Seventh Son [Hong Kong] [Blu-ray]

Director: Sergey Bodrov Sergey Bodrov

Overview

A powerful knight trains his young apprentice to do battle against a diabolical witch who is gathering an army to wage supernatural war on all of mankind in this adaptation of author Joseph Delaney's young-adult novel The Spook's Apprentice. Years ago, brave Master Gregory (Jeff Bridges) succeeded in capturing evil enchantress Mother Malkin (Julianne Moore), and locking her away to rot in prison. Now Mother Malkin has escaped, and she's hungry for revenge. As her followers gather power, the dreaded witch reveals her infernal intentions to the noble knight who once imprisoned her, and who now has until the next full moon to train Tom Ward (Ben Barnes), the seventh son of a seventh son, to defend humanity against a threat whose evil knows no bounds.

Product Details

Release Date:	04/21/2015
UPC:	4891670342448
Original Release:	2014
Source:	Imports
Language:	English
Sales rank:	43,379

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Jeff Bridges	Mistrz Gregory
Julianne Moore	Mateczka Malkin
Ben Barnes	Tom Ward
Alicia Vikander	Alice
Kit Harington	Billy Bradley
Olivia Williams	Actor
Antje Traue	Bony Lizzie
Djimon Hounsou	Radu
Jason Lee	Urag
Marcel Bridges	Jack Ward
Libby Osler	Ellie Ward
John DeSantis	Tusk
Gerard Plunkett	Inquisitor
Fabin Woodcock	Mob Member
David Cubitt	Rogue Knight
Timothy Webber	Malcom Ward
Candice May Langlois	Mother with Infant
Billy Wickman	Young Guard
Thomas DuPont	Young Gregory
Fraser Aitcheson	Grave Robber
Julian Black Antelope	Tomb Robber
Primo Allon	Simon Ward
Luc Roderique	Strix
Thai-Hoa Le	Fisherman
Loyd Catlett	Grave-robber
Carmel Amit	Member of Mob
Faustino Di Bauda	Innkeeper
Zahf Paroo	Virahadra
Jim Shield	Leader Soldier
Taya Clyne	Little Girl
Marco Beltrami	Composer
Kandyse McClure	Sarikin
Lilah Fitzgerald	Cate Ward
Isabelle Landry	Priest's Wife
John Novak	Priest
Yaroslav Poverlo	Head Counselor
Ryan Robbins	Barkeep
Bill Croft	Fatman
Simon Burnett	Boldmere

Technical Credits

Matt Greenberg

Charles Leavitt

Aaron Guzikowski

Joseph Delaney

Max Borenstein

Sergey Bodrov	Director
Matt Greenberg	Screenwriter
Charles Leavitt	Screenwriter
Aaron Guzikowski	Screenwriter
Thomas Tull	Producer
Lionel Wigram	Producer
Basil Iwanyk	Producer
Alysia Cotter	Executive Producer,Producer
Jon Jashni	Executive Producer,Producer
Brent O'Connor	Executive Producer,Producer
Kristian Bailey	Sound Effects
Sarah Bourgeois	Sound Effects
Remi Cauzid	Special Effects
Fraser Aitcheson	Stunts
Jason Abell	Sound Effects
Joseph Delaney	Screenwriter
Max Borenstein	Screenwriter
Louis Ferrara	Producer
Peikang La	Producer

Editorial Reviews

"Phantasmagorical" is one word that comes to mind when conjuring up ways to describe director Sergei Bodrov's lively fantasy adventure Seventh Son. And while other, less complimentary adjectives such as "chintzy" and "clichéd" follow closely behind, there's little denying that the veteran Russian filmmaker brings an impressive level of energy to his action sequences. Likewise, screenwriters Charles Leavitt and Steve Knight strive to fill this bloodless sword-and-sorcery romp with enough frightening, fantastical creatures to keep us wondering just what threat might pop up next in our heroes' noble quest to vanquish a vengeful witch. Surprisingly, it isn't the surplus of CGI-animated beasties that strain our patience as a mystical knight and his new apprentice strive to vanquish this ancient evil, but instead the shameless scenery chewing by a versatile Oscar winner who seems to be having a bit too much fun for his own good. We first meet Master Gregory (Jeff Bridges) as a young man atop a lonely mountain peak, where he's just confined the powerful witch Mother Malkin (Julianne Moore) to the only prison capable of containing her. Decades later, the appearance of the blood moon replenishes Mother Malkin's power and she manages to break free, prompting Master Gregory and his young apprentice on a dangerous quest to recapture her. But that mission goes awry, and the witch kills Gregory's trusted pupil before making a daring escape. Now, with just one week to go until the blood moon is full and Malkin's powers will reach their peak, Gregory must seek out the seventh son of a seventh son and train him as his new apprentice. Traveling to a secluded farm, he finds Tom Ward (Ben Barnes) and pays the boy's parents a tidy sum in exchange for their youngest son. The first order of business for the master and his new assistant is to stop at a nearby town and gather provisions. In the process of doing so, Tom saves accused witch Alice (Alicia Vikander) from being burned at the stake, and a romance soon begins to blossom. Despite his initial assessment that pretty Alice couldn't be one of the baleful hags that he's been sworn to dispatch, Tom fails to realize that she is the daughter of Bony Lizzie (Antje Traue), Mother Malkin's sister and sworn partner. Over the course of the next seven days, Master Gregory, his trusted ogre-ish servant Tusk, and Tom battle all manner of mythical creatures on their journey to Mother Malkin's cloistered mountain fortress. But none of them will be a match for the feared sorceress and her formidable lieutenants, and only once Tom has discovered the secret of his true origins -- and the mysterious talisman bestowed to him by his mother -- will he be able to summon the courage and strength to survive the coming battle. Take every fantasy trope you can think of, write each one on a scrap of paper, and dump them on the floor. Congratulations! Now you're a Hollywood screenwriter! From the witch who seeks to rule a mystical kingdom to the "chosen one" tasked with defeating her, from the aging knight on his final mission to the star-crossed romance, from the sacred talisman to the strong sidekick, Seventh Son is derivative to its core. As such, it will probably come as little shock to learn that it was adapted from a novel by Joseph Delaney titled The Spook's Apprentice, which is -- surprise! -- the first installment in a fantasy series dubbed The Wardstone Chronicles. Perhaps in his books Delaney does a better job of making this material feel less warmed-over, but the screenplay by Leavitt and his Oscar-nominated writing partner Knight (Dirty Pretty Things) has the air of a greatest-hits compilation assembled from a dozen failed franchise starters. Fortunately, whenever the plot starts to feel too familiar, Bodrov distracts us with another expertly paced action sequence that allows the mythical creatures -- and Bridges' stuntman -- their moment in the spotlight. The director of 2007's critically acclaimed Mongol, Bodrov is no stranger to sweeping vistas or epic battles, and it's here that Seventh Son comes screaming to life (at least in short bursts). The three decades of experience he brings to the production may be Seventh Son's saving grace, since Bridges, replete with mystical flask, seems concerned with little more than turning in a cloaked caricature of crusty Rooster Cogburn from the Coen brothers' True Grit. Maybe he's simply trying to account for the fact that young lead Barnes displays about as much charisma as the wooden staff he wields late in the movie, yet his cartoonish performance feels slightly out of place in an otherwise straightforward adventure film. Moore, on the other hand, plays the wrathful Mother Makin with a sinister blend of menace and seduction that never crosses the line into full-on camp, even when she's plastered with black-metal eye makeup in the final battle. In the end, Seventh Son is an enjoyable but forgettable romp that's unlikely to become the franchise starter it so obviously aspires to be.