6.2 | / 10 |
Users | 3.8 | |
Reviewer | 3.0 | |
Overall | 3.8 |
Jigsaw has disappeared. With his new apprentice Amanda, the puppet-master behind the cruel, intricate games that have terrified a community and baffled police has once again eluded capture and vanished. While city detectives scramble to locate him, Doctor Lynn Denlon and Jeff Reinhart are unaware that they are about to become the latest pawns on his vicious chessboard.
Starring: Tobin Bell, Shawnee Smith, Angus Macfadyen, Bahar Soomekh, Donnie WahlbergHorror | 100% |
Thriller | 73% |
Crime | 18% |
Video codec: MPEG-2
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1
English: Dolby Digital 5.1 EX
English: DTS-HD HR 6.1
English, Spanish
25GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Slipcover in original pressing
Region A (locked)
Movie | 1.5 | |
Video | 3.5 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 4.0 | |
Overall | 3.0 |
Warning: this review contains spoilers relating to earlier films in the Saw
franchise.
Vengeance doesn’t solve anything. It only makes the pain greater.
The law of diminishing returns generally holds true in horror movie franchises. Most franchises
begin promisingly enough, and the classics of the horror genre inneviteably spawn numerous
sequels, most of which fail. This was especially true in the 1980s as sequel after sequel of the
Halloween, Friday the 13th, Nightmare on Elm Street and numerous
minor franchises played almost nonstop at theaters. Seemingly every week a new one was
released, generally to an apathetic audience and negative reviews. Hardcore horror took a break
in the 1990s, but the new millennium brought forth a new wave of horror that relied mostly on
copious amounts of gore to frighten audiences. To date, the Saw series of films
represents the most prolific of the new wave of horror franchises. Like the slasher films of the
1980s, the series is starting to show signs of wear as the movies get progressively less
interesting. Saw III, unlike its predecessors, relies more on gore than story to move the
plot along, and this transformation does not come unexpectedly. The movie does an admirable
job of explaining away this new angle, but after being mostly impressed with the first two films,
Saw III left a bad taste in my mouth as I couldn't help but think that it just wasn't a
necessary entry into the franchise. However, the Saw series sells, and that's the bottom
line. More and more films will be made until audiences decide that enough is enough. With Saw IV now on
Blu-ray and a
fifth film due in October, the franchise appears far from dead.
This movie is pretty twisted.
While Saw III can lay claim to being the best looking of the series yet on Blu-ray, that's not really much to brag about. As mentioned in my previous reviews for this series, the movies are shot in generally dark, dank locales with a muted color palette and the end result is a movie that will never look beautiful on Blu-ray or any other format. Nevertheless, the look of the series is part of its appeal and a factor in why these films generally work, so there is no need to alter the style. Still, this 1.78:1, 1080p image is certainly not going to be one you'll use to showcase your high definition system. The image on the whole is crisper and sharper with a fairly high level of detail and clarity. Black levels fare better here than in the other films, but they still present the same problems found in the previous films, namely overly bright dark scenes that tend to make the image look unnatural. There is a fine line between allowing the image to be completely dark and brightening it to the point of looking bad, and the Saw Blu-ray discs haven't found that line yet, as they are all three on the wrong side of it. This one still looks marginally better than the first two films and hopefully Saw IV will fare better. I have a feeling it will.
Unlike the video quality, Saw III audio tracks are noticeably superior to those found on the Blu-ray editions of the first two films. Unfortunately, we still do not get a lossless audio track here (I'm excited that we will finally have a DTS-HD MA lossless track for the Saw IV disc) but the DTS-ES 6.1 track included on this disc represents one of the best lossy tracks you'll hear on Blu- ray. A Dolby Digital 5.1 EX track is also included. I chose to listen to the DTS track and I was very impressed. "Loud" and "dynamic" are two words that come to mind as I remember this listening experience. There is almost nonstop movement of sound from one speaker to the next and the flow is natural with no distortion or out of place sound. The track contains tense, hard hitting musical cues and uses bass effectively to add to the tension and horror on screen. Every bit of it is clear and robust. Dialogue also sounds natural and pleasant. An intense soundtrack is essential to fine tuning any modern horror movie, and in this area, Saw III is an unquestionable success.
It seems like horror movies, on average, get more extras than most other genres, and Saw
III is no exception. Three full length audio commentary tracks highlight this group of extras.
First up is a track with director Darren Lynn Bousman, writer/executive producer Leigh Whannell,
executive producer Peter Block, and executive producer Jason Constantine. These participants
are energetic, love the film, and deliver some pretty good insights into this film (including a battle
over the rating as well as the nuances, alterations, and plausibility of the traps to make them as
effective as possible and somewhat based in reality) and the series as a whole. The second track
features producers Oren Koules and Mark Burg. This track is pretty tedious with long pauses,
discussions of the action on the screen, some fluff props to the cast ("they are all great to
work with"), and minor technical details and praises such as "this scene was lit by a flashlight"
and "he did everything he could to create the look of being in a freezing meat locker," and "this
scene would be nothing without this actress." The final track includes director Darren Lynn
Bousman, editor Kevin Greutert, and director of photography David A. Armstrong. By the time
this track rolls around, listening becomes more of a chore than a pleasure. We get some
rehashed material we've already heard, but this is still more lively than the second track. We get
more discussion about the MPAA and a discussion about their reaction to the initial cut of the
film. This track features the most discussion about the gore, so those interested in that aspect of
the movie might
want to listen to this track first. It makes for pretty interesting listening, but nevertheless, three
commentary tracks seems a bit overkill, especially listening to them in short order.
Next up are a plethora of video features. The Traps of 'Saw III' (1080i, 9:21) is an all
too brief look at the design of the traps and their progression from the first two films to this one.
The Props of 'Saw III' (1080i, 7:54) features a discussion about the movie being for the
fans and what it takes to make a movie gore hounds will love. We see some behind-the-scenes
looks at the making of the famous puppet, the brain surgery scene, and the pig slaughter
sequence. The Writing of 'Saw III' (1080i, 6:43) reinforces the idea of taking the series
in a different direction and writing a story for the fans. Amanda: The Evolution of a Killer
(1080i, 5:12) is an interview with Shawnee Smith. She discusses how she accepted the role in
the film and her thoughts about the character she plays in the series. Darren's Diary
(1080i, 9:20) is a look at director Darren Lynn Bousman preparing to film scenes in the movie.
Wrapping up the extras are two deleted scenes (480p, 5:29), the film's theatrical and teaser
trailers (both presented in 480p), and the ever present Lionsgate montage.
Saw III proved to be the weakest link amongst the first three films. It resorted to the blood and guts approach rather than staying true to the successful formula of the first two films, a formula combining elements of horror and suspense with minimal on screen carnage to stimulate viewers. Here, the goal seems to be to gross out the viewer as much as possible, displaying diced pigs, blown up heads, and twisted limbs in gruesome detail. You may never want to consume pork products again after watching this movie. It's not the goriest movie I've ever seen, but it's enough to make the weaker viewers sick to their stomachs. I hope Saw IV manages to regain the magic of the first two films. If not, this franchise is doomed to imminent death. Technically, this disc is the best of the Saw series on Blu-ray so far. The picture is a slight improvement over parts I and II and the audio quality is nearly second to none for a lossy encode. Plenty of extras make this a disc fans will enjoy. Like the other two films, I can recommend Saw III as a purchase to hardcore horror, gore, and dedicated Saw fans only.
Unrated Edition
2005
Unrated
2010
Unrated Director's Cut
2007
Unrated Director's Cut
2008
Unrated Director's Cut
2009
2004
2017
מי מפחד מהזאב הרע / Mi mefakhed mehaze'ev hara
2013
2012
2013
2012
Unrated
2005
Unrated
2010
Hellraiser V
2000
Unrated Collector's Edition
2007
Director's Cut
2007
2014
Director's Cut
2005
Uncut
2013
2012