The Magnificent Seven Deadly Sins – Kino Lorber (Blu-ray)

Theatrical Release Date: UK, 1971
Director: Graham Stark
Writers: Graham Chapman, Barry Cryer, Ray Galton, Alan Simpson, Spike Milligan, John Esmonde, Bob Larbey, Graham Stark, Dave Freeman
Cast: Bruce Forsyth, Harry Secombe, Leslie Phillips, Harry H. Corbett, Ian Carmichael, Alfie Bass, Spike Milligan

Release Date: May 27th, 2025
Approximate Running Time: 108 Minutes 43 Seconds
Aspect Ratio: 1.66:1 Widescreen / 1080 Progressive / MPEG-4 AVCC
Rating: NR
Sound: DTS-HD Mono English
Subtitles: English SDH
Region Coding: Region A
Retail Price: $29.95

"A madcap satire of English propriety, Graham Stark’s The Magnificent Seven Deadly Sins unleashes Britain’s naughtiest, bawdiest comedians upon the capital vices. While it may fall short of its claim of being “the funniest film with the greatest all-star comedy cast ever,” its abundant sight gags and double entendres make it the perfect specimen of a unique form of risqué humor—and a veritable Who’s Who of 1960s British comedy. With its episodic structure, animated interstitials, and script work by Graham Chapman, the film often evokes the irreverent spirit of Monty Python’s Flying Circus, but the comedy of The Magnificent Seven Deadly Sins is of a kinder and gentler nature, expressing a warm nostalgia for simpler times, before the sexual revolution turned such lovable comedians into cultural dinosaurs." - synopsis provided by the distributor

Video: 3.5/5

The Magnificent Seven Deadly Sins comes on a 50 GB dual layer Blu-ray.

Disc Size: 45 GB

Feature: 31.6 GB

It appears that this transfer uses the same source that Odeon used for their 2015 UK Blu-ray release; that said, the source looks great. Flesh tones look healthy, colors look correct, black levels fare well, and there are no issues with compression or digital noise reduction. Although there are moments where the image looks soft, image clarity is generally strong.

Audio: 4.5/5

This release comes with one option, a DTS-HD mono mix in English with removable English SDH. The audio sounds clean, clear, balanced, and robust when it should.

Extras:

Extras for this release include a theatrical trailer (2 minutes 50 seconds, DTS-HD mono English, no subtitles), an interview with stills photographer Keith Hamshere titled Sin Stills (5 minutes 6 seconds, DTS-HD stereo English, no subtitles), an interview with cinematographer Harvey Harrison titled Never Forget (19 minutes 21 seconds, DTS-HD stereo English, no subtitles), an interview with actress Audrey Nicholson titled Stark Choices (22 minutes 2 seconds, DTS-HD stereo English, no subtitles), and a slipcover (limited to the first pressing).

Summary:

The Magnificent Seven Deadly Sins was the only feature film that Graham Stark directed. He was a prolific actor whose career spanned five decades, and he is most known for his numerous collaborations with Peter Sellers, notably A Shot in the Dark.

The Magnificent Seven Deadly Sins is an anthology comedy featuring segments inspired by the seven deadly sins, and in between each segment are animated cartoon sequences. There is a cheeky pre-credits sequence of a woman running through the woods in a see-through nightie. When she disrobes, her naughty bits have objects strategically covering them. The opening setup creates a stage for a series of scenarios whose dialogue and visuals are laced with sexual innuendo.

Avarice: An affluent man forces his chauffeur to retrieve a fifty-pence coin that fell into the sewer.

Envy: A couple that has recently come into a large sum of money discovers a house they desire. When the current owners refuse to sell, the husband devises a series of schemes to persuade them to change their minds.

Gluttony: A man working at a health food company tries to hide his compulsive eating from his employer.

Lust: A man in a phone booth lusts after a woman in the booth next to him; unfortunately for him, the feeling is not mutual; she finds him repulsive.

Pride: Two cars come to an impasse on a narrow road because of their drivers' stubbornness.

Sloth: Characters refuse to work with each other instead of making the logical choice.

Wrath: Two men, furious at a park keeper for reprimanding them for littering, allow their anger to cloud their judgment. They engage in a series of poorly thought-out attempts to kill the park keeper, but each effort ends in failure.

The quality of these seven segments greatly ranges. The weakest segments are Lust and Pride, while the most inventive is Sloth, which is done like a silent film. The best segments are Avarice and Gluttony. Although more known for their horror output, Tigon did release quite a few comedies, more as a distributor than a production company. That said, The Magnificent Seven Deadly Sins is their strongest foray into this genre; it is imbued with the saucy humor and innuendo that was prevalent throughout 1970s British comedies.

The Magnificent Seven Deadly Sins gets a strong release from Kino Lorber that comes with a serviceable audio/video presentation and a trio of informative extras.

Written by Michael Den Boer