Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Saw (2004

This is topic Saw (2004 - LGF) in forum Film Handlers' Movie Reviews at Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE.

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Posted by Richard Greco (Member # 2032) on 10-05-2004, 09:15 PM:

Well....

I had passes to this from a radio station. The presentation quality at this theatre was awesome. I didn't find the sound to be overbearing. The lighting was a little hard to follow in some scenes, but overall technically it was pretty good. The camera cuts may be annoying to some, but they just added suspense to the story.

This movie is by no means a horror movie. It is a seriously f'ed up psychological thriller. I did find that the acting was overdone in parts, but I think that was done purposely. If you want on overview of the story, go to imdb, but here's what I think of it. The movie was lagging in a few parts and I got a little antsy near the end. There is this one guy/girl (no spoilers here [Smile]

) who you think is the killer, but just wait till the twist at the end.

I really woke up when this scene came around. Talk about jumping in your seat saying "Oh, Shit!!!" It is one of the best endings of a thriller I've seen in a while. Monica Potter is still a very attractive woman although she has dropped out of sight in movies. Cary Elwes did a good job except for some overacting in some parts that made the audience laugh..not good...Danny Glover was good till something tragic happens to him. Then his acting REALLY gets bad.

Go into this movie with an open mind. I like to take each movie for what it is worth. A movie. nothing else.

Main Story & Plot 6/10
Twist at the end 10/10
(it is awesome)

Posted by Dean Kollet (Member # 1789) on 10-05-2004, 10:21 PM:

which theatre was it at?

Posted by Richard Greco (Member # 2032) on 10-06-2004, 09:09 AM:

Dean,

It was at the Citrus Park 20. Regal Cinemas, I believe.

Posted by Dean Kollet (Member # 1789) on 10-06-2004, 09:21 AM:

Nice theatre, Citrus Park Mall in Tampa right?

Posted by Richard Greco (Member # 2032) on 10-06-2004, 09:39 AM:

Yep, Gotta love their Xtra Large drink. We can start another thread if we wanna talk about that theatre. Or you can e-mail me.

Posted by Dean Kollet (Member # 1789) on 10-06-2004, 10:20 PM:

It's cool, this one was fine [Big Grin]

Posted by Jason Black (Member # 684) on 10-29-2004, 12:04 AM:

The plot twist was ok at best. I'd say that this was much like 'The Grudge' except this didn't suck. They were both marketing to be something they aren't. Neither were 'horror' or even 'scary' movies. Both were more like psychological thrillers, IMO.

*Spoilers*
The guy sure went through a lot of shit just to get people back and make them realize how lucky they were to be alive.. and well.. to a degree. And I think Elwes would have bled to death before he ever made it out the door... [Smile]

Overall..

2/5

Posted by Don Anderson (Member # 397) on 10-29-2004, 02:26 AM:

Kewl movie. Definitely, a twisted ending. Glad to see that it isn't a blood n guts film that would have a zillion teenagers comin to see it. Looks like it will cater to all age groups. Let's hope that they don't decide to have SAW 2. [thumbsup]

Posted by Chris Medley (Member # 2145) on 11-01-2004, 11:23 AM:

SAW played to a packed house when my fiance and I went to see it. It was a 3 out of 5....only because of the twist at the end. The acting was pretty bad, and danny glover should be ashamed. The other detractor was the punk ass kids sitting next to us.

Posted by Dave Williams (Member # 299) on 11-02-2004, 04:40 PM:

Saw 2 Has just been announced for a Halloween 2005 release. LGF has not commented on if any of the principles in either casting or production will return. Instead, insiders say they want to make the series an anthology of different jigsaw type murderers instead of continuing the story itself. Interesting.

Maybe they just want to do a good one.

Ciao

Dave

Posted by Mark J. Marshall (Member # 1409) on 11-03-2004, 02:34 PM:

*** POSSIBLE SPOILERS ***

This movie was ok if you like the "Se7en" kind of movie. Except that I knew the plot twist about five minutes into the movie. I later modified my thoughts, then when the plot twisted, I though to myself, "Ah, nope... I was right the first time."

I do enjoy watching the audience squirm at certain parts of this movie, but I don't think I'll ever watch it again start to finish.

Posted by Richard Greco (Member # 2032) on 11-09-2004, 11:16 AM:

Just Saw Saw again. tee hee. I still love this. I like watching people in the theatre not knowing what is going on then seeing their reaction at the plot twist at the end. This movie is still awesome and I can't wait for the DVD.

I just have one question. How can an English person(Elwes) and an Aussie(Adam in the movie) hold an American accent for that long?

Posted by Dave Williams (Member # 299) on 11-09-2004, 02:23 PM:

The answer to your query is easy...

BAD ACTING....

ciao

dave

oh yeah.. i meant to put a halloween 2006 release, not 2005, silly me...

Posted by Randy Stankey (Member # 64) on 11-12-2004, 12:00 AM:

Sorry, folks. I thought this movie was a piece of shit.
I give it ** out of 5.

The movie uses every gore effect and cheesy plot device in the book. Everything from "Cat Scares" to "Needle-in-the-Eye" suspense. There's lots of blood but no actual, graphic gore. Even a standard "Slasher" movie has one or two head chopping scenes!

I didn't get the plot twist right away but when the end of the movie was getting near I was sitting there, thinking to myself, "M'Kay, it's about time for the plot twist." When it finally did happen I thought, "It figures. I shoulda' seen that one coming from a mile away!"

The last shred of hope for any movie like this is the "Willing Suspension of Disbelief" clause. We all know that people can't fly but we walk into a "Superman" movie willing to put our intellect aside for the sake of entertainment. Not this movie! Most of the things that happen are SO implausalbe... the acting is SO over the top... the cheezy plot devices are SO overused that by the time you've been watching for 15 minutes your "Bullshit Meter" is off the scale.

(* SPOILERS AHEAD *)

There's a scene where the killer has a victim trapped in a dentist's chair with a drill slowly moving toward his head. The cop (Danny Glover) comes in at the last second. The killer uses the old, "Shoot me and the hostage dies" trick. Glover goes to save the hostage and the killer escapes.

Couln't he have just SHOT the killer and then pulled the plug on the machine?!

Another scene where the killer is supposedly at bay. The heroine of the story has him at gunpoint after a "knock-down drag-out" fight. When she had every chance in the world to pull the trigger and save the day, what's she do? C'Mon! Guess!... She hesitates and the killer gets away!

Like I said... Every stupid, cheesy plot device in the book, used essentially prolong the agony of watching the movie.

In movies like, "The Omen", "Halloween" and "The Shining" there's not a lot of blood but there's enough to get the point across. In movies like "Alien" (Alien #1) there's a few scenes that have a fair bit of blood and guts but it's not all "cut 'em up."

Saw was nothing but scene after scene after scene of simulated gore after more simulated gore. Cripes! It wears you OUT after a while!

Which kind of movie would you like to watch?

1) A porno movie that shows nothing but 2 hours of people fucking?

2) A sexy movie with a good, sexy story line but only has one or two scenes of REALLY HOT action?

(No, Phil! Don't answer that! It's a rhetorical question! [Wink]

)

If you picked #1, "Saw" is for you.
If you picked #2, pass on this movie.

The intended audience for this movie is teenagers through college students who don't have a sophisticated pallate for horror/suspense movies. They've probably never seen "Halloween", "The Shining", "The Exorcist", or "The Omen". Their idea of movies from "The Good ole' days" are probably the "Freddy Kruger" flicks from the 80s.

I thought "13 Ghosts" sucked! I think THAT piece of shit was better than "Saw"!

The only possible reason to see this turkey is if you think you can use it to get into your girlfriend's pants. Even then, it probably won't work because she'll be so freaked out by this movie she won't let your touch her for a WEEK!

Take a "pass" on this movie! [puke]

Posted by Allison Parsons (Member # 2728) on 11-12-2004, 12:32 AM:

Really liked the movie but..

Have any of you seen the banned teaser posters for this film!!??? There are 2 of them. One has a severed hand on it and the other a severed foot. Look for them on ebay if you want a picture.

Posted by Dave Williams (Member # 299) on 11-13-2004, 03:15 PM:

You know I actually liked this one. I say this again because I am not any of the following group that apparrently you have to be in order to enjoy it...

College Student
Teenager
Horny Teenager
Horny Adult
Phil
Unsophisticated
Freddy Krueger Fan
Mr. Rogers Fan
Porno Fan
Phil

As evidence that I am in fact sophisticated, I offer that I have season tickets to Ballet West in Utah, one of the most premier Ballet companies in the world. I take my nine year old daughter with me, and we both thoroughly enjoy every moment.

As evidenced that I am not horny, I am still very fertile and hate to use protection, and my youngest daughter is nine years old.

As evidenced that I am not phil, my porno collection consists mainly of pictures of cartoon caracters. Oh wait, maybe that means I might be phil. Whats the qualifier on that one?

***SPOILERS***

I did really enjoy the film. It had serious flaws yes, and there was a thousand ways to improve the film, such as hiring actors, and even a director would have been a nice change of pace. It also should have been played out in chronological order, and in a very short 24 hour period. the whole time we would be in and out of the bathroom with our victims, and the rest of the time we follow the cops on the trail of the killer as they find victim after victim all in one day. It would all fit in considering that the killer is dying of brain cancer, and it should have been worked in about how pissed he was at the world AND his doctor.

This is by no means a rip on anyone... however, it is often said in the review forums that only certain types could enjoy such and such a film... the intended effect I am sure is not to make people feel off or anything, but it does have an effect on others.... so here is my opinion on why someone might enjoy one of the so called idiodic films that only and imbecile could love...

My level of enjoyment of film does not come from how perfect it is, but rather from if I can find a way to enjoy what its intentions are, forget the total screwups. The story was in itself not bad, infact it was a very good story, but it was approached all wrong and done very wrong, and acted very badly. However, I saw the movie for what it wanted to be, not what it ended up bieng.

Stupid I am not. The stupid people were the ones who laughed and mocked out loud at the bad acting and inopportune moments, considering that if they felt they had been robbed of their money, that robbing the rest of the audience of thier experience is not appropriate nor acceptable. People like these are spoiled children with low intellegence. They really feel that people want to hear what they have to say. Last time I checked, nowhere on my ticket did is say admittance to a movie AND A SHOW BY JERKOFF AND ASSMUNCH!!!

Ok rant off.... sort of...

Not all those who enjoyed it did so because they were stupid.. some did so because they actually took the effort to find something to enjoy about it. That my friends, takes intellegence.

Intelligence is not how smart you are, it is in fact just a factor of two key areas of the human experience. The ability to comprehend, and the ability to adapt.

ciao baby!

dave

Posted by Tom Simcoe (Member # 2799) on 12-20-2004, 03:23 AM:

Saw was awesome. It was over played in the one scene because they were trying to trick the guy watching through the camera. Thats why you thought that, it was suppose to look fake a dumb-whitted... but I loved the movie. It makes you think alot about everyday situations and everything. If you didn't like this movie... you should check to see if you're looking at it the right way or not. Because if you didn't then you have a problem. Just my opinion.