Saw DVD Review (Cary Elwes) Empire Movies

SAW DVD REVIEW

Saw
(Lions Gate Home Entertainment)

The Movie

The Extras

Reviewed by

8.5/10

4.5/10

Brendan

I would say Saw is the best psychological thriller since Se7en but the last time I said that I was promised a movie poster that would have my quote on it and I have yet to receive that poster, even though it apparently was published. So instead, I will say that Saw is a fucking good movie. And I apologize for swearing but at least it will not appear on a poster that I will never receive.

Saw is the story of two sorry dudes trapped in a shit-stained room with a dead man lying in the middle of the room. The two men, Dr. Larry Gordon (Cary Elwes - who you might remember from The Princess Bride) and Adam (Leigh Whannell - who you won't remember but he wrote the movie and awarded himself with a starring role) are left with some clues that are scattered throughout the room and are soon faced with the choice of killing each other or severely mutilating themselves to save their own lives and the lives of loved ones. It seems that some psycho named Jigsaw has taken it upon himself to terrorize a city and teach his victims the value of life by putting them in these terrible situations. For years Detective David Tapp (Danny Glover) has been hot on the trail of Jigsaw but has been unable to track him down and now in Saw, we get to witness first hand the psycho's latest "masterpiece".

Saw was one of my favourite movies from last year. If I remember correctly, it made it to #3 on my top ten list from 2004. It is now available on DVD and it is worth checking out for any fans of the psychological thriller. The movie will keep you guessing what is going on right up to the final scenes.

The first thing I must comment about the DVD is the packaging. The packaging and the picture on the actual DVD might be the coolest I have ever seen. The main menu of the DVD is also quite interesting. As for the extras - well, I have to say they are nothing to write home about. The extras include the obligatory commentary, this one by writer/actor Leigh Whannell and director James Wan. The commentary is actually quite good as these two young guys seem really quite taken about how far they have come with this movie. They laugh a lot and Wan mentions over and over how the movie was shot in just 18 days, which I have to admit is quite an accomplishment.

As for the rest of the extras - there is a feature called "'Sawed Off': Inside Sneak Peek at the Making of SAW" which includes interviews with Wan and Whannell. It's only a few minutes long and really isn't anything that special. If you blink, you might miss it. Next up are five TV spots and trailers; the rated and unrated version of the video "Bite the Hand That Bleeds You" by the band Fear Factory; a "Making of the Unrated Video" featurette; and finally a poster gallery.

Although the special features are nothing spectacular, Saw is still a movie that is worth checking out and a must for the collection of any fan of an edge-of-your-seat thriller with a little bit of gore and plenty of thrills and spills.

Features
Commentary with Director James Wan and Writer/Actor Leigh Whannell; "On The Set" Featurette, Music Video for Fear Factory's "Bite the Hand That Bleeds", Making of "Bite the Hand That Bleeds" Music Video, Trailers and TV Spots

Video
Widescreen (1.85:1)

Audio
English DTS 6.1 ES, English Dolby Digital 5.1 EX, English Dolby Digital 2.0

Subtitles
English, Spanish, Closed-Captioned

Release Date
February 15, 2005

Rating
R

Length
100 mins.

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