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Movies / On DVD / Saw
Saw

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Saw (2004)

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Reviews Counted:158

Fresh:74

Rotten:84

Average Rating:5.4/10

Consensus: A twisted and gory horror film that's not for the squeamish.

Rated: R [See Full Rating] for strong grisly violence and language

Runtime: 1 hr 40 mins

Genre: Horror/Suspense

Theatrical Release:Oct 29, 2004 Wide

Box Office: $55,153,403

Synopsis: How far would you go to save your own life? Prepare yourself for a gut-wrenching trip into the heart of terror with SAW, Lions Gate Films’ gripping horror film starring Cary Elwes, Danny Glover,... How far would you go to save your own life? Prepare yourself for a gut-wrenching trip into the heart of terror with SAW, Lions Gate Films’ gripping horror film starring Cary Elwes, Danny Glover, Monica Potter and Leigh Whannell. Obsessed with teaching his victims the value of life, a deranged, sadistic serial killer is abducting morally wayward people and forcing them to play macabre games for their own survival. Faced with impossible choices, each victim must struggle to win back his/her life, or else die trying… A young man named Adam (LEIGH WHANNELL) wakes to find himself chained to a rusty pipe inside a decrepit subterranean chamber. Chained to the opposite side of the room is another bewildered captive, Dr. Lawrence Gordon (CARY ELWES). Between them is a dead man lying in a pool of blood, holding a .38 in his hand. Neither man knows why he has been abducted, but instructions left on a microcassette order Dr. Gordon to kill Adam within eight hours. If he fails to do so, then both men will die; Dr. Gordon’s wife, Alison (MONICA POTTER), and his daughter will also be killed. Recalling a recent murder investigation by a police detective named Tapp (DANNY GLOVER), Dr. Gordon realizes he and Adam are the next victims of a psychopathic genius known only as “Jigsaw.” With only a few hours left to spare, they must unravel the elaborate puzzle of their fate in the midst of mounting terror. The killer has provided them with only a few clues and two handsaws - too weak to break their steel shackles, but strong enough to cut through flesh and bone… Gritty and terrifying, SAW is a taut, squirm-inducing film packed with moments of indelible horror. Director James Wan expertly spins this intricate tale, creating a chilling landscape of dread where nothing is quite as it seems. An edge-of-your-seat ride bristling with emotional intensity, SAW will keep you guessing until the very end. Keep the lights on; you won't sleep easily tonight. [More]

Starring: Cary Elwes, Leigh Whannell, Monica Potter, Danny Glover

Starring: Cary Elwes, Leigh Whannell, Monica Potter, Danny Glover, Dina Meyer, Ken Leung, Shawnee Smith, Ned Bellamy

Director: James Wan

Director: James Wan
Screenwriter: Leigh Whannell
Producer: Mark Burg, Oren Koules
Composer: Charlie Clouser
Studio: Lions Gate Films

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Release:

Feb 15, 2005

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Reviews for Saw

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1 - 20 (sorted by rotten rating)
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N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Boston Phoenix | comment Comment
10/30/04
Boston Phoenix
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Orlando Weekly | comment Comment
03/05/05
Orlando Weekly
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: St. Louis Post-Dispatch | comment Comment
10/29/04
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Time Out | comment Comment
06/24/06
Time Out
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Newsweek | comment Comment
03/31/08
David Ansen
David Ansen
Newsweek
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Cinema Crazed | comment Comment
04/29/09
Felix Vasquez Jr.
Felix Vasquez Jr.
Cinema Crazed
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: CHUD | comment Comment
07/20/04
Nick Nunziata
Nick Nunziata
CHUD
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Urban Cinefile | comment Comment
10/18/08
Urban Cinefile Critics
Urban Cinefile Critics
Urban Cinefile

[Saw is] spoiled by its own insatiable desire for envelope-pushing flair; it’s wider-scoped when it should be intimate, splashy instead of subtle, icky but not scary.

Full Review Source: Premiere Magazine | comment Comment
10/29/04
Aaron Hillis
Aaron Hillis
Premiere Magazine

James Wan's feature directorial debut is chock full of narrative holes and gratuitous gore.**

Full Review Source: Sympatico.ca | comment Comment
11/02/04
Angela Baldassarre
Angela Baldassarre
Sympatico.ca

Though the film does work marginally well as a satire of modern serial killer thrillers and their Byzantine games of cat-and-mouse, I have a hunch that's the zeitgeist's doing

Full Review Source: Film Freak Central | comment Comment
09/16/04
Bill Chambers
Bill Chambers
Film Freak Central

Saw is a marketing campaign in search of a movie.

Full Review Source: Arizona Republic | comment Comment
10/28/04
Bill Muller
Bill Muller
Arizona Republic
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

What few moviegoers will like is the film's insistence on dwelling in the underbelly of taste.

Full Review Source: Atlanta Journal-Constitution | comment Comment
10/28/04
Bob Longino
Bob Longino
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Some have suggested that this is an intentional genre parody, but it's really the same old saw with uglier teeth.

Full Review Source: Los Angeles Daily News | comment Comment
10/29/04
Bob Strauss
Bob Strauss
Los Angeles Daily News

See SAW . . . see SAW start to suck . . . See SAW suck away 2 hours

Full Review Source: eFilmCritic.com | comment Comment
10/31/04
Brian Mckay
Brian Mckay
eFilmCritic.com

If every year has a Showgirls, Saw is the prime candidate for 2004.

Full Review Source: FilmJerk.com | comment Comment
10/28/04
Brian Orndorf
Brian Orndorf
FilmJerk.com

The failure is in the execution, and as script, direction and even make-up are abysmal, it is very difficult to believe a moment of Saw.

Full Review Source: Film Journal International | comment 1 Comment
10/30/04
Bruce Feld
Bruce Feld
Film Journal International

Its hellish extremes more oppressive than entertaining.

Full Review Source: Houston Chronicle | comment Comment
10/29/04
Bruce Westbrook
Bruce Westbrook
Houston Chronicle
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Saw carelessly underscores its own shaky narrative at every turn with its mid-budget hokiness.

Full Review Source: Los Angeles Times | comment Comment
10/28/04
Carina Chocano
Carina Chocano
Los Angeles Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Saw doesn't cut it. Any movie that makes you giggle when you should be freaking-out scared has missed the mark - less would have been more.

Full Review Source: TheMovieChicks.com | comment Comment
10/29/04
Cherryl Dawson and Leigh Ann Palone
Cherryl Dawson and Leigh Ann Palone
TheMovieChicks.com
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by rotten rating)
Text View | 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 >> >|
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Latest News for Saw

October 15, 2009: See Saw with Alex, Day 1: Saw
Click. Stop. Movie's over. Just saw Saw and, you know what, I'm actually looking forward to these movies supposedly becoming terrible because Saw the first remains an involving,... More...

October 12, 2009: Get Ready to See Saw with Alex
If it's Halloween, then it must be time for a new Saw. And if it's a new Saw, then it must be time to start up another Rotten Tomatoes trademark watching series. Come, join me... More...

May 08, 2008: Saw Director Cutting into Hellraiser Franchise? Opens in new window
Even though the director of SAW II-IV claims to have nothing to do with the project, insiders tell us the Weinsteins WANT HIM on the project ASAP. More...

March 13, 2008: Charlie Sheen Getting Twisted in Next Film
When you see the words "Charlie Sheen" and "torture" in the same sentence, you probably assume you're reading about Sheen career achievements like Terminal Velocity or The... More...

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