Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.5
Extras		3.0
Overall		3.5

Arrow: The Complete Seventh Season Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman August 27, 2019

One of the kind of curious conceits about many superhero comic book franchises is how no one seems to recognize the superhero when he or she is in his or her “alias” mode. I mean, really, is it that hard to see Superman “hiding” behind Clark Kent’s glasses? Things of course are a little more circumspect with regard to heroes like Batman, who after all wears a cowl and mask, but even that pretense may strike some as straining credulity to the breaking point. This is all to say that often in the world of comic book heroes, there have been “unmaskings” of various sorts, but they almost always end with things getting back to “normal” in one way or the other, with the titular good guy (or gal) able to disappear behind an at times almost hilariously minimalist “disguise”. At least in one way, then, the wrap up of Arrow: The Complete Sixth Season had an interesting plot development wherein Oliver Queen (Stephen Amell) was in fact “outed” as the Green Arrow, a reveal that continues to spill into this seventh season. There are some other at least passingly interesting structural artifices that this seventh at bat for the series takes, including a “new, improved” reliance on flash forwards rather than flashbacks, in what might be seen by some as just the latest way this series kind of strangely apes Lost: The Complete Collection.

For those wanting more information on the previous years of this show, please click on the following review links:

Arrow: The Complete First Season Blu- ray review

Arrow: The Complete Second Season Blu- ray review

Arrow: The Complete Third Season Blu- ray review

Arrow: The Complete Fourth Season Blu-ray review

Arrow: The Complete Fifth Season Blu- ray review

Arrow: The Complete Sixth Season Blu- ray review

Now it may seem completely illogical that, having excoriated Arrow for doing the “same old, same old” for at least the past couple of seasons (and arguably longer than that), I now take the show to task for trying something ostensibly “new”, but to me, anyway, there was the slightest whiff of desperation about some of the plot mechanics this season. First of all, the writers keep Oliver in stir for long enough, and with a bevy of subplots involving other inmates, that I began to wonder if this season weren’t subtitled Green is the New Orange (though to be perfectly accurate, the imprisoned actually wear a kind of grayish blue here). There’s still plenty of “action” out in Star City, as well, especially when another Green Arrow suddenly shows up, which plays into an ongoing development of what might be termed Oliver's family dynamics.

That “family dynamics” aspect also plays into this season’s shifting of timeframes, but in that regard, there’s little of what was at least some initial artifice in Lost’s trip to the future, where viewers weren’t immediately aware of when things were taking place. There are obvious attempts here to “mirror” supposed future happenings with what are ostensibly “current events”, but this whole detour struck me as almost irrelevant, and perhaps at worst a ploy to offer a new dimension to the so-called “Arrowverse” that could be developed into its own property down the line.

This season also offers another one of what has evidently become a prerequisite among “linked” shows, namely the crossover “event”. This one was given the sobriquet “Elseworlds” (my take on that can be found below in the Supplements section), and it is an admittedly fun romp that includes The Flash and Supergirl, as well as a couple of “guest stars” in the form of well known characters from two of the most iconic DC superhero “lines”.

Arrow: The Complete Seventh Season Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Arrow: The Complete Seventh Season is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Warner Brothers Home Entertainment with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.78:1. While I'm slightly "demoting" the score to "only" a 4.0 for this season, after last year's 4.5, it's really mostly due to some overly dark sequences that simply do not offer much in the way of any detail, let alone fine detail. Many of these shrouded moments are in the prison scenes, but there are a fair number of them out and about as well. There is also a reliance on odd lighting and/or grading at times, toward the traditional green tones this series has always understandably exploited, but also this year often toward rather vivid, deeply saturated cobalt blues. Detail seems to falter a bit more in the green sequences than in the blue, but generally good levels manage to at least peek through some intermittent haziness. In normal lighting, and especially in some brightly lit or outdoor daytime scenes, things pop really well, with nice detail levels across the board and a healthy, natural looking palette.

Arrow: The Complete Seventh Season Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Arrow: The Complete Seventh Season offers another nicely immersive DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track, though it's notable that some of the surround activity this year is actually on the more subtle side, as in some of the cavernous, "echo" laden effects in the prison, where background rabble can spill through the side and rear channels. As has been the longstanding tradition with this series, some of the action set pieces offer pretty hyperbolic sound design, with both discrete channelization of effects and at times rather forceful LFE the norm. Dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly throughout this track.

Arrow: The Complete Seventh Season Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Disc One

• Deleted Scenes (1080p; 1:22)


• Best of DC TV's Comic-Con Panels San Diego 2018 (1080i; 1:00:59) offers a number of panels spread across the so-called "Arrowverse" and beyond, with some fun comments and enjoyable behind the scenes footage.

Disc Two

• Deleted Scene (1080p; 00:53)


• Inside the Crossover: Elseworlds (1080p; 45:01) is an enjoyable look at one of this season's calling cards, plus it has the added benefit of giving us new made up word ("elseworlds") to compete with that aforementioned "Arrowverse" coinage. This also features some fun behind the scenes footage, but it also offers some informative sit down group conversations among producers and the like.

Disc Three

• Deleted Scenes (1080p; 6:18)


• Villains: Modes of Persuasion (1080p; 38:05) looks at some of this season's baddies.

Disc Four

• Deleted Scene (1080p; 00:42)


• Gag Reel (1080p; 4:41)

Arrow: The Complete Seventh Season Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Those who keep track of such things may note that I actually gave this season a bit higher overall marks than I have for the last couple of years at least, which perhaps hints at the fact that while some of the plot mechanics this year are overly labored, as I've alluded to above, at least the show is trying something (anything?) to keep its mojo active. It's been announced that the upcoming shorter (ten episode from what I've seen reported) eighth season will be Arrow's last, which may itself be a hint that even the creative team behind this enterprise feels there are no more quivers in the pack. Technical merits are generally strong, the supplemental package appealing (and rather surprisingly varied and in depth), and with caveats duly noted, Arrow: The Complete Seventh Season comes Recommended.