The Magnificent Seven appears in an aspect ratio of 2.39:1 on this 4K UHD Disc. The film boasted fine visuals.
Sharpness worked well. While the occasional wide shot betrayed a bit of softness, the majority of material appeared accurate and concise. No issues with moiré effects or jaggies occurred, and I saw neither edge haloes nor source flaws.
In this Western setting, the film favored a fairly amber/orange palette, with a fair amount of teal thrown in as well. Within the stylistic constraints, the Blu-ray reproduced the colors in a favorable manner, and the disc’s HDR added a bit of impact.
Blacks came across as deep and dense, while shadows appeared smooth and well-developed. The HDR brought greater brightness to whites and stronger contrast. The movie offered pleasing picture quality.
Downconverted to Dolby TrueHD 7.1, the movie’s Dolby Atmos audio also satisfied. Music showed nice stereo presence, while effects added immersive material. The action sequences boasted fine use of the side and rear speakers, all of which brought us into the story well.
Audio quality seemed strong. Music was full and rich, while dialogue seemed natural and distinctive.
Effects offered clear elements, with warm, tight lows. I liked the soundtrack for Seven.
How did the 4K UHD compare to the Blu-ray version? The 4K’s Atmos audio added breadth to the mix, whereas visuals showed more dynamic blacks and colors.
At times, the 4K presented tighter visuals, but the higher resolution also made soft shots seem a bit more tentative. Overall, though, the 4K became the more appealing image, albeit one that didn’t present a significant upgrade over the Blu-ray.
The extras appear on the included Blu-ray copy, and Vengeance Mode brings a series of video clips that pop up as the movie runs. In these, director Antoine Fuqua and actors Denzel Washington, Chris Pratt, Ethan Hawke, Vincent D’Onofrio, Byung-Hun Lee, Martin Sensmeier and Manuel Garcia-Rulfo discuss a mix of topics.
They appear 19 times during the movie and they cover why they came to the project, cast and performances, story/character areas, sets and locations, working with horses, stunts and action.
In total, we find 40 minutes, 18 seconds of comments from Fuqua and the actors, though expect most of these in the movie’s first half, as they peter out along the way.
On their own, these clips work fine, as they give us some interesting tidbits. However, they create a distraction when they interrupt the movie, and they don’t act like a real commentary, so there’s no need for the videos to accompany the film. We’d have been better served by a simple featurette with Fuqua and the cast.
Speaking of which, six additional featurettes appear, and The Seven runs eight minutes, 36 seconds. It provides notes from Pratt, Fuqua, Washington, Hawke, Lee, Sensmeier, D’Onofrio, Garcia-Rulfo, screenwriter Richard Wenk, producers Todd Black and Roger Birnbaum, and actor Haley Bennett.
“Seven” examines cast, characters and performances. Some of this repeats from “Vengeance”, and the rest lacks a lot of substance.
Directing the Seven fills five minutes, three seconds with statements from Washington, Fuqua, Hawke, Birnbaum, Black, Pratt, D’Onofrio, and actor Peter Sarsgaard.
As implied by the title, this show looks at Fuqua’s work as director. It brings a few useful thoughts but mostly tells us of Fuqua’s greatness.
Next comes The Taking of Rose Creek, a five-minute, 16-second segment with Washington, Hawke, Pratt, Fuqua, Bennett, Wenk, Birnbaum, Sensmeier, D’Onofrio, stuntmen Rick Moffatt and Oakley Lehman, 2nd unit director/stunt coordinator Jeff Dashnaw, and stunt coordinator Chad Dashnaw.
They look at elements connected to the movie’s climactic battle. We get another mix of praise and facts.
The villain comes to the fore in Rogue Bogue, a five-minute, 26-second clip with Washington, Sarsgaard, Black, D’Onofrio, and costume designer Sharen Davis. As expected, we hear about the Bogue character and Sarsgaard’s performance in this mediocre piece.
Gunslingers spans four minutes, 55 seconds with info from Pratt, Washington, Fuqua, Bennett, Black, Garcia-Rulfo, armorer/gun trainer Thell Reed, and co-producer Kat Samick.
Here we learn about the weapons featured in the film as well as the actors’ training. It becomes a competent overview.
For the final featurette, we get Magnificent Music. It goes for four minutes, 10 seconds and includes Fuqua, Samick, Black, music editors Joe E. Rand and Jim Henriksen, additional music composers Simon Rhodes and Simon Franglen. We get a few good insights related to the film’s score.
Four Deleted Scenes occupy a total of seven minutes, 29 seconds. These tend toward character embellishments, most of which focus on secondary roles. None seem especially compelling.
The disc opens with ads for Ghostbusters (2016), Inferno and Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk, Don’t Breathe and Passengers (2016). No trailer for Seven appears here.
When filmmakers remake classics, they need to hurdle a high bar, and the 2016 version of The Magnificent Seven can’t reach the necessary heights. While well-cast and perfectly serviceable, it never turns into anything particularly dynamic. The 4K UHD offers strong picture and audio along with a moderately useful package of bonus features. Seven doesn’t flop but it disappoints.
To rate this film, visit the orignal review of MAGNIFICENT SEVEN (2016)