1) Criterion (original) - Region 'A' - Blu-ray TOP

2) Criterion (Ingmar Bergman's Cinema) - Region 'A' - Blu-ray BOTTOM

ADDITION: Criterion (Ingmar Bergman's Cinema) - Region 'FREE - Blu-ray - October 18': The Criterion Blu-ray of The Seventh Seal is part of their Ingmar Bergman’s Cinema 100th Anniversary 30 Blu-ray Boxset (reviewed, as a work in-progress, HERE).

NOTE: Yes, as has been leaked, we can now confirm that this Blu-ray set is Region FREE!

Criterion's new 4k transfer of "The Seventh Seal" is from a different source from their original 2009 Blu-ray release. It has the full "Det Sjunde Inseglet" (The Seventh Seal) as opposed to "Sjunde Inseglet" (Seventh Seal) title that started the previous Criterion Blu-ray presentation (see above). As with all the films in Criterion's Ingmar Bergman’s Cinema 100th Anniversary 30 Blu-ray Boxset - before the film we get a source text card. In this case:

So, this new transfer comes from the original 35mm negative. Whereas the older transfer had abundant grain texture, the new release is much smoother without losing any detail. In fact, certain scenes seem to reveal even more detail in this new 4k transfer. It looks magnificent in-motion and shows more in the frame aside from being 1.37:1 where the original Criterion Blu-ray was 1.33:1. The more you watch the 4K-restored 1080P, the more you appreciate it's superiority - the contrast subtleties and the improved visual qualities.

My ears cannot distinguish any significant difference in the mono linear PCM audio tracks in the original Swedish although this is apparently from a different source. The, often, intense score is by Erik Nordgren (Here is Your Life, and Bergman's Through a Glass Darkly, The Virgin Spring, The Magician, Wild Strawberries) sounds authentically flat but carries some depth in the uncompressed. There are musical pieces sung by Nils Poppe, Gunnar Björnstrand, Nils Poppe and Bibi Andersson, Erik Strandmar that are clear and crisp. It, again, offers an English DUB in lossy Dolby and there are optional English subtitles on the Region 'A'-locked Blu-ray, but less bold/bright on the 4K-transfer.

The extras are the same that were available on the 2009 Criterion Blu-ray. It has 3-minutes of a 2003 introduction by Ingmar Bergman, the excellent 87' audio commentary by Bergman expert Peter Cowie, with a 10-minute afterword, the lengthy 2006 Bergman Island documentary on Bergman by Marie Nyreröd, featuring in-depth and revealing interviews with the director, an archival audio interview with Max von Sydow, a 1989 tribute to Bergman by filmmaker Woody Allen and a theatrical trailer. There is also the Bergman 101 select video filmography tracing Bergman’s career, narrated by Cowie.

Well, after watching this for a few viewings, the new 4K has definitely grown on us. The Seventh Seal has some of Bergman's most iconic sequences and an upgrade for the Ingmar Bergman’s Cinema 100th Anniversary 30 Blu-ray Boxset seemed essential. To have it in a 4K-restoration Blu-ray presentation is awe-inspiring. 

Colin Zavitz +  Gary Tooze