Customer Reviews

Saw V (Unrated Collector's Edition)

5 star:		(43)
4 star:		(24)
3 star:		(24)
2 star:		(15)
1 star:		(18)

 

 

I will not tell all the surprises in this film.
It is very important that you have seen SAW 2, SAW 3 and SAW 4 to understand what is going on here. If you missed SAW 4, you might pick up on what is going on in SAW 5, but then again, you don't know about the "death" of Jigsaw John and how and why the "games" and traps continue.
Returning for another go around is Tobin Bell as "Jigsaw John" who you will see in new footage of "flashbacks".
Also returning is Costas Mandylor as "Hoffman" who we met in SAW 3 as "Forensic Hoffman" and SAW 4 as "Detective Hoffman".
Scott Patterson returns as "Agent Strahm" from SAW 4 and Besty Russell returns as "Jill" whom we met in SAW 3 and SAW 4.
Mike Realba returns as "Detective Fisk".
Also in new footage of "flashbacks" is Mike Butters of the first SAW (2004) and Tim Burd as "Obi" and Tony Nappo as "Gus" from SAW 2 (2005).
Bill Vilbert returns as a cop.
Niamh Wilson returns as the little girl "Corbett".

In archive footage: Danny Glover, Shawnee Smith, Donnie Wahlberg, Lyriq Bent, Angus Macfadyen, Bahar Soomekh, Athena Karkanis, Justin Lovis.

When we last left SAW 4 (2007), we discovered that Detective Hoffman (Costas Mandylor) was the new killer taking the place of Jigsaw John (Tobin Bell) and he had survived the trap that killed Officer Eric Matthews (Donnie Wahlberg).
The story continues as we see a man, Seth, (Joris Jarsky) strapped to a table with a pendulum swinging back and forth getting closer and closer to his naked, chiseled stomach. He must reach into these hand vises to try to stop the pendulum, but his hands become cut and crushed. He is running out of time. The pain too great. He fails the game and the pendulum cuts him deeply to his death. Just before he dies, he sees an eye looking at him from a hole.
We will soon find out who it was.
Now beginning with the same night as Saw 3 and SAW 4, Agent Strahm (Scott Patterson) is on this case and is getting closer to finding out who the killer is, but everyone believes it was Jigsaw John.
The movie viewers know that Jigsaw John is dead as we saw for our selves in SAW 3 and SAW 4. We know Hoffman is the killer.
Agent Strahm is investigating the rooms where the murders took place. He winds up back at the Gideon warehouse in the room where Jeff (Angus Macfadyen) who he accidentally killed in self-defense, Lynn (Bahar Soomekh), who we found out is Jeff's wife, Amanda (Shawnee Smith) and Jigsaw John have died.
To the left, he sees the tiled wall with drawings hung up. He suddenly kicks the wall and a door opens up in to a secret passageway.
Agent Strahm goes into this passageway and is assaulted by someone dressed in the pig's mask.
Strahm finds himself in a trap. A glass cube is fixed around his head with lights inside. It fills up with a liquid. Frantic to get loose and to breath, he reaches for a sharp object in his pocket and stabs his own throat to continue breathing. He manages to survive the trap and is helped by a back-up unit. Jeff and Lynn's little girl has been saved.
Also helped by back-up is Detective Hoffman (Costas Mandylor), but the police department does not know yet, he is the killer.
Erickson (Mark Rolston) takes Agent Strahm off the case and is put on medical leave, however, that is not going to stop Strahm from getting more clues.
Strahm is still tracing the footsteps of the killer off-duty and goes through the department's files. He is hot on the trail, but Erickson catches him in the station and is getting suspicious.
Meanwhile, there are 5 people who are in a room (Laura Gordon, Megan Good, Greg Bryk, Julie Benz, Carlo Rota). They are all wearing a neck collar device cabled to a wall, but behind each of them is a locker space with very sharp blades that could behead them. On the other side of the room are the keys in a glass case they need to be set free. The more that someone pulls on a cable, the others are put back further to the blades. There is also a jar of explosive nails ready to kill them all, so they must work together and fast. The timer is going.
As in SAW 2, each room has a trap.
This film shows less of the traps and victims and less gore. Most of the plot is the cat-and-mouse chase between Strahm and Hoffman.
Along the way in this film, we will see brand new footage of "flashbacks" that are missing pieces to the first SAW, SAW 2, SAW 3 and SAW 4.
Also there is a very nice surprise for all of us SAW fans.

The Unrated Director's Cut (Widescreen) runs 95 min.

DVD container is wrapped in tight plastic, but please be careful, there is a protective coverslip that lifts off that you need to save. Notice the security seals still on your container. You can carefully peel these or cut them. I prefer to leave them intacted. The DVD itself has blue printing.

There are some problems with the disc from the Unrated Director's Cut. The picture will freeze once it is on the Option Menu or will freeze up and skip after playing the preview of My Bloody Valentine 3-D (2009).
After about 3 plays, the DVD would start to work better.
if the Option Menu freezes on you. keep trying to load in the DVD. If it skips and plays, wait for the little black dot to appear by "Play", and press "Enter" on your remote control. The movie will play fine.

Special features: 2 audio commentaries. The first audio commentary with Director David Hackl and First Assistant Director Steve Webb is very informative. They are oh so careful not to reveal secrets of the upcoming SAW VI (2009). But they almost did.
The Pendulum Trap ( Approx.5 min.), The Cube Trap ( Approx.5 min.), The Coffin Trap ( Approx. 5 min.), The Fatal Trap (Approx. 11 min.), Slicing the Cube: Editing the Cube Trap (Approx. 5 min.), Theatrical Trailer.

The SAW film series:

SAW (2004). Saw
SAW II (2005). Saw II - Unrated (Two-Disc Special Edition)
SAW III (2006). Saw III (Unrated Widescreen Edition)
SAW VI (2007). Saw IV (Unrated Widescreen Edition)
SAW V (2008). Saw V (Unrated Collector's Edition)
SAW VI (2009). Saw VI (Widescreen Unrated Edition)
SAW 3D: The Final Chapter (2010). Saw: The Final Chapter

Update: December 2011. Vice Chairman of Lionsgate, Michael Burns, said "I'm sure some day you'll see SAW back in the picture."

"I want to play a game." Well, we all knew that. But with Jigsaw dead, how does the Saw series keep the game from becoming overtly predictable? The answer is not revealed in "Saw V," which shows the series becoming an utterly predictable Halloween event.

Jigsaw (Tobin Bell, weirdly malevolent as ever) is still dead. That minor fact, however, does not negate his being in "Saw V" in various states of criminal commission, with or without Detective Mark Hoffman (Costas Mandylor) as his accomplice. Still hot on the case FBI Agent Pete Strahm (Scott Patterson) is on Hoffman's trail, and there are five hapless but interconnected folks now secured in one of Jigsaw's traps.

The traps are, as usual, freaky. The FBI cops are trying to figure out who dunnit. Mrs. Jigsaw discovers she has inherited a mysterious box from her dearly departed, but we aren't allowed to see the contents after she peeks in (hmmm, preview of the plot for "Saw VI"?). What is missing is any sense of newness to the film, or a real hard twist at the end. For a film with a tagline of "You won't believe how it ends," that's only partway true. I was really expecting more.

While I still think Saw II is the best of the series, "Saw V" comes off as little else than a cop caper with some of that old time gore tossed in for squeamish factor. Saw IV was definitely more squirm inducing, which makes you wonder why they didn't spend a little more time trimming the fat and adding a bit more slashing. As a cop chase flick with a side plot of torture, "Saw V" comes off as just an average flick. Of course, I'll be back next Halloween.

After saw iv, which wasn't terrible, I kinda felt like the series was slowly getting repetitive and loosing it's touch, so of course I went into saw v with low expectations. But I was really surprised. This movie was really good. It's as if they stopped focusing on the traps and actually gave a crap about the story. Of course there are still plenty of traps to be seen. The movie also ties off a lot of loose ends through some really interesting flash backs, giving tobin bell more screen time, which is sweet because he is the essence of it all. But the bottom line is that this movie was great and really saved the franchise from crumbling. Because of this movie the series can go on and I am actually excited for it. Great movie, and a great addition to the saw movies!

I'm a big fan of the series, especially 2 and 3. I think Saw 2 is one of the best horror films ever made. Beautifully done, excellent script, and 2 main surprises at the end. I first became disappointed with the series at seeing Saw 4, not necessarily because Jigsaw is dead, though he IS the dominating force and needs to come back. (If I had written #4, I would've started it at the end of 3, making the father save Jigsaw with a transfusion so he could find out where his daughter is; plus, his wife was a nurse, so he would conceivably know CPR, etc.) Anyway, I found little clever about the end of #4, and far less at the end of #5. 4 was written as a horror movie, not a hybrid mystery/horror movie, which is what brought me into the series in the first place. And #5 is more like a TV police drama than anything else. As one who doesn't watch any TV, I guess I'm more sensitive to how Saw 5 plays than an audience full of people who don't go to the movies as often as I do. It's too bad. But I'm Still looking forward to #6 of course. And will keep watching the series, hoping the cleverness of 2 and 3 will return.

For starters, if you are a follower of the "Saw" series, you know what to expect in terms of plot for "Saw V". There are some interesting new torture devices and some new faces in "Saw V", but it didn't matter much seeing how the majority of them were victims anyway. The film reveals more information with flashbacks of the previous four that ties everything together.

Agent Strahm (Scott Patterson) and Detective Hoffman (Costas Mandylor) return for the fifth installment, which takes place exactly where the fourth left off. What you can expect is trademark "Saw"...the gore, the plot twists, the extreme camera angles, much of the same from any other film in the series. Lets face facts, "Saw V" doesn't break new ground, but if you're a diehard "Saw" fan you should check out the latest installment to see the next chapter in the series. As I mentioned before, more is revealed, so it's best to understand the other four.

"And you won't believe how it ends."...open to interpretation . How many times can you play the same game before getting bored? All in all, a 3.5 of 5, coming from a "Saw" fan.

"Saw V" is great! This is how the story goes: Hoffman is seemingly the last person alive to carry on the Jigsaw legacy. But when his secret is threatened, Hoffman must go on the hunt to eliminate all loose ends.

The cast led by Tobin Bell (as John Kramer / Jigsaw) & Costas Mandylor (as Detective Lt. Mark Hoffman) is great! The directing by David Hackl (who also did the production design to "Saw II" (2005), "Saw III" (2006, also second unit director), "Saw IV" (2007, also second unit director), & "Repo: The Genetic Opera" (2008, also second unit director) is great! The story and screenplay by Patrick Melton & Marcus Dunstan (both who also wrote the story and screenplay to "Saw IV", "Feast" (2005), & "Feast 2: Sloppy Seconds" (2008), also did the story and screenplay to the upcoming "Feast 3: The Happy Finish" (2008 or 2009) is great!

The music by Charlie Clouser (who also did the music to the first 4 Saw movies, "Dead Silence" (2007), "Death Sentence" (2007) & "Resident Evil: Extinction" (2007) is excellent! The cinematography by David A. Armstrong (who also did the cinematography to the first 4 Saw movies) is great! The film editing by Kevin Greutert (who also did the film editing to the first 4 Saw movies and "The Strangers" (2008) is great! The set decoration by Liesl Deslauriers (who also did the set decoration to "Saw II-IV", "Repo: The Genetic Opera" & "P2" (2007) is great! The costume design by Alex Kavanagh (who also did the costume design to "Saw II-IV", "Repo: The Genetic Opera", "Land Of The Dead" (2005), "Diary Of The Dead" (2008), "Ginger Snaps: Unleashed" (2004), & "Ginger Snaps Back: The Beginning" (2004) is great! The casting by Stephanie Gorin (who also did the casting to "Saw II-IV") is great! The production design by Tony Ianni (who also did the art direction to "Saw III & IV") & "Repo: The Genetic Opera") is great!

This is an great sequel to the "Saw" franchise. This is better than "Saw IV" was and it is up to par with the first 3 "Saw" movies.

Saw V is awesome and just as good as the first four! As I've said, it's another awesome piece to add to Jigsaw's puzzle! I love all the flashback sequences with Hoffman and Jigsaw. Hoffman thinks he's the only one to survive Jigsaw's traps during the time of Saw III and IV, but Strahm makes it out of his trap. The next day, the police hold a memorial service for all the cops who died while trying to capture Jigsaw. Hoffman receives a letter that says "I know who you are." So, he tries to frame Strahm to look like Jigsaw's apprentice. Meanwhile, five people have to play a game and work together in order to survive. Some of the traps were pretty cool. Strahm revisits some of the old Jigsaw traps, like Paul's razor wire trap from the original Saw. Jill receives a box from John/Jigsaw, but we don't get to see what's in it, maybe we'll find out in Saw VI! I love the twist ending! In conclusion, I'm glad Saw V was made and adds more to the story! If you love the Saw series, you'll love SAW V!!!

I don't know what movie the previous viewer was watching, but Saw V was probably the best Saw film since the original. It shed light on the back story and let you know a little more of why things happened. It also made you think. I am not going to add any spoilers, but this crop of "games" was done in a way that showed what people face every day. The moral questions and prejudices that most of us have. I would highly recommend this to any Saw fan, horror fan, and anyone who likes a film that makes you use your brain.

After consecutively watching the entire Saw series over a recent weekend (and LOVING it), I decided that a single review with modified details could be used for all the films. Enjoy.

A sadistic sociopath, similar to the one in Se7en, with an affinity for engineering, likes to play lethal games, forcing his victims - those he deems unappreciative of life - into an existential choice inside a million dollars worth of engineering and machinery.

Saw FIVE begins with FIVE people trapped in an abandoned UNDERGROUND BUILDING. Forced to play the killer's (Tobin Bell as John "Jigsaw" Kramer) game, MALLICK SCOTT (Greg Bryk), LUBA GIBBS (Meagan Good), and BRIT STEDDISON (Julie Benz) have to prove their will to live, and their ability to COOPERATE. Meanwhile, DETECTIVE MARK HOFFMAN (Costas Mandylor), FBI AGENT DAN ERICKSON (Mark Rolston), and rugged veteran FBI AGENT PETER STRAHAM (Scott Patterson) are investigating as a team, but PETER STRAHAM may be in too deep. As the law grows increasingly closer to ensnaring Jigsaw, the game participant learns that EACH may be an accomplice to others' abductions, and their situation provides a choice between SOLVING LETHAL GAMES or guaranteed death. To help their cause, cryptic clues left via mini cassette tape lead him (aka a life's perpetrators) towards the precipice of twisted rehabilitation or a potential tomb.

Several previous murderous contraptions like the RETRACTABLE NECK BLADE TRAP (for an ACCOMPLICE TO MURDER), the BOMB SHELTER ROOM TRAP (for an ACCOMPLICE TO MURDER), and the ELECTRIC BATHTUB (for an ACCOMPLICE TO MURDER) provide horror fodder in the form of viscera and blood spatter, while other traps - like the PENDULUM BLADE - are inserted for the same reason Spock and Kirk always took ensign Jones on away parties (someone in the situation needs to die horribly). Climax and cliffhanger are in quick succession, flashbacks provide necessary details, the viewer learns more about JIGSAW'S HELP, and on to Saw VI.

Jason Elin

If you liked the previous versions of SAW, get this one. If you're new to this movie, forget it, unless you're willing to sit through all the others first in order to put this one into context. It makes no sense otherwise. This production is excellent. Top notch. The sets are well layed out and detailed and function in a believable manner. That's important since much of this movie is about people escaping from the deadly traps that "Jigsaw" sets for his victims. The other thing going on is an attempt to put the final nail into the "jigsaw" murders. The acting is passable, though not very believable except for Greg Byrk who plays a hapless dope addict ( Mallick ) and is scared witless during most of the events. Of the victims he's the only one who draws you in with any real sympathy. The series should end, now. It's gone on long enough, and it lacks the punch of the original anymore. The series tries to present the torments of the vicitims as ethical revenge for crimes they commited against society, but that theme doesn't play very well. Tobin Bell gave a chilling performance in the early movies of this series as a man with a mission, to force conscience onto and into people who exhibit none. Every killer thinks he has a justified reason for killing. Putting it terms of social justice doesn't make it any more acceptable. But to the credit of the writers, Jigsaw's victims are given a chance to survive. The traps are deadly but not necessarily fatal, if the method of surviving them can be figured out. Of course, there's a time factor invovled, so if you don't think well under pressure... you're dead. If you're up to speed on the SAW movie series, then I highly recommend this one. But this really should be the last one.

- Mike S.