Customer Reviews

Saw IV (Unrated Widescreen Edition)

5 star:		(45)
4 star:		(37)
3 star:		(19)
2 star:		(14)
1 star:		(10)

 

 

I could always sympathize with John Kramer(jigsaw) on some level because i watched my mother die from cancer. he has easily become my favorite character in the genre. seeing this installment just shows even more, the man was a genius. twisted as he may have been.

this movie focuses on the events in the aftermath of Saw III and Jigsaw's past. We see more of what drove him to the point he was at, and we get to see his first game.

the main storyline is about Detective Riggs trying to find Detective Matthews from Saw II. its now been 6 months since his disappearance. i dont want to give anymore info away, b/c realization is half the fun with this series. ill just say it goes back and forth between Riggs situation and looks into Jigsaw's past.

The overall story is by far the most interesting in my opinion, even if only for the better look into John's past. not that the rest of the movie falls short, this is possibly the most engaging in the series. the traps are very clever, and in a case or two the pons really seem to deserve their fates.

i dont know how they'll keep the series going after this entry. Tobin Bell(Jigsaw) is the face of this series and a future horror icon. excellent movie.

I could always sympathize with John Kramer(jigsaw) on some level because i watched my mother die from cancer. he has easily become my favorite character in the genre. seeing this installment just shows even more, the man was a genius. twisted as he may have been.

this movie focuses on the events in the aftermath of Saw III and Jigsaw's past. We see more of what drove him to the point he was at, and we get to see his first game.

the main storyline is about Detective Riggs trying to find Detective Matthews from Saw II. its now been 6 months since his disappearance. i dont want to give anymore info away, b/c realization is half the fun with this series. ill just say it goes back and forth between Riggs situation and looks into Jigsaw's past.

The overall story is by far the most interesting in my opinion, even if only for the better look into John's past. not that the rest of the movie falls short, this is possibly the most engaging in the series. the traps are very clever, and in a case or two the pons really seem to deserve their fates.

i dont know how they'll keep the series going after this entry. Tobin Bell(Jigsaw) is the face of this series and a future horror icon. excellent movie.

SAW IV was a great addition to an already amazing series. it fits in nicely with the rest of the series and adds a whole new story line... this new story line (which i wont say) is revealed at the end and was very unexpected. i was shocked that they were able to come up with such a great twist.. the plot may be confusing to some but true saw fans will understand. this is deff a movie that you need to see more then once take in all the info given

the plot of saw 4 has Rigg(saw 2 & 3) as the main character. Rigg wakes up to a tape and instructions from jigsaw. Rigg is forced to get over his obcession with trying to save everyone. he must learn to let people make their own decisions and save themselves.

the traps are very interesting and gruesome. Jigsaw's life is also explained more in this film. we learn his past and why he became what he did.. we also see his first trap.

everyone should see this movie and add it to their saw movie collection

Who would've thought that a slasher horror film franchise, after three sequels, could STILL be one of the best things Hollywood has to boast today? Not I, that's for sure. The intricate, original, crowd pleasing, absolutely shocking, riveting, suspenseful "Saw" wowed audiences in 2004 and a very solid sequel did the same in 2005.

I still remember seeing Saw and Saw II for the first time and realizing how amazing they were. Yet, I was unhappy with Saw III along with many others for reasons being: it focused more on violence than plot, there was no twist, and the ending was very unsatisfying.

I know for a fact I wasn't the only person who thought the "Saw" franchise was officially over, judging by the very disappointing third film...yet, I still possessed a strange love for these films and couldn't wait to see the fourth when it hit theaters. I wasn't expecting a masterpiece at all...but I got one.

"Saw IV" is not the average horror flick. If you're a Saw fan that likes the series for its blood and guts, you're going to despise it. If you're not willing to completely concentrate on the film's every little detail, you're going to despise it. If you feel like just kicking back, watching a nice gory horror film, and not spending a night analyzing the film, racking your brain until you drive yourself insane, you're going to despise this film. Quite honestly, that's why so many people hate this film: because they were expecting something completely different. Make no mistake--the Saw franchise as we know it is now going in a completely different direction.

Here's where the line's drawn between Saw IV and it's predecessors. With the deaths of two main characters in Saw III, you can't possibly think of how Saw IV could really be close to a decent film. Instead of a basic storyline of traps, unlucky individuals who don't appreciate their lives, and suspenseful jump scenes, Saw IV delivers a completely different premise: it's darker, edgier, scarier, more complex, more intricately designed, and more controversial than its predecessors. In some ways, the most horrifying thing about the film is instead of watching people being tested on screen--YOU, as a viewer, are tested--challenged to see what Jigsaw sees, feel what Jigsaw feels...judge how Jigsaw judges. The traps aren't there to entertain, or to make you recoil in disgust...they're there to make you THINK.

Even if you don't want to, or don't feel like it, Saw IV will whisk you away into a land of nightmare where you're forced to make the choices to what happens to the individuals on screen--you're the one in control. By the end of the movie, you'll be so shaken up you won't be able to move. For me, this one "Saw IV" HUGE points because it's actually scary, unlike II and III! It's not a body-count movie--it's a riveting, mind-boggling psychological thriller in the sense of the first film. The film feels like it balances a huge amount of plot and story and a huge amount of gore and ends up taking the cake. The film is exceptionally, brutally violent (even more so than Saw III) and some scenes are very, very disturbing--not because they are violent, but because stuff so horrifying is happening you just want to vomit your brains out. Saw IV is NOT for the faint of heart and there is some very disturbing sexual violence in one scene and another massively disturbing scene where five people in my theater got up and left...and this scene has haunted me since I came out of my theater.

Though horror veterans James Wan and Leigh Whannell, the original creators of Saw, did not write Saw IV--it almost seems better. Darren Lynn Bousman's exquisite directing incorporates a dire sense of urgency throughout the whole film, making it feel like you're watching a "24" episode.

I will warn you now the ending will confuse the hell out of you, which apparently is another reason for people to completely, wrongly condemn this film. Me and my friends spent a good two hours discussing the film afterwards and it made much more sense to us. Be prepared to watch this film with an open mind and be ready for some serious post-viewing discussion afterwards. The ending is very much like that of "The Prestige," and you may have a desire to watch "Saw IV" again the minute it ends.

If you're a Saw fan that was disappointed with the lack of psychological horror in Saw II and Saw III---fear not. Saw IV has what you're looking for and will take you to hell and back...but hold onto your dinner. I have no idea how this film made it past the MPAA without an NC-17 rating. Along with your dinner, try to hold onto your sanity while watching the film...good luck with that.

Enjoy which, is in my opinion, one of the best treats of the 2007 movie season.

OK, I'm a sucker for watching scumbags getting their due and 'Saw IV' delivers a very fast paced crime drama with plenty of blood and gore. The folks cranking out these movies know a couple of things that work.

1)Fast pacing
2)Keep the films short!
3)Hire decent actors

I must admit I wasn't expecting much from a 4th installment in the series, but it did hold my interest and I found the tension pretty high. If I had one problem with the film, it would be the ending. I just wasn't too clear on what I had witnessed. I'm not saying I don't get it, but I would have liked it to be as clear as the rest of the film. I thought it was clever to do a film about events that were happening at the same time as another film in the series. So I'm not really sure if this could be considered a true sequel? If your a fan of the series, 'Saw IV' doesn't really disappoint.

The SAW films are all sequential, so 'SAW IV' picks up where 'SAW III' ended. The movie starts with the grisly autopsy of John (Tobin Bell). A tape is found in his stomach, one he made before he died. Though dead, John does not intend to give up his games. The next scene is a tasty trap where two men awaken, one with his eyes sewn shut and the other with his mouth sewn shut. The two are chained together and must get their key off the other man. As usual, its nice to have a trap right off the bat, don't forget about this one.

Lt. Rigg (Lyriq Bent from 'SAW III') is attacked, and finds himself in one of John's games. He's told that Eric Matthews (surprisingly talented Donny Wahlberg) is still alive after missing for six months, and that Rigg can save him if he follows the rules of the game. Rigg must follow the clues, many of which the lives of innocent and guilty people are at stake, to his final destination.

Added to this SAW installment is John's ex-wife Jill Tuck, called into the police station for interrogation on what she knows of John and his background. 'SAW IV' doesn't quite live up to the first three movies. The traps are rather lame in comparison to the previous films, and although bloody they just don't have that feel of genius behind them. John was better as an enigma, with a goal of teaching others to appreciate their lives by putting them into death situations. (taken from John's cancer and the car crash that almost killed him) 'SAW IV' changes the view of John's motives by providing (IMHO) too much predictable background that takes away from John being a simple genius serial killer. (You'll have to watch the movie to see the motive changes) To me, the series lost too much of its complexity along with the mystery that kept the intensity level high.

In spite of all this, I still recommend you watch SAW IV, though you must watch the first three in order if you haven't already. There's adequate blood and gore, some tricky questions of humanity, a decent Jigsaw scenario, and building intensity toward the end. Rent first unless you're a diehard fan (like me), who purchased before watching the movie. Enjoy!

In many ways, it's hard to reach a definitive verdict on the level of "Saw IV" until the fifth chapter comes out this October; Saw IV, much more so than any of its predecessors, felt like it didn't so much actually end, as it paused for a year-long intermission. The series has become very complicated (too much for so some, although I'm loving the increasingly labyrithine structure) and just as it hits a major revelation that makes it clear what's been happening in this chapter, the end credits roll, seemingly with so much poised to start taking place. Saw III ended on a cliffhanger like "The Empire Strikes Back", Saw IV's strange non-ending is more like the finale to "Matrix Reloaded".

The stage was all set at the end of Saw III for Jigsaw's final game, but rather than delve fully into that angle, the movie brings back some previously minor characters (some major ones, too, but it's previously 'bit' players who end up with a surprising lions share of the focus here) and greatly expands their role in the whole series through a non-linear storyline that goes through several time frames. The origin of Jigsaw and his previously briefly-touched-on relationship with his ex-wife Jill are also expanded in flashbacks, and we see the very early, simple deathtraps constructed by Jigsaw at the beginning of his 'career'. How well this will ultimately mesh with everything from the first three is still partially up in the air; they didn't foul it up here, but Saw V is going to have to be very tight to tie everything together fully - not just events but the different characterizations of Jigsaw and the others as they've progressed and changed.

Lyriq Bent's character of Rigg gets turned into a much more central character this time around, having been personally selected by Jigsaw to be put through a wringer of tests designed to force him to make choices between risking the lives of the innocent characters he's searching for, or allowing those already judged guilty by Jigsaw to die along the way. The immediate question people will ask is how can the games continue after Saw III's rather definitive endscene, but things have been organized well in advance; the much greater use of flashbacks also opens up possibilities.

It was a risk to deliberately complicate things so much this far into an already highly involved series, but this is in keeping with the series. The first Saw was great but it was questionable from the beginning whether it should spawn even one sequel, let alone a long-running series. Each new chapter though, has not only succeeded but gotten more complex, deeper, and has enriched the films that came before it. Often even more intense too, and Saw IV is probably the goriest chapter yet. It's left a lot more unresolved than the previous ones (and requires even closer attention to understand); despite its status where I may not be 100% sure how this will ultimately hold up once the storylines it launched play out in Saw V, I'm still going to go with a 5-star rating. First of all, there's no way that, however Saw V turns out, that this will rate less than a four, or probably four-and-a-half star rating - regardless of how a sequel plays into its successors and predecessors it still has to be judged primarily on its own merits. For that little bit of doubt, the series has earned the benefit of the doubt: thus far everything they do keeps doing justice to the earlier ones, and I suspect (and hope) the next entry will do the same.

And even if it doesn't, Saw IV succeeded on a difficult track. It could have been great without adding these new angles to the mix, but apparantly they thought these angles were worth exploring, so in they came and the risk payed off. Another winning chapter in what's emerged as one of horror's all-time greatest series.

Even death can't stop Jigsaw, once again played marvelously by Tobin Bell, from another killing spree.

This time, the focus is on Sgt. Rigg (Lyriq Bent). Rigg originally appeared in Saw II. All of the partners he's worked with have died at the hands of Jigsaw, except for Detective Matthems (Donnie Wahlberg). Matthews has somehow managed to survive for 6 months, but his life literally hangs in the balance. Rigg is captured and forced to endure one of Jigsaw's puzzles in order to be able to save Matthews. Also captured is Detective Hoffman (Costas Mandylor). His fate is tied to that of Matthews. If Matthews dies, so will Hoffman. Rigg has 90 minutes to locate Matthews, but along the way, he's forced to deal with the challenges set in place for him. Each involves a choice; Rigg can stay and help, but use valuable time, or he can simply ignore the victim and move on. What will he choose? Will he reach Matthews before its too late?

I've seen the previous three Saw films, and this one is better than those. One part I especially liked about this move was the look back into Jigsaw's life when he was simply John Kramer. John had to deal with many problems in his life, including the loss of his unborn child. This single event is what sent John over the edge. I also liked how the characters from the previous films were brought back together in this movie. The ending is the best part of the movie, as many people competing to overcome their own series of traps meet in an explosive climax. Many questions are answered at the end of the movie.

I give this fine suspenseful movie my highest recommendation. The Saw series has become one of my favorites, and the movies keep getting better and better. I can only hope that the director will somehow find a way to keep Jigsaw around for part 5. Don't miss this great movie.

Jigsaw (Tobin Bell) may be dead, but that little disability isn't stopping him from continuing his bloody and deadly games of life and death. Agent Strahm (Scott Patterson) seeks to avenge the death of Kerry (Dina Meyer) from Saw III, and also tries to unravel how Jigsaw's games are continuing from beyond the grave. Familiar faces are abound once again as well, including Rigg (Lyriq Bent), Hoffman (Costas Mandylor), Jeff (Angus MacFadyen) and Detective Eric Matthews (Donnie Wahlberg), whose situation gets incredibly worse and worse; and all are still caught in Jigsaw's web. Darren Lynn Bousman, who directed the previous two films in the series, directs with occasional flare and squeamish moments. Sadly though, there isn't anything too compelling that's really going on in Saw IV, as a good number of the various traps just don't seem as imaginitive as they did in the past films, and as a whole, Saw IV just comes off as sadly boring and predictable. The best moments of Saw IV though are undoubtedly the scenes where we get past glimpses of just what lead brilliant engineer John on the road to becoming to Jigsaw, and the traps are grisly and gorey enough to satisfy fans of the franchise. Of course, there are plenty of openings left for future films, which hopefully will improve upon the foundation that has been built by original creators James Wan and Leigh Whannell, as well as by Bousman (who will not be directing the series' next installment). All in all, Saw IV is worth a look for fans of the series and gorehounds as well, but in the end, there just isn't much here that hasn't been seen before.

Surprisingly better than Saw III, the fourth installment in the franchise delivers the suspense in a very tricky manner. While I can't divulge just why the movie ups the ante, just suffice to say that, with Jigsaw dead, this movie takes place begining in the moments before the awful scene at the end of number 3 (and other info deleted to appease other Amazon crybabies).

You are also given a deeper back-story for Jigsaw, (Tobin Bell, again deliciously malevolent) and the lady that appeared in his flashbacks. Other characthers reappear as pawns in a dangerous game, as the dearly departed seems to have left posthumous recruitment tapes for SWAT Commander Rigg. Along with the typical ominous warnings, Rigg is led through the well-known series of SAW traps as Jigsaw tests his mettle. At the end of this test are two other fellow officers, including a returning Donnie Wahlberg, restrained to another nefarious device. As you can guess, not everything goes according to plan. The final twist is a doozy, and for a change, hard to see coming.

The script, which plays out more like a mystery/whodunit than a horror show, is what really bumps this movie up. Again, while not giving away the twist, I can say it was a major mind-bender. It may even take a few folks a bit of time to realize what just happened. To me, that made it great. For a change, I am looking forward to where they take this next Halloween.