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Saw
Jun 16, 2007 4:00:59 GMT -5
Post by CT on Jun 16, 2007 4:00:59 GMT -5
(2004) Directed by James WanObsessed with teaching his victims the value of life, a deranged, sadistic serial killer abducts the morally wayward. Once captured, they must face impossible choices in a horrific game of survival. The victims must struggle to win back his or her life, or else die trying...
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Rate this movie one a scale of 0 - 5 stars. (5 being the 'best'!)
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Saw
Jun 16, 2007 10:30:14 GMT -5
Post by GL on Jun 16, 2007 10:30:14 GMT -5
“Saw” is a great new twist on a horror movie.
**SPOILERS**
Dr. Lawrence Gordon (Cary Elwes) and Adam (Leigh Whannell) wake up in a dirty bathroom, chained to opposite ends of the room, with a dead man between them and no idea how they got there. Looking around the room, they find a tape recorder and several tapes, each one explaining a game for them to play to get out alive. Larry thinks this is similar to a case he had heard about several months earlier about a serial killer that finds ways for his victims to kill themselves. Detective Tapp (Danny Glover) and his partner (Ken Lueng) were trailing the killer, nicknamed the 'Jigsaw Killer' for several years and have failed to catch him. As they look around the room, finds a saw in the toilet, but they aren't sharp enough to cut through the chains around their feet; they are sharp enough to cut through their feet. The two detectives finally get a break on the case and follow the lead to a warehouse, but only Tapp comes out alive. It seems that has a certain history with Larry, and this causes a bit of tension between the two. As they try to get out of their predicament, they both come to realize that the three people have a history together that none of them could've figured.
The Good News: The main thing I can see is that this film has the kind of ending most films can only hope to have. It is so original, yet it so perfectly fits with the film. It did come out of left field, though, but what was so great is that, when thinking back logically about it, the ending does make a great deal of sense. It blew me away because of the originality of it. The film could've ending in several different ways because of the way it was set up, but yet they chose the one that no one thought of. It is the main reason to see the movie, but another good reason is the storyline. It is a very simple story: two people trapped in a room, no way to connect to the outside world, and have an hour and a half to resolve it. Five years ago, that film would've never been green-lighted, and yet, the film-makers were able to wrap an entertaining story around that premise and it was released into theaters. That is a great compliment to the film-makers, who did make a very entertaining movie. I do wish there could've been a bit more blood and gore in the film, but film does have a few good gore FX. The dead body at the beginning does have a very bloody head-wound, and the first death, the maze of barbed wire is also pretty bloody. The traps that were set by Jigsaw are extremely clever, the scenarios the victims are put into. The way that they have to do something so vicious to escape or they themselves die is the smartest twist on the serial killer theme in recent memory. The killer is very creative, as nobody knows when he sets up a trap for people. The traps where elaborate and could be beaten, but yet in the interest of the movie, only one person, prior to Gordon and Adam is shown to have survived the madman. I could not say enough about how smart this film is. It isn't a brainy film, but yet it introduces many different clues and items into the mix that all logically solve themselves out at a later date, is a clever move.
The Bad News: There is only one very small complaint I have on “Saw”: It doesn't show more of the traps that Jigsaw sets up for people. There are only four in the entire movie, and three are shown in flashbacks. Those four do show how mentally creative the killer is, and how much more psychotic and smart he would be if we were shown a few more examples of that brilliant-ness?
The Final Verdict: This isn't a cut-and-dried horror film, but it is a very clever psycho-thriller that is just as creative as 'Silence of the Lambs,' and just as entertaining. This is film all people who are into serial-killer films will definitely want to check it out, while those who are looking for the next smart horror film will also want to think heavily about seeing it.
Rated R: Violence, Adult Language, and children in jeopardy
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Canetoad
The Prodigal Toad
HMaM member of the Month, July 2006
Cry Havoc! And let slip the cats of war.
Posts: 2,868
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Saw
Jun 17, 2007 5:44:51 GMT -5
Post by Canetoad on Jun 17, 2007 5:44:51 GMT -5
Nice review GL - as usual. Now which rotten bastard gave this one star eh?
I love this film, it's not perfect, and suffers a touch from its obviously low budget, but I applaud the fact the we have a new franchise to enjoy rather than another remake!
And there is a touch of parochialism here too. 2 Aussies wrote the script, spent $7000 filming one scene and went to LA where a studio picked it up and gave them US$1.2 million to play with. It took $50 million in its first four weeks of release.
It twists, it turns, it surprises... and is a generally all-round satisfying experience. 4 from Toad
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Saw
Jun 17, 2007 10:25:07 GMT -5
Post by GL on Jun 17, 2007 10:25:07 GMT -5
Nice review GL - as usual. Now which rotten bastard gave this one star eh? Thanks, but that was me. Even though it's a positive review, that was first impressions of the film. The one star is how I feel now, as re-watches have really soured this one. I never changed the review because that's how I felt on first impression, the one which means the most to me. I don't care if I've soured on a film since, I leave it the way I felt when I first watched it.
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Saw
Jun 18, 2007 6:22:44 GMT -5
Post by The Walking Dude on Jun 18, 2007 6:22:44 GMT -5
I gave this a 4.
plain and simply the best damn horror movie in a loooong time and far and away the greatest film i have seen on the big screen.
the ankle sawing scene is one of the most intense i have ever witnessed right up there with some of the greatest of Argentos set pieces.
Finally there came a movie that was not ashamed of what it was a horror film- one that worked on a psychological as well as visceral level for me AND didnt insult the intelligence of a fan who had been watching this stuff since childhood.
Not to mention it introduced the greatest horror villain in many a year one who could be as reasonable as he was vicious and dare i say it sympathetic-but certainly not pathetic(to paraphrase the man himself)
Tobin Bell was a great choice for this roll his voice IMO is second only to the greatest horror actor who ever lived.............
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Canetoad
The Prodigal Toad
HMaM member of the Month, July 2006
Cry Havoc! And let slip the cats of war.
Posts: 2,868
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Saw
Jun 18, 2007 8:31:21 GMT -5
Post by Canetoad on Jun 18, 2007 8:31:21 GMT -5
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Saw
Jun 18, 2007 15:28:00 GMT -5
Post by razors on Jun 18, 2007 15:28:00 GMT -5
Saw is better than the sequals, in my opinion. I think that when Saw II was made, they tried to make it a gore-fest, and I DO like the sequals, but I liked it more before it had so much gore. I love gore but to me, a clever and exciting movie is more important than brains being splattered everywhere. This movie is clever, it's tense, it has scares, shocks, bloody moments and best of all...The best twist ending ever. This remains one of my favourite horror movies, along with "Child's Play". 5/5. It's origional, it's clever and it's very exciting. Brilliant movie.
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Saw
Jun 18, 2007 15:49:31 GMT -5
Post by Jen on Jun 18, 2007 15:49:31 GMT -5
Personally, not much of a fan of the series, and this film is on my overrated list.... I like the claustrophobic feel of the film, I think it is a good premise and the death scenes are set up well. But the overacting (what the hell was Elwes thinking here, he ruined it for me) and the end killed it. I have to say, I didn't see the twist coming, but at the same time, it was so completely ridiculous to me that I laughed. And I don't want the end of a film like this to make me laugh. It gets a 2 from me.
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HNT
Grizzled HMaM Vet
Horror in General & Everything Else Moderator[/i]
Kiss my tuchis
Posts: 6,296
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Saw
Jun 18, 2007 17:59:46 GMT -5
Post by HNT on Jun 18, 2007 17:59:46 GMT -5
I gave it 3 and I agree with JEn that this is way overrated. I find Seven to be a much better film that uses a reletively similar plot construction. Not only was the twist ending forced, it wasn't particulalry interesting either. Frankly, I hope that the horror genre continues to shy away from the Sixth Sense fad which seemed to demand that every new horror film had to have soe twist ending whether it was appropriate or not. Ths was a victim of that trend
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Saw
Jun 21, 2007 17:51:48 GMT -5
Post by The Walking Dude on Jun 21, 2007 17:51:48 GMT -5
I'm not a fan of the Twist ending fad either,but i don't think Saw was a victim of that trend at all. The end was the final piece of the 'jigsaw puzzle' that gives the villain and film its name.
That's the thing with this series-we the audience as well as the characters are given all the pieces to the puzzle(usually in the first half hour) we just have to figure out where to put them. It's a series where the dialogue is as important(if not more so) as the images. Jigsaw always tells the characters(and us) how to play-and win his game,It's just we don't listen.Maybe it's because we have become so used to horror films that spoon feed everything to us and have characters speak for the sake of saying something. well to that i say GAME OVER
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Saw
Jun 22, 2007 10:25:44 GMT -5
Post by GL on Jun 22, 2007 10:25:44 GMT -5
I still dig the twist at the end of Part 1. Caught me by surprise and never expected it for a single second. Furthest thing from my mind, and is one of the few things I still like about it.
The thing is, Part 2 did the exact same thing only switched the genders. It was more the shock of actually using the exact same ending as it's predecessor and the gall to actually use it again got me more than the actual gimmick used. Not at all appreciated.
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Saw
Jun 22, 2007 11:22:19 GMT -5
Post by Jen on Jun 22, 2007 11:22:19 GMT -5
I gave it 3 and I agree with JEn that this is way overrated. I find Seven to be a much better film that uses a reletively similar plot construction. Not only was the twist ending forced, it wasn't particulalry interesting either. Frankly, I hope that the horror genre continues to shy away from the Sixth Sense fad which seemed to demand that every new horror film had to have soe twist ending whether it was appropriate or not. Ths was a victim of that trend I agree; its the same problem I had with High Tension. They were more worried about the "shock" of the ending (though in that one I saw it coming from a mile away) then actually making it fit in with the story. I have said it before, it was almost like there was someone behind the camera saying "AHA....bet you didn't see THAT coming....we fooled you!" It didn't feel like a natural part of the story. I don't have a problem with twist endings as long as the writers seem to be paying attention to their own story, and it doesn't feel as if it was just thrown in there to make people go "whoa, what the hell was that?" Saw seems to think it is something it is not, feels like everyone working on it honestly believes it is smarter than it is, in my opinion. I agree that Seven was the far better film, and had the better, more believable villian. Jigsaw is a self righteous, self important prick who is just not all that scary. John Doe had those qualities, but the difference was he WAS scary. The film was better acted, and had a better feel, and had much better writing. Too much of Saw was outright boring to me. Sure it had some good qualities, and it could have been great. But it just didn't work for me. And Elwes, an actor I have often liked, well, he was just painful to watch and to be honest killed a lot of it for me.
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Saw
Jul 8, 2007 15:39:59 GMT -5
Post by razors on Jul 8, 2007 15:39:59 GMT -5
The twists are becomng less and less impressive. There's no way they could match the twist in the origional movie.
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Saw
Dec 9, 2009 15:24:26 GMT -5
Post by abraxas on Dec 9, 2009 15:24:26 GMT -5
Trendy crap, never saw it never will.
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Saw
Dec 10, 2009 10:56:06 GMT -5
Post by GL on Dec 10, 2009 10:56:06 GMT -5
Deserves a blessing, fantastic way of thinking.
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