Seven (film) - Alternative Versions

Alternative Versions

The US laserdisc adds a few scenes deleted from theatrical release as a bonus at the end of the program, including a prologue wherein Somerset is going to buy a country house. He uses his switchblade (seen many times in the final cut, but not explained) to cut out a small piece of wallpaper. In an extended scene at the Mills', when David is playing with his dogs, Somerset talks to Tracy. He tells her about the house and shows her the wallpaper. She tells him that it would not be such a good idea to show it to David, saying, "He wouldn't understand". These two scenes establish Somerset's character better, and the second one helps the viewer understand why the wife chooses Somerset to talk to when she gets pregnant. She knows that Somerset is much more sensitive than her husband, and will understand her. The second one, however, was probably dumped earlier since it is included among the dailies and outtakes and the first one appears as a deleted scene.

In the English version, Tracy calls her husband at the office and asks to speak to Detective Somerset. However, Tracy's voice is very quiet and only Detective Mills and Somerset can clearly be heard. When Somerset hangs up, he explains to Mills that his wife has invited him over for dinner. In the Italian version, Tracy's dialogue has been dubbed over the soundtrack, letting the audience easily hear her talking on the phone and making the invitation.

In the Platinum Series DVD released by New Line in 2000, Mills has a line just as Somerset runs up to him in the climactic scene. The line is supposed to be, "What the fuck's he talking about?" Clearly audible on the Criterion laserdisc, this line is obscured on the new DVD because the director, while remastering the sound for the new release, thought the character should be whispering the line to himself rather than yelling it, as it was on the Criterion laserdisc. The song used for the opening credit sequence is a remix of "Closer" by Nine Inch Nails. It was credited as "Closer (Precursor) (Remix)" by Nine Inch Nails on the Criterion laserdisc, but the new DVD simply credits the song as "Closer" by Nine Inch Nails. The song title differs on these prints. Note: The Criterion laserdisc release also moved a few seconds of Howard Shore's score for its last side break so as to keep the entire music cue intact. The cue plays as originally shot on the new DVD.

Some of the 2,500 first-run prints released theatrically were created using a silver retention process from Deluxe called Color Contrast Enhancement (CCE). With silver retention, the silver leached out during conventional film processing is rebonded to the print, thus greatly increasing luminosity in the light portions of the image and the density of the dark tones. New Line's Platinum Series DVD was made using one of the CCE silver retention process prints as the Criterion laserdisc was, while the previous New Line VHS, laserdisc and DVD releases used one of the regular theatrical prints.

The writer, Andrew Kevin Walker, completed two separate drafts of the ending. The first was used in the final edition of the film. In the second, John Doe is killed by Somerset instead of Mills. This alternate ending sequence was storyboarded and is included in the published script, but never filmed.

The version shown on BBC TV in the United Kingdom was heavily cut. All uses of the word "fuck" were removed, as were some of the more grisly images in the various murder scenes. Most notable cuts were to the autopsy of the "Gluttony" victim (shots of the victim's full body as well as the removed stomach are missing) and the interrogation after the "Lust" murder (in which the picture of the instrument used in the murder is removed).

The DVD contains an alternate ending, which features alternate takes of some scenes. It shows the delivery guy also hand Somerset the truck registration. Afterwards, a wide shot of Mills is shown when John Doe reveals Mills' wife was pregnant, instead of the close up. There is no quick flash of Gwyneth Paltrow's face before Mills shoots Doe, and only one shot to the head is fired. There are no additional shots fired at Doe afterwards.

The US television print is heavily edited for language and violence. Also, there is an alternate shot when John Doe takes the gun away from Mills' head. In the original film, we see a shot of Mills' head with the gun to it, and John Doe's arm. Then the gun is quickly whisked away. In the television edit, we're still looking up the barrel of the gun as it is slowly taken away.