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List Price: $14.98 | | Label: Lions Gate
Salesrank: 5409
Released: February 15, 2005 |
| Our Price: $3.39 |
| Used Price: $1.06 |
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MPAA Rating: R (Restricted)
Media: DVD |
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Editorial Review:
Obsessed with teaching his victims the value of life a deranged sadistic killer is abducting morally wayward people and forcing them to play horrific games for their own survival. Faced with impossible choices each victim must struggle to win back his/her life or else die trying. Studio: Lions Gate Home Ent. Release Date: 09/23/2008 Starring: Cary Elwes Monica Potter Run time: 100 minutes Rating: R
Description of Saw:
Adam (Leigh Whannell) wakes up in a dank room across from Dr. Lawrence Gordon (Cary Elwes) and the body of a guy who has blown his own brains out. Not a happy place, obviously, and it gets worse when both men realize that they've been chained and pitted against one another by an unseen but apparently omniscient maniac who's screwing with their psyches as payment for past sins. Director James Wan, who concocted this grimy distraction with screenwriter Whannell, has seen Seven and any number of other arty existential-psycho-cat-and-mouse thrillers, so he's provided Saw with a little flash, a little blood, and a lot of ways to distract you from the fact that it doesn't make a whole hell of a lot of sense. Wan and Whannell (who's not the most accomplished actor, either) pile on the plot twists, which after some initially novel ideas become increasingly juvenile. Elwes works hard but looks embarrassed, and the estimable Danny Glover suffers as the obsessed detective on the case. The denouement will probably surprise you, but it won't get you back the previous 98 minutes.--Steve Wiecking
Saw Reviews:
"I've Given Your Life a Purpose" 
2009-11-01 - Initially I will admit that I had no desire whatsoever to watch 'Saw'. My expectations were that it was going to be nothing more than just another one of those splatter films whose sole aim was to nauseate and repulse the audience.
Miracle of miracles, I happened to be wrong. While the gore element is there, for the most part it is an anticipated horror more than an actually realized one (at least by today's standards). For most of the film the terror and dread is psychological in nature and proceeds from an intelligent storyline and a thought-provoking script which dialogues with the audience on such concerns as the nature of life, death and what a person would be willing to do to retain ones life.
For me what really makes the film work is the protagonist nicknamed Jigsaw. While his actions are indeed horrific and grotesque his reasoning comes across as rational, his goals subtle and his attention to detail flawless. Well worth a watch, or two.
My Rating: -3 1/2 Stars-.
Great Film, One Of My Favorites 
2009-10-22 - I love the Saw series, and I noticed that this was a really great price on the UMD format of the film. Overall I am satisfied with the product and I would recommend this movie to anyone who enjoys an intense, gruesome movie experience with a shocking ending!
Bloody but good! 
2009-10-18 - The whole series is very, very gory, but at the same time has a very plausible plot line. Definitely falls within the "Psychological Thriller/Horror" genre. Plus, it has the cute Cary Elwes of "The Princess Bride" one of my favorite movies.
Most people are so ungrateful to be alive, but not you, not any more...
2009-10-17 - Watch Video Here: http://www.amazon.com/review/R34GA1TG3PBOPT
Untitled's Rants and Raves Defending The Ingenuity Of Saw
2009-06-19 - Unlike some movies, Saw is one that I have wanted to see ever since I saw the trailer way back in 2004. Of course, my age is the only thing that was really setting my back, as there was no way a middle schooler my age was ever going to see it (at least in my household). Fortuntately, that disappeared quite fast, but it wasn't until yesterday night I finally got to watching the DVD (I also purcashed Saw 2 and I am already considering on getting Saw 3. I'm not sure about Saw 4 and Saw 5, however) a few weeks ago, along with Saw 2 and Fight Club (all less than [...] bucks! What a steal!)
Anyway, It seems like the wait was worth it. Saw, really on all parts, hits well, much more than the idiot critics who think otherwise. The acting certainly BIG TIME _________ exceeds High School Theater (meaning it's better than average, or at least GETS THE JOB DONE AND DARN WELL), and the sets and visual style are stylish. What makes it even more impressive is the budget of this movie, which is a mere 1.2 million (as much as Reservoir Dogs, which was released 12 years earlier). That makes this figure seem more impressive since this movie seems so polished and well-made. The sets themselves are gritty, industrial decayed, and grimy, just the way I like it! This movie shows that low budget doesn't automatically mean Ed Wood (though that's kind of unfair, because, come on, who doesn't love the hilariously so bad it's good flicks of Ed Wood?).
To be honest, I often don't feel that Saw is a horror movie. SOme people seem to _____ about Saw being more gruesome than scary, thinking it's trying to hard to scare. I say those people can go _______ themselves and go back to trying to submit yourself to the most extreme use of violence, gore, and $#%. YAWN. I also say that I view Saw as more of a thriller, with a psychological aspect and more emphasis on gore than a usual thriller. If anything, the pain some of people are subject to may be a horror element, but there not enough of that (at least in this movie) to make this a horror movie. I don't know, just my take on why Saw isn't as scary as people are making it out to be.
Jigsaw and the movie in general has been compared to Seven quite a bit, and while I think that they are somewhat similar in some senses, Jigsaw is a much more interesting and complex character. The "killer", John Kramer, actually has a shred of moral in him, at least showing some hope for the person, unlike John Doe did. Yeah, I'm kind of rambling on here, but I think Saw has some pretty good character development, and does a good job showing the vices of the characters Jigsaw picked to test. That's one reason why this movie has a psychological aspect to it, which makes it a lot better than the other lame "torture porn" (which is a silly and unfair label for Saw) films such as Hostel (I'll save that one for later?).
The movie even ends great, as it sets up the movie that it satisfies both the need for a sequel, yet if you think you understand the motives and characters enough, there's no need to really watch the other ones (I disagree with the latter, but that's only beacuse I find interest in the series more than others). It doesn't quite make a five star rating, but that doesn't really mean much anyway. There is nothing wrong with Saw, so that means you should see it and avoid all the negative baggage this movie gets.
B+
