an almost perfect modern noir movie

Rating: Null/10 (8 July 2000)

First, I have to say that I agree with a lot of what's being said here about this film, so I won't repeat them, but maybe add a bit to what was said. If you haven't seen the movie yet, when I say spoiler, just skip to the next paragraph.
While I agree that this film was well made, I think it's a bit of an exaggeration, Abominabledrphibes (and others), to say that it's among the best ever made, and precisely because of one of the points you made, that some parts were just too graphic, but also because of what I see as some flaws in the plot.
For me, the explicitly graphic shots was what took the film down a notch from "Suspense" towards mere "Horror". While they did leave some of the murders to our imaginations, I felt they could have left a little more to our imaginations in general. For me, this is what makes "Se7en" not quite as good as Hitchcock's best work. (Then again, didn't Hitchcock say that he would have liked to put more explicit things in his films? I'll have to re-read "Hitchcock" by Truffant.)
The version shown in Europe is a few minutes longer, so maybe the US version has the worst bits cut out and would be more to my taste. (I'd like to know what they cut out!) If there's a TV version, I'd probably recommend that over the full uncut version.
There were also a few other aspects that felt like typical Hollywood manipulative filmmaking that for me made "Se7en" less than "the perfect film". One scene that comes to mind is when both of the detectives are at home and going to sleep -- maybe the characters did feel a sense of foreboding, but the soundtrack at that point was just too strong, using music that would probably fit better when the characters are about to discover something gruesome.
I guess this is a general complaint that I have about Hollywood, relying too much on just the music to tell you how to feel or interpret a scene. But I have to give some credit here, that they didn't rely on this technique nearly as much in "Se7en" as in other (weaker) films. For the most part, I thought the soundtrack supported the plot and mood, and there were only a few places where it seemed manipulative.
I have to praise the way they did the ending, where neither explicitly gruesome shots nor heavy soundtrack got in the way. I think, though, that by the end, I was already numbed so much that it didn't quite have such an impact when things got "personal." (possible spoiler!!!!) Sorry, I didn't think the package at the end was much of a surprise, but the seventh murder -- that was a great twist!
On the topic of soundtrack, I should also say that I found the music selections really great, the Bach piece included, though mostly I mean the heavy punk stuff. I think the IMDB info needs to be completed here. Amazon.com says the soundtrack includes Gravity Kills and Haircut 100 as well as some jazz pieces. (Yes, I read the guidelines, I'll make an appropriate "update" comment.)
I agree that other detective films are going to have to be compared to "Se7en". It sets a standard that other films will fail to live up to. While this wasn't a film about excellent detective work, just good, dedicated detectives doing good work (I thought it was a little more realistic that they found their man somewhat on accident -- in the real world things often happen that way), I thought the character development (and casting) put this film in a class above ones like "Silence of the Lambs." It belongs on the very short list of excellent modern "film noir."
Casting, everything excellent: Freeman is a solid foundation, Pitt adds some bang, and Spacey wraps it all up.
Direction -- wow. I was lucky enough to see "Se7en" in a double feature with Fight Club. David Fincher goes on my list of directors I will excitedly wait to see more from, though I won't be taking many friends because of the strong stomach he seems to require from viewers.
Character development -- except for the Pitt's character's wife, as mentioned before, I thought the they filled out the personalities pretty well.
Story -- I have to disagree with a few of the negative reviews here, I think seven deaths for the seven sins is rather creative, and the seventh murder, well, if that wasn't creative... I just hope no crazy out there gets the same idea. As for the plot, I thought there were a couple of holes (or maybe just unanswered questions) maybe I just didn't catch some of the dialog (send me a private message if you can answer these) (spoiler???) What really happened to the Freeman's character's "wife" and kid? (spoiler!!!) Did she get killed by someone he was investigating, too? And (big spoiler!!!) Fincher didn't give me any reason to believe that Pitt's character would be convicted by any jury, though he would loose his badge.
I know that most of what I'm writing here is nit-picking. I thought this film was excellent, so I'm only pointing out flaws in what could have been a perfect film. So, on with the nit-picking:
Some of you guys wrote that "Se7en" is a realistic depiction of the sometimes gruesome world we live in. Sorry, I don't think it was perfectly realistic. Yes, our society is really screwed up many ways, especially when it comes to murder and violence and for the most part, this one pulls it off, showing us this with great style. (lots of spoilers!!!) But, like in Fight Club, where the murderer manipulates the cops into doing his bidding, I thought the killer here was also just a bit too all-powerful, all-knowing. If the detectives caught him off guard at his apartment, why was the place conveniently wiped of fingerprints? How did he know that Pitt's character would be the one to keep guard over him in the end and that Freeman would be the one to run to the van? How did he manage to show up at the police station just at the time the detectives arrived there, and do we really believe that a guy with bloody hands and shirt would go unnoticed by a station full of cops until he called attention to himself? Or the biggest problem to me -- just arranging for the detectives and package to all work out the way it did (and pulling off a quick little murder in between) sorry, I didn't think that was realistic. Not just the odds of the ending being timed right, but that this excruciatingly methodical, patient killer would be so cavalier about risking the completion of his perfect seven deaths. And this last point is probably just being silly, but in real life, it doesn't rain hard all the time (even in Seattle), some rooms are actually well-lit and there certainly isn't scary music playing in the background when I think about how evil the world is.
One quick question here, I didn't catch it: (MAJOR spoiler!!!) which of the seven sins was Spacey's character supposed to be guilty of? (And why isn't murder one of the seven sins?!)
OK, time to wrap things up. (I'm sure I'm close to the 1000 word limit!) Despite all of the things I said above, I did like this movie, and give it a very high rating: 3 1/2 stars out of 4!