The Seventh Seal had a huge cultural impact. It is a movie that has widely been imitated and studies but none have come close to outdoing it. This special Criterion collection has a huge amount of special features to accompany the movie that makes it a must have item for your own movie collection.

The storyline is about a knight called Max von Sydow who has been fighting for a whole decade in the Crusades. Whilst he is travelling along a deserted beach he comes across Death. He challenges Death to a game of chess. The game represents the game of life and how death is inevitable.

The first disc in the collection has audio commentary from Peter Cowie. He analyses various points of the film and also where Bergman got his inspiration from for how Death looked. He also is part of a follow up called “Afterword” where he looks into the dark humour side of death and adds some points he left out of the original commentary.

There is also an interview with Max von Sydow which were carried out by Peter Cowie. It is quite in depth and he tells how he first became an actor and how he was brought up by his parents.

Also included is a special Woody Allen short film where he talks about his love for all Bergman’s films and is a real tribute to him as a director.

There is also a feature length documentary that reflects on Bergman’s life and how he was such a humble man. This includes lots of behind the scenes footage and clips from his movies.

All in all, this is a great collection that goes beyond the movie and shows why it was so special and why it really must be part of your own collection if you are a true movie lover.