Movie: Saw (2004)

“Two men wake up at opposite sides of a dirty, disused bathroom, chained by their ankles to pipes. Between them lies a dead man loosely clutching a hand-held tape player and a handgun. Each finds a tape the perfect fit for the player in their back pocket. They play the tapes. One is threatened, the other isn’t. But they have a task: One must kill the other by 6:00, or his wife and daughter will die. They find hacksaws in a toilet, and try to cut the chains, but it doesn’t work. They are the two newest victims of the Jigsaw Killer. In a flashback, we learn of Amanda, a girl who falls victim to the Jigsaw Killer. On her head is a mask, which is hooked into her lower jaw. There is a timer on it. Only one key will unlock it, and that key is in the digestive tract of her cell mate who lies paralyzed on the opposite side of the room. If she doesn’t unlock the mask in time, her lower jaw will be ripped wide open. She survives, but her cell mate doesn’t. Through a series of flashbacks, we learn of more victims, and of the nearly-successful capture of the Jigsaw Killer, who doesn’t actually kill his victims. Instead, he finds ways to make them kill either themselves, or each other, and he thinks the entire ‘game’ out perfectly, with no other ways out. Or so it would seem. Written by Aurabesh corrected by Paul P”

  • Director: James Wan
  • Release Date: 29 October 2004 (USA)
  • Run Time: 103 min
  • Country: USA , Australia
  • Genre: Horror , Mystery , Thriller
  • MPAA: Rated R for strong grisly violence and language. (edited for re-rating; originally NC-17)

Tagline: Death is a shortcut (Denmark)

Trivia: Shots cut in the R-rated version, according to director James Wan and screen-writer/actor Leigh Whannell, included ones of Amanda sifting through the intestines, the fat guy struggle through the barb wire just to shorten the scene, and some forensic ones. The color was made even and the sound was altered because the MPAA had problems with the tone of the original cut shown in Sundance.

Goofs: Continuity: When Dr. Gordon gets out of Tapp’s car and is talking to him at the car window, the amount of shirt sleeve showing under his jacket changes between shots.

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