Baby Melissa Skye born on Saturday 29 March 2008. Nearly 21 months old now, running around and into...
Baby Melissa Skye born on Saturday 29 March 2008. Nearly 21 months old now, running around and into everything! Not been on Ciao for a while, been busy with Melissa and part time work, hope to be back on here soon. 091209.
Member since:22.04.2001
Reviews:226
Members who trust:26
I was sent Saw by my DVD rental club in error and did not think that it was the sort of film that I would enjoy, however I thought that I would give it a go.
After 10 minutes i was hooked and had to watch the whole film.
CAST +++++
Dr Lawrence Gordon - Cary Elwes Adam - Leigh Whannell Detective Trapp - Danny Glover
BASIC STORYLINE ++++++++++++++++
Dr Lawrence Gordon awakens from a drugged sleep and is in a dark room. He can hear that there is somebody else in the room. Dr Gordon finds himself chained to a pipe in a filthy dirty and I mean nasty, bathroom, with another man (Adam) chained to a pipe across the room. The two men do not know each other. In the middle of the room is a dead body in a huge pool of blood. In one hand he has a gun, in the other he has a small tape player.
After listening to their tapes the men realize that they are the latest victims of the Jigsaw Killer, a maniac who uses weird traps to test his victims will to live.
Dr Gordon is given six hours plus a bullet in order to save his life and his family. Each man is given a message by way of a tape, along with a hacksaw.
Detective Tapp has been chasing the Jigsaw killer over a personal grievance. Now pensioned off the police force he is nearly as insane as the killer and determined to catch
him.
From then on you are totally gripped by the story as you wonder, will either man survive, will they kill the other in order to survive? Will Dr Gordon save his family? Does the Detective finally catch the sick killer who ruined his life and career?
How much blood would you shed to stay alive?
Congratulations, you're still alive. Most people are so ungrateful to be alive. But not you. Not anymore…
"Live or die, make your choice."
SUMMARY +++++++++
The film is a good idea for a thriller. Two men are thrown together, the only way to escape appears to be to kill the other. The film pushes the boundaries of human nature. What is acceptable to do to others in order to save yourself?
The film has a lot of flashbacks as we see how each of the men ended up in the room together. We also see how the Jigsaw killer has killed some of his other victims and we start to realise that this is one sick guy. He sets up these terrible situations that his victims have to escape from. The Jigsaw killer wants to know how badly these people want to live. To what extremes will they go to in order to save themselves?
You also see more about the life of Dr Gordon and his family. Adam's life is not really explored and I don't think that enough was done to make you really care about either character. I wanted to know what happened but I didn't really care if they lived or died!
I think you realise early on that there is probably not going to be a happy ending to this film. It is very reminiscent of Se7en, which was a very dark film in the same genre.
The actors playing the two men are ok, but some of the perfomances are a bit patchy and wooden, like I said I really didn't care if they made it or not, there was nothing to like about either guy really. Cary Elwes plays the doctor as confused, angry, childish, and finally furious as he does whatever is necessary to save his family.
Leigh Whannell plays Adam, the stranger who holds the key to Dr Gordon being able to escape, but is Dr Gordon able to kill another man in order to save himself?
At the start of the film you see Adam in a bath and you see something disappearing down the plughole? I was desperate to know what this was and you don't find out until the end of the film.
The Jigsaw Killer does not actually murder anybody with his bare hands, he just makes it difficult for people to survive his little traps and games.
The Detective is a man possessed. He is totally obsessed with catching the Jigsaw killer, even though he is no longer a policeman. How far will he go in order to catch him?
I think that the Detective was the character that I most empathised with. I could not get attached to the two trapped men. I did want to know what happened to them, but I was more interested in the Detective!
I dont know why but I expected a circular saw to feature somwhere in this movie but it doesn't!
I would not call the film gory as it does not show too many horrific things, it is more the idea of what is going on than buckets of blood and gore. It is a very good horror/suspense movie.
As with all good thrillers there is a huge twist at the end of the film, which I was not expecting. It just comes out of nowhere! There are a couple of questions left unanswered which I hate when I watch a film, but I suppose that is why they make sequals!
I have reviewed this as film only as there were no special features on the rental film that I watched.
INTERESTING FACTS +++++++++++++++++
Saw was originally intended as a straight-to-video release. After some positive screenings, it was released at the cinemas first.
The film was shot in 18 days and all of the bathroom scenes were shot in just six days.
The actors had no rehearsals. The rehearsal takes were used as part of the film.
MY PERSONAL OPINION ++++++++++++++++++++
An excellent film. I can't wait to watch Saw 2 now. It is not very often that a film makes me give it my full attention, usually I am reading a book or doing puzzles at the same time, but this film grabbed me and kept me watching. You really do want to know what happens at the end of this film.
Rated 18 - understandably! Run time: around 100 minutes Made in 2004, directed by James Wan and written by Leigh Whannell who plays Adam.
Available from Play for £6.99. Saw is also available in an uncut version for £6.99. A Special Edition dvd is available for £14.99 with loads of extra features on it.
www.sawmovie.com - the official movie website
Since Saw was made, Saw 2 has been released in cinemas.
www.saw2.com
Saw 3 is currently being written by Leigh Whannell
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
Production Year: 2002 - Thriller - Director: Bharat Nalluri, Rob Bailey, Andy Wilson - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring: Matthew MacFadyen, Keeley Hawes, David Oyelowo, Peter Firth, Jenny Agutter, Lisa Faulkner
Thriller - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring: Timothy West, Neil Morrissey, Tara Fitzgerald, Annette Crosbie, Pauline Quirke, Rob Brydon, Denise Van Outen, John Thomson, Kevin Whately, David Suchet
very helpful review as I have rated it. I enjoed the film very much
baby_uk 23.04.2006 23:31
I thought this film was brilliant. I put off watching it as I thought I would find it too scary so I only watched it a couple of weeks aga. Can't wait to see the next one! x
Jadsq 20.04.2006 22:36
Having read your review on this, it has tempted me to watch it! But I just think it would scare me too much. I'm easily scared, good review anyhow. :P
Jx
Adam (Leigh Whannell) wakes up in a dank room across from Dr. Lawrence Gordon (Cary Elwes) ... more
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 pitte...
Postage & Packaging: £1.21 Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
Adam (Leigh Whannell) wakes up in a dank room across from Dr. Lawrence Gordon (Cary Elwes) ... more
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 pitte...
Postage & Packaging: Free! Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours...
How much blood would you shed to stay alive? Two men (Whannell and Elwes) wake up in the ... more
secure lair of a serial killer who's been nicknamed "Jigsaw" by the police because of his unusual calling card. Given six hours a hacksaw and a bullet the two...
Postage & Packaging: £0.00 Availability: 3-5 working days
Awakening from a drugged stupor, Dr. Lawrence Gordon (Cary Elwes) finds himself chained to ... more
a pipe in a dingy bathroom, with another man (Leigh Whannell) in the same situation across the room . The men are the latest victims of the Jigsaw Killer, a mani...
Advantages: A good idea, with constant twists and turns Disadvantages: The characters werent developed early enough and you end up not being bothered about them
Andy.mack 21.10.2004 ·
Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of Saw (DVD)
![Saw [DVD] [2004]](http://picnicb.ciao.com/uk/78502875.jpg "Saw [DVD] [2004]")
Mar 20th, 2006
very helpful by (100%):
