Seven Chances Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.5
Audio		5.0
Extras		2.5
Overall		4.0

Seven Chances Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov May 22, 2020

Buster Keaton's "Seven Chances" (1925) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Eureka Entertainment. The supplemental features on the disc include new trailer for the recent 4K restoration of the film; new audio commentary by film historians Joel Goss and Bruce Lawton; and an early short film directed by Harry Sweet. Region-B "locked".

In the United States, the 4K restoration of Buster Keaton's Seven Chances was introduced on Blu-ray by the Cohen Film Collection in 2019. To see our listing and review of this release, please click here.

Seven Chances Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in an aspect ratio of 1.32:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Buster Keaton's Seven Chances arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Eureka Entertainment.

The release is sourced from a 4K restoration of the film that was undertaken by the Cohen Film Collection and finalized at L'immagine Ritrovata in 2017. In the United States, the same restoration appeared in this set from the Cohen Media Group in 2019.

This restoration of Seven Chances is a reconstruction project. (You can see a detailed description of it in the final screencaptures that are provided with our review). Once again, the end result is really good. The only area where the age of the film actually shows in a notable way is in the very beginning where footage from the 2-strip Technicolor element is used. There is some extremely light instability in the left and right side of the frame, but everything else looks lovely. The rest of the film looks outstanding. Delineation, sharpness, and especially depth are every bit as impressive as those observed on the 4K restoration of Battling Butler. If you view your films on a larger screen, you will be happy to hear that fluidity is great as well. Furthermore, the entire film is very carefully cleaned up -- this was definitely a manual job that requited many hours of hard work -- and now looks spotless. Image stability is great. So, this is another top-quality presentation of a Buster Keaton film that was done with tremendous care and attention to detail. ( Note: This is a Region-B "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-B or Region-Free player in order to access its content).

Seven Chances Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray: Music LPCM 2.0. Obviously, the film has original English intertittles, which have been restored.

Each of the three films in the Buster Keaton box set arrives with musical scores composed and conducted by Robert Israel. So, my job is not to discuss the merits of the score that was produced for Battling Butler but how the lossless track reproduces its native qualities. I did not detect any technical issues to report in our review. Obviously, because this is a chamber score the dynamic contrasts are quite modest, but the lossless track retains them as they are.

Seven Chances Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Trailer - original trailer for the recent 4K restoration of Seven Chances. (1 min).

• What! No Spinach? - presented here is a short comedy directed by Harry Sweet in 1926. With stars Harry Sweet and Gale Henry. With music. (20 min).

• Commentary - in this new commentary, film historians Joel Goss and Bruce Lawton deconstruct Seven Chances and discuss the film's conception and placement in Buster Keaton's body of work.

• Book - limited edition 60-page perfect bound collector's book featuring new writing by Imogen Sara Smith and Philip Kemp; and a selection of archival writing and imagery.

Seven Chances Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Excluding the short opening that uses footage from the 2-strip Technicolor element, I think that Seven Chances looks every bit as magnificent after the 4K makeover as Battling Butler. Frankly, folks, the 4K restorations that were done for these two films look better than a lot of recent restoration projects for films that were shot many decades later. It is pretty amazing, really. Seven Chances is included in this three-disc box set, together with The Navigator and Battling Buttler. (In the United States, these restored films are available on Blu-ray courtesy of the Cohen Film Collection). HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.