The 7th Dawn Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		0.5
Overall		4.0

The 7th Dawn Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov March 20, 2022

Lewis Gilbert's "The 7th Dawn" (1964) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Lorber. The only bonus feature on the disc is a vintage trailer for the film. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-A "locked".

Major Ferris

The final days of WWII. Somewhere deep inside the Malayan jungles, news breaks out that the Japanese Army has surrendered. Soon after, Major Ferris (William Holden), an American who has fought with the local guerilla groups, decides to stay and build a rubber plantation with his mistress, Dhana (Capucine). Ferris invites their best friend, Ng (Tetsuro Tanba), to join his project as well, but he politely turns down the offer and instead heads to Moscow to finish his education.

A few years later, Ferris has become the biggest producer of rubber in the country and is looking to expand his business even more because virtually all of his major British competitors have either left or are in the process of selling what they own due to ongoing terrorist activities. The British forces in Malaya have done their best to preserve order and help the local authorities determine the country’s future, but the Communist Resistance has launched an all-out war to drive them out and replace the current governing body with an ‘independent government’ representing the people. Because he has successfully managed to stay out of the political drama, Ferris is convinced that he can endure what is left of it as well.

But Ferris does not realize that what has kept him alive is his old friend Ng, who has become the leader of the Communist Resistance and is secretly managing numerous terrorist groups from a military camp in the jungle. Ng has ordered his men not to take out Ferris while they continue to target all foreigners and especially those with close connections to the British forces.

When a local newspaper eventually reveals that Ng has returned from Moscow and has been directing the Communist Resistance and its activities throughout the country, Ferris is approached by British military leaders and asked to convince his old friend to engage in diplomatic talks. The request surprises Ferris, but shortly after he enters the jungle and easily locates Ng. The man that greets Ferris with open arms and offers him a cold beer, however, turns out to be a bitter revolutionary unwilling to negotiate.

Determined to bring Ng to the negotiating table, the British craft an intricate plan at the center of which is the framing of his old flame, Dhana, as a terrorist sympathizer. But plan is further complicated when the daughter of the newly appointed British governor, Candace Trumphey (Susannah York), who has unexpectedly fallen in love with Harris, decides to help Dhana regain her freedom by offering herself as a hostage to the Communist Resistance.

While it may appear that director Lewis Gilbert places a heavy emphasis on the political drama and its ripple effects, The 7th Dawn is not a big period film that attempts to accurately reconstruct the historic transformation of an entire country. It is actually a very big intimate film in which the main protagonists are forced to endure a seismic political drama. (Regis Wargnier’s Indochine tells a similar romantic story, but does attempt to accurately reconstruct the exact events that led to the country’s historic transformation).

The film’s strength is in its mature characterizations. Indeed, even though the main protagonists face unique dilemmas and judge the environment in which they exist in very different ways, they all have pragmatic views that make perfect sense once their ultimate goals are identified. The viewer isn’t expected to agree with them; rather, as the drama unfolds, it is forced to ponder whether any of these goals are worth pursuing.

There is plenty of action and mass footage, but Gilbert did not shoot it to impress. Everything that takes place before his camera helps the story move forward reveals something meaningful about the drama that is underway. Similarly, the intimate footage is completely free of soapy melodrama.

Gilbert used the services of cinematographer Freddie Young, who lensed the grand classics Lawrence of Arabia and Doctor Zhivago.

The soundtrack utilizes original music composed and conducted by the great Italian maestro Riz Ortolani (Il Sorpasso, So Sweet... So Perverse).

The 7th Dawn Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in an aspect ratio of 1.67:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, The 7th Dawn arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Lorber.

Even though ideally this film can look even better, I like the new 2K master that was prepared for it a lot. Indeed, with the exception of nicely lit close-ups most visuals tend to look a bit thicker than they should, but definition, clarity, and depth are still very, very good. The party that graded the new master did an outstanding job as well because the overall color balance is lovely. Yes, there are a few very small color pulsations that could have been addressed, but the primaries and the supporting nuances I thought were wonderful. Yes, obviously if seen in native 4K and with an expanded, native color palette the entire film would look even more impressive, but the current presentation has very strong organic qualities. There are no traces of problematic digital work. Image stability is very good. A few white specks pop up, but there are no distracting cuts, damage marks, stains, warped or torn frames to report. My score is 4.25/5.00. (Note: This is a Region-A "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-A or Region-Free player in order to access its content).

The 7th Dawn Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0. Optional English SDH subtitles are provided for the main feature.

I did not encounter any issues to report in our review. There are a few spots with minor unevenness and weaker than usual upper register, but I would still describe the lossless track as very healthy. If one day The 7th Dawn is fully restored in 4K someone will probably take the time to optimize the audio and make sure that the overall balance is improved, but this would me cosmetic work that will not dramatically alter its technical characteristics.

The 7th Dawn Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Trailer - remastered vintage trailer for The 7th Dawn. In English, not subtitled. (3 min).

The 7th Dawn Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Have you seen The Quiet American and Indochine? Did you enjoy them? If your answer is yes, then there is an excellent chance that you will have a good time with The 7th Dawn as well. It is a smaller, much more pragmatic film, but the romance and drama that are part of its story are very similar to those that make the other two films memorable. I had not seen it before and was pleasantly surprised by its mature characterizations. Kino Lorber's release is sourced from a recent 2K master with very nice organic qualities. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.