. We tolerate it because it's common, it's trivial. We tolerate it morning, noon, and night. Well, not anymore. I'm setting the example. What I've done is going to be puzzled over and studied and followed...forever."