The Seven-Per-Cent Solution (Blu-ray/DVD Combo)

For years and years, I could not make heads or tails out of the meaning of this movie's title. Then, in watching one of the Jeremy Brett / Granada TV's adaptations of the Holmes' adventures, it was mentioned that our stalwart hero, the world's greatest consulting detective, a highly-regarded and on-going and indispensable aide to England's Scotland Yard, in general and to one Inspector Lestrade, in particular, was subject to horrific bouts of 'ennui' - or extreme boredom. It was during these all-too-numerous times when there was no current case to apply his extraordinary mental faculties. that Holmes' almost-constant rooming companion, friend and chronicler, John H. Watson, M.D., would reluctantly administer/inject via hypodermic needle, believe it or not, a 'seven-percent-solution of drugs to 'help' his friend deal with said boredom. Later, we would earn that these seven percent injections were more like 3 or 4 percent.In a last-ditch-effort to help Holmes rid himself of his highly-dangerous 'remedy' to his ennui, Watson, having heard of an up-an-coming colleague of his, one Doctor Sigmund Freud, who was enjoying considerable success in dealing with patients who were suffering from various psychological disorders. Watson, knowing that Holmes would be too proud to admit his addiction problem, tricks his friend into going to Vienna, by convincing him that 'a client' needed his help, very badly in that city. Holmes agrees, and soon the game is, once again, 'afoot'.I will leave it there. There is no Basil Rathbone in this movie. There is no Jeremy Brett in this movie. No Christopher Plummer, Roger Moore, or anyone else who ever played Holmes. Nicol Williamson and Robert Duvall are just wonderful as Holmes and Watson, respectively. Alan Arkin plays Sigmund Freud, and the greatest actor of his generation, Sir Laurence Olivier, takes on the role of Holmes' greatest, life-long enemy, the Napoleon of Crime, Professor James Moriarty. The very beautiful Samantha Eggar, in an almost-cameo role, still manages to capture the viewer's attention and respect.If you are a movie fan, to any degree, you owe it to yourself to get this movie, and watch it from start to finish, without interruption. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle would be very proud of the way this cast, and crew, have breathed new life into his most-beloved characters. You won't regret the time nor the money spent on this film. I hope you enjoy it as much as I have and do.Mr. Z.

This is the weakest 3 stars I have ever given. I only just liked it more than I disliked it.When the book was first published, Nicholas Meyer almost single handedly invented a new kind of mystery novel. In a very creative way he brought together historical figures and fictional characters. That Sherlock Holmes and Sigmund Freud are both products of German Rationalism and logical analysis help to make the entire premise more compelling. The reminder that the fictional Holmes had been a drug user was also a powerful thing back in the mid-70s. In short, the book was a very memorable read.I had all but forgotten ever seeing the movie. Having just watched it 30 plus years later, I know why. Despite a very strong cast, the movie is mostly forgettable. Maybe worth one viewer rather than owning..First the good:Nicols Williams portrayal of Holmes initially irritated me. Then I realized that he was acting out a drug addicted, demon haunted Holmes. The contrast with his portrayal of a sober Holmes constitute excellent acting. The scenes of Holmes going cold turkey are well enough performed, but the director lacked imagination. This is all the usual going sober scenes you usually see.I agree with others that having a competent, effective Dr. Watson is a good decision. I agree that Robert Duval handles this role well. However his character is in fact very minor, very secondary and in the end lost. Even so, letting Watson finally get to cold cock Holmes was a nice touch. After this scene Dr. Watson mostly disappears having run out of competence or good ideas.Alan Arkin as Dr. Freud is able, except when he cannot decide what his accent should be.Then again, accents are a problem throughout this movie.I almost forgot Sir Laurence Olivier, doing an eloquent and convincing Professor Moriarty. In this movie the evil Moriarty is a put upon, aging mathematics professor and former tutor. Unfortunately he is only needed for about 5 minutes and so bright moment that his performance may be, it is but a brief moment.Every female character is peripheral and underwritten as to be unworthy of comment. Mostly this is not a big deal, except to say that any woman with red hair could have played the Vanessa Redgrave character. Her inclusion was as much a waste of talent as was Joel Gray's. The former drugged out or inert throughout the movie, the latter buried under his costume, makeup and a mumbled, impenetrably accented dialog.The villains are stock, flat and even less intelligent than is usual in a poor movie. The criminal plot is secondary to the issue of the cocaine addiction, and is mostly true to the book. On screen it takes too long and the logical impossibilities are too apparent.Tiny example: two trains begin from the same station, with the same destination and find themselves on parallel tracks. The engine with a fraction of the weight to pull is barely able to overtake the one under higher load. Meantime the evil villains, despite having overwhelming firepower take the occasional pot shots at the slowly overtaking train; then retreat back into their train. This gives the good guys time to complete the mission of daring do, but makes no sense. Perhaps if the entire train chase had been shorter, there would not have been the time to count how many things in this sequence ask for too much suspension of disbelief.Bottom line: worth viewing. More to like than dislike, but only just barely. Given the $18 Price as of June 2013, maybe this is a candidate for pay per view.

After many years of only the Americanized 4:3 version on VHS and very, very short supply of a few DVDs, THIS Blu-ray release finally puts an end to the unbelievable mistake of not producing this movie in it's original screen display format. It was not shot in full cinematic widescreen but is very close to our typical 16:9 TVs. Two years ago the VHS versions of this movie had become so scarce that some were offered on auction sites for up to $125.00 each. In Britain, the original format DVD was available in PAL. There were many bad pirate versions out there. This Bluray offering includes the film in it's original screen format on one DVD disc and on one Blu-ray disc. The movie is fascinating because it is based on a best-selling novel that.. while entertaining some wild extrapalatorical plot devices, stays truer to most of Doyles character development than the typical Sherlock Holmes screenplays. Alan Arkin cast as Freud is one of the greatest castings of all time. Duvall's Watson is the weekest link in the production, but is aging well due to his fidelity to "the limp." This is Vanessa Redgrave's finest part ever (she is more radiant than her Isadora). While Sir Olivier had only a small roll as Prof. Moriarty, he aced it (as you would expect). The one bonus feature is a dusey, where the author of the book explains his work and total surprise at it's massive acceptance. Some rather inexperienced reviewers have compared this film to "Sherlock Holmes" movies but the film can only really be described as the best possible, ever Holmes derivative book and film.

I agree with many of the points in Dunkel's review; this is an okay film, in that it will keep you entertained for the 109min run time, but as a film featuring the world's greatest literary detective, it's a bit of a let down and plot wise, something of a mess.The criminal case doesn't really get going until over half way through the film and until then we're sent down a rabbit hole into Holmes' subconscious, complete with an interesting spin on his relationship with nemesis, Moriarty. This gave me the impression that the criminal case was tacked on and what the writer / director really wanted to do was psychoanalyse Sherlock Holmes. In the end, even this doesn't really get off the ground, as the adventure takes centre stage.The concept of discovering what makes Holmes tick is a tantalising one and in some respects, introducing him to Freud makes for fascinating on-screen chemistry, however, this is all but ruined by the presence of Watson. It's not that Watson as a character gets in the way, indeed, he is central to the psychoanalysis of Sherlock Holmes; as Charles Gray's excellent Mycroft points out, Holmes is Watson's alter ego. The problem, as many have commented, is Robert Duvall, specifically, that his attempt at an English accent is incredible (and not in a good way). Think Keanu Reeves in Bram Stoker's Dracula, add Ewan McGregor's Alec Guinness impersonation from Star Wars, sprinkle in that scene from My Fair Lady, where Audrey Hepburn is trying to warp her exagerrated cockney drawl into the Queen's English, and imagine you've dropped some acid; even then, you're only half way to understanding how terrible it truly is. So much so that I had to rewind the opening monologue to understand what he was saying and then I promptly creased up laughing, wondering if the film was a parody.Not only is Duvall's accent atrocious, but his interpretation of a Victorian English gentleman contorts his whole physical being into something resembling said accent; his abstract interpretation of Watson's limp appears to be the gait of John Wayne, via the Marx Brothers, with Norman Wisdom thrown in for good measure. The whole experience of watching Duvall move and speak lends the entire film a rather surreal edge and tends to detract from everything else going on.In a way this is a shame, as Williamson gives a good performance as Holmes. It's not on a par with Brett, Stephens or Cumberbatch (three of my favourite takes on the character) as he's too warm a personality and even misses a couple of things that should be obvious to Holmes in his sleep (although that's the fault of the scriptwriter, not Williamson). But his portrayal of a genius brought low by the ravages of drug addiction is absorbing and his frantic deductions, that have him perspiring and leaping about all over the place are true to the source material.Overall this film would have been much improved by excluding Watson altogether (as Duvall's acting ensures that he and Williamson have absolutely no on-screen chemistry) and focussing instead on the double-act of Holmes and Freud.This is either a film for those Sherlock Holmes fans who have to devour everything about the character, or those wanting an unintentional comedy on a rainy afternoon. Honestly, Duvall's accent will not disappoint; he's the only person I've ever heard who can put 5 syllables in the word 'Holmes'.

After indulging in a cocaine binge, Sherlock Holmes (Nicol Williamson) is tricked by his loyal friend Dr. Watson (Robert Duvall, whose English accent is inadequate) into a meeting with the renowned psychiatrist Sigmund Freud (Alan Arkin) in Vienna in the hopes that Holmes can be cured of his addiction. While undergoing the cure, Holmes becomes involved in the kidnapping case of an actress (a red haired Vanessa Redgrave). This clever conceit of Sherlock Holmes meets Freud is an inspired idea. Herbert Ross directs the film version of Nicholas Meyer's (who also did the screenplay) novel with panache and wit ... just. If one could wish it were just a little bit better, what we have is clever enough, a classy and elegant entertainment. Williamson's Holmes is a bit too hyper. There's not much difference between the cocaine addled Holmes and the cured Holmes. Ken Adam's detailed production design is grand as are Alan Barrett's Oscar nominated costumes. The grating score is by John Addison and Stephen Sondheim wrote an original song for the film, I Never Do Anything Twice (The Madame's Song) performed by Regine. With Samantha Eggar, Joel Grey, Georgia Brown, Jeremy Kemp, Anna Quayle, Charles Gray and as Holmes' nemesis Dr. Moriarty, a delightful cameo by Laurence Olivier.The Freemantle Media DVD from Great Britain is a handsome anamorphic wide screen (1.85) transfer.

I've just finished watching this and actually said out loud, to the DVD player, 'That was nuts!' I do like a Sherlock Holmes reboot but totally agree with the first reviewer about the inconsistency in tone. In accent terms, Alan Arkin is about the only one who comes out of the regional soup with any dignity - Robert Duvall is playing a version of Watson who learnt English from a remote native tribe, who'd only ever seen it written down. Every time he forces out more than about three words from a mouth apparently full of turnip, he looks unjustifiably self-satisfied as if to say, 'job well done'. I thought Nicol Williamson would be inspired casting but couldn't get past the curious hair and the uncanny resemblance to Richard E. Grant.Having said that, watching the film is an experience like no other - if you can't afford to get drunk, this has pretty much the same effect, helped partly by Sherlock's 'cold turkey' delusions (where else would you see the Hound of the Baskervilles in a wardrobe?) but also by the 'real' events of the film, duel by tennis, Lipizaner assassins, steam train chase, etc. Nice touch about the similarities between Freud and Holmes, and an incredible cast, but this reviewer is left bemused. In a - kind of - good way...

...as were most of the cast. Well written and lots of action(which is a bit more than a usual Holmes film). Some may say its for Holmes fans only but i disagree, Its a good film overall.It is only available as a Reg A bluray/dvd(both in pack) so you will need a multi region player to enjoy this.

The movie itself is a fun and entertaining offering from the Hollywood time period. A bit campy but thoroughly enjoyable.There were definitely delivery issues with the seller, but they made good on their delivery in the end.