Saw

[EinhanderZwei]

Some time ago I've managed to familiarize myself with this horror series. I've ignored the movies when they were first released, because I was thinking that it's another PG-13 pseudo-horror with half-naked cheerleaders running around from the killer... and thank God, I was 100% wrong. Overall, the idea of teaching the humans to be humane is such a violent way is brilliant, because still none of the ripoffs and similar films have utilized this concept. So here're my grades on all the Saw films (spoilers may follow):

1 - regarded as the best in the series, and I don't beg to differ. 10/10
2 - of course, inferior to the prequel (as all the sequels are), and may seem a bit bland. Still, the bath-filled-with-used-syringes trap was awesome. 7/10
3 - way better than the second, thanks to tight story, some really memorable scenes and fantastic performance by Angus MacFadyen. 9/10
4 - that's were they started milking the franchise for bucks, and it resulted in my least favorite film in the series. 6/10
5 - actually pretty nice. Not as good as 1 or 3, but way better than 4. 7/10
6 - as solid as 5, but the 'here's what actually happened' plot twist starts to really get old. 7/10
7/3D - could be better as The Epic Grand Finale, but as another sequel it's amazing. There's a couple of moments so gross that thay made me wanna puke (and I saw it in 2D). The final death scene is just shocking. Of all the people who died in all the films and maybe even deserved it, the most innocent character got it worst than anyone. Fuckin' sad... 9/10

Overall, I think that Saw is one of the most important modern horror/thriller series, modern day equivalent of Universal/Hammer horror flicks and 80s slashers. And that's really not bad

[drauch]

Overall, I think that Saw is one of the most important modern horror/thriller series, modern day equivalent of Universal/Hammer horror flicks and 80s slashers. And that's really not bad

Equivalent? Hell no. At best they could be compared to the major slasher film series only in their popularity and numerous amount, for the films themselves are garbage. Comparing the Saw films to classic Universal films like The Invisible Man and Frankenstein, and even Hammer films like Tomb of Dracula and the like is almost criminal. Those were all fine pieces of film, for the Saw franchise does nothing more but to out-shock it's predecessor.

[EinhanderZwei]

At best they could be compared to the major slasher film series only in their popularity and numerous amount

That's what I basically meant - not quality, but numbers of sequels and popularity. I agree, Saw is nothing even compared to Friday The 13th, yeah, but at least it has no competitors (maybe except of Hostel, but it lasted for two films only)

[Skykid]

Saw isn't an 'important' series of films, just a fairly enjoyable horror theme that didn't get old as quickly as I expected. The second film was the worst in my book, a terrible pile of junk all round. The quality of the stories fluctuates from that point, with the one with the brain op being particularly memorable and that one with the insurance salesman and the shotgun roundabout being a return to form.

The 3D one was so gory it was unreal.

[EinhanderZwei]

The 3D one was so gory it was unreal.

Yeah, more disgusting than scary

[Aguraki]

1st one was great.
never made pas 2nd its too disgusting and I love horror movies but not tortures scene like that and a lot of recent movies too.
horror movies these days looks like porn,right in the gore and torture,nothing else.
do not want.

[maxlords]

I thought the first one was absolutely brilliant but a bit over the top. I watched the second one and it was complete ass...haven't seen another since. The thing I HATe about this series is that it triggered an entire generation of ridiculously over the top gore movies who's ENTIRE purpose is to be as gory as possible....a whole subset of torture movie fans basically. I absolutely cannot stand the damn things either.

I like my horror movies scary.....I want tension and paranoia, not gorefests. Too much focus on the blod and guts and not enough focus on storytelling in a lot of modern horror. It leaves me cold.

[Skykid]

I thought the first one was absolutely brilliant but a bit over the top. I watched the second one and it was complete ass...haven't seen another since. The thing I HATe about this series is that it triggered an entire generation of ridiculously over the top gore movies who's ENTIRE purpose is to be as gory as possible....a whole subset of torture movie fans basically. I absolutely cannot stand the damn things either.

I like my horror movies scary.....I want tension and paranoia, not gorefests. Too much focus on the blod and guts and not enough focus on storytelling in a lot of modern horror. It leaves me cold.

I agree, although I was surprised at how much I found Hostel almost unwatchable but at the same time surprisingly good.

You're right about the gore on overdrive in Saw, however there are a couple of others you haven't seen that are noteworthy for having semi-decent plot writing (those mentioned in the above post - can't remember which numbers they were though.)

[BryanM]

Movies should be rated X. But if you're a big studio, you own the ratings board and can get things knocked down a tier or two.

For reference, Elvira, Mistress of the Dark, and Terminator 2 are also rated R.

[maxlords]

They don't rate anything but porn X anymore because it's the kiss of death....no one will show an "X" for gore rated movie in a theater anymore.

FYI....just to give a reference...the uncut version of Robocop was rated X I honestly don't think they would have allowed movies like the Saw series and Hostel to see the light of day then....the writers and directors would have been blacklisted. Maybe that's not such a bad thing either...

[dunpeal2064]

I would have much prefered the first movie to be left alone. I was in shock when I first saw (heh heh, get it?) that movie, but each one after just got worse and worse (although 3 was a bit better than 2)

I would've liked it to not be a ridiculous series like most horror movies end up. But then again, they are trying to make money, and that would not have been a good way to do it

[BryanM]

You do get slammed with an NC-17 for violence if you're not inside the rich guy's club.

The wonderful double standard that women are extra dirty, etc... these folks control a lot of how our world view develops. That Saw is as traumatizing as a woman's titty is ridiculous.

[DJ Incompetent]

The Saw series is excellent for something that went beyond a trilogy and was being released one a year.

Plot holes were getting out of control in a bad way toward the end, but tying Saw 1 into 7 was pretty neat.

EinhanderZwei, thumbs up.

[Mortificator]

The X rating was replaced by NC-17 a while back. I'm just nitpicking by pointing this out, though; it's the same concept.

I've though of watching the first Saw, but the big twist was spoiled for me right after the film was released, so I'm not sure if there'd be a point.

[Heartwork]

I saw the first three. The first one is pretty good, the second and third are total garbage, and I haven't bothered watching any of them since then.

[GaijinPunch]

So is the entire series just fucking disgusting? Seems like it would cross my line of entertainment versus gore. I'm not into that shit. I almost wigged out when I watched Deer Hunter high as a kite.

[EinhanderZwei]

Saw to me is like Metal Gear Solid or Resident Evil of movies: it has some parts that suck ass, bullshit twists, gross scenes, but the story is really original (compared to all that PG-13 shit floating when the first movie was released), and the characters are rather believable. Each of them has things to sympathise, whether it's Jigsaw himself with his vision of life and death, or Detective Hoffman with his 'I'm tired of all this shit'-attitude, or even that hysterical bitch Amanda with her brutality and refusal to compromise Saw made me CARE about horror movie characters again after a lot of 'fuck him, he'll die anyway' Scream ripoffs

[maxlords]

So is the entire series just fucking disgusting? Seems like it would cross my line of entertainment versus gore. I'm not into that shit. I almost wigged out when I watched Deer Hunter high as a kite.

The first one is different. It's still quite disturbing but it's a PHENOMENAL movie in and of itself. The first thing I thought when I saw a sequel was coming was "Why would you make a sequel to a movie that perfect?" It'll still probably freak ya right out....but it's DAMNED good. Still makes me uncomfortable tho lol

The others from what I understand (have only seen 1 and 2) go more and more towards gore for gore's sake with a story wrapped around it. They're the benchmark for torture/gore movies it seems like....

[DJ Incompetent]

So is the entire series just fucking disgusting? Seems like it would cross my line of entertainment versus gore. I'm not into that shit. I almost wigged out when I watched Deer Hunter high as a kite.

It's kinda like watching a that one Spike TV show 1000 Ways to Die, but with the uncomfortableness of watchin' a dude get his nuts kicked in a few times and you can't help but cup your own balls because ow that looks reeeeally painful.

Then the story is like B- grade early M.Night Shyamalan cop thriller.

I kinda lob Saw into psychological thriller more than calling them straight-up horror movies.
I say give the series an honest shot. Both for the traps and the story. See them in order, stop when you feel like it.

[EinhanderZwei]

I say give the series an honest shot. Both for the traps and the story. See them in order, stop when you feel like it.

Ya, that makes sense. Saw is truly one of those 'see and judge for yourself' movies. Personally I wasn't that much engrossed until part 7

[Jockel]

Having seen 1 and 3 i never touched the series again.
The first one was decent, the third one was utterly retarded.
It's like they just threw up some shitty story to tie the gore scenes together.

[PC Engine Fan X!]

They don't rate anything but porn X anymore because it's the kiss of death....no one will show an "X" for gore rated movie in a theater anymore.

FYI....just to give a reference...the uncut version of Robocop was rated X I honestly don't think they would have allowed movies like the Saw series and Hostel to see the light of day then....the writers and directors would have been blacklisted. Maybe that's not such a bad thing either...

It was the "Henry & June" flick that first got the NC-17 rating for the U.S. based theaters. Most regional chain theaters won't even show such NC-17 rated films anyways. The USA-based (Motion Picture Association of America) MPAA currently, is quite hard-ass about what can be shown and what can't be shown, hence the digitally blacked out parts in some scenes. Back in the 1970s and the 1980s, the MPAA was more lax in terms of content shown but that isn't the case nowdays.

Tarantino's Kill Bill Vol.1 would've been rated NC-17 if the famous Crazy 88 gang killing spree scene was shown in full color for it's USA theaterical release but MPAA said that it had to be shown in "black & white" montage format to get the more respectable "R" rating for a proper nationwide release. The Japanese theatrical version (and JPN region 2 DVD/Blu-Ray versions) of Kill Bill Vol. 1 still retains the Crazy 88 gang killing spree in full glorious color for that unaltered effect.

It's quite tough to please the MPAA head honchos, despite what the director really wants his or her vision unaltered when shown on the big screen. Of course, there's always the direct to video market for such an unaltered and uncut films that the director intended them to be seen.

When Saw 7/Saw 3-D finally was released for the U.S. DVD/Blu-Ray/Blu-Ray 3D marketbase, some certain scenes that were originally shown theatrically were removed and some other alternative filmed scenes were inserted instead. This really does change how the final Saw film moves along in terms of storyline and pacing if taken in that context.

Another interesting gore horror/torture flick in the Saw franchise related vein is "The Collector" with it's twists & spins along with some devious mechanical traps setup for it's unsuspecting victims. Some of the folks whom worked on the previous Saw films had a hand in making this "TC" flick indeed.

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

[GaijinPunch]

The Japanese theatrical version (and JPN region 2 DVD/Blu-Ray versions) of Kill Bill Vol. 1 still retains the Crazy 88 gang killing spree in full glorious color for that unaltered effect.

Guess I saw it in it's originality in the theater then.

It's quite tough to please the MPAA head honchos,

Oliver Stone has a nice take on their censorship in the Natural Born Killers bonus material. He states they made NBK far more intense since the cuts took away some of the black humor.

[BryanM]

Tarantino's Kill Bill Vol.1 would've been rated NC-17 if the famous Crazy 88 gang killing spree scene was shown in full color for it's USA theaterical release but MPAA said that it had to be shown in "black & white" montage format to get the more respectable "R" rating for a proper nationwide release.

Naw, what the fuck?

An upbeat, happy little fight scene is worse than the torture/murder porn in Saw and Hellraiser? Seriously?

[PC Engine Fan X!]

Tarantino's Kill Bill Vol.1 would've been rated NC-17 if the famous Crazy 88 gang killing spree scene was shown in full color for it's USA theaterical release but MPAA said that it had to be shown in "black & white" montage format to get the more respectable "R" rating for a proper nationwide release.

Naw, what the fuck?

An upbeat, happy little fight scene is worse than the torture/murder porn in Saw and Hellraiser? Seriously?

Whatever was going through the minds of the MPAA movie reviewers when they saw the first cut of Kill Bill Vol. 1, that's what prompted the NC-17 rating initially.

I used to watch those campy 1970s dubbed kung-fu flicks that would come on Saturday afternoons back in the early 1980s and some of them had some really crazy fight scenes with lots of fake blood everywhere (hence the famous "Crazy 88" bloodbath scene homage)...this was during the era when it was popular to watch those ninja flicks on the big screen. This would not be happening nowdays, of course.

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

[ChurchOfSolipsism]

Tarantino's Kill Bill Vol.1 would've been rated NC-17 if the famous Crazy 88 gang killing spree scene was shown in full color for it's USA theaterical release but MPAA said that it had to be shown in "black & white" montage format to get the more respectable "R" rating for a proper nationwide release. The Japanese theatrical version (and JPN region 2 DVD/Blu-Ray versions) of Kill Bill Vol. 1 still retains the Crazy 88 gang killing spree in full glorious color for that unaltered effect.

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

Careful: the b/w-thing is not the only difference between the Japanese and the international version. The japanese version also has more gore. Look up the differences on the net.

Re the Saw films, as most other people I can't take them seriously (I don't think there's anything brilliant about the concept of the death machines, it's a plot device that could have been invented by a couple of 15 year olds; dumb, but effective) but they're full of pretty disgusting gore and sometimes that's all I want from a film. Entertaining trash.There's not much more you can say about those films.

While we're on teh subject of guilty pleasures, what is people's opinion here on Pirhana 3D?

[PC Engine Fan X!]

Considering that Pirhana 3D pays homage to the original Pirhana flicks (famous director James Cameron had a hand in making the Pirhana II: The Spawning sequel). It's available on Blu-Ray 3D format as well as DVD and standard Blu-Ray.

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~