DVD Reviews

Saw: the Final Chapter - Blu-ray Review

By Jeff Swindoll Jan 27, 2011, 15:07 GMT

Witness the last diabolical act of a legend as the final pieces of Jigsaw\'s puzzles are revealed! As a deadly battle rages over Jigsaw\'s brutal legacy, a group of Jigsaw survivors gathers to seek the support of self-help guru and fellow survivor Bobby Dagen. But Dagen hides his own dark secrets, ones that will unleash a wave of unrelenting terror and suffering in this heart-stopping finale to the most successful ...more

The Saw series comes to an end with this final entry (or so it is billed).  This time around they added 3D ballyhoo to Jigsaw and his gruesome traps.  However, this seventh entry started to show the seams in the long running torture trip.

It would be near impossible to give a plot description without spoiling something from Saws 1-6 so you’ve been warned. 

Jigsaw (Tobin Bell) is still dead but his accomplice Detective Hoffman (Costas Mandylor) barely escapes a trap set by Jigsaw’s widow Jill Tuck (Betsy Russell).  Jill escapes and goes to Det. Matt Gibson (Chad Donella) to testify against Hoffman if she’s granted full immunity and police protection. 

Around town, Bobby Dagen (Sean Patrick Flannery) is shopping his book and lectures by claiming to have survived a Jigsaw trap.  Unfortunately for him, he comes to the attention of Hoffman who decides that maybe Bobby should really have the full experience so he kidnaps him and his cronies to play a little game. 

Meanwhile, Jill is pursued by Hoffman as Gibson tries to track Hoffman, but there’s a surprise reappearance by someone from the original game. 

Jigsaw may be dead but that doesn’t mean that he can’t get long in the tooth.  The gore film series has carried on for six sequels, each varying in quality.  The first was a creative nail-biter that turned into a big hit.  So a continuation was certainly looked for by the studio. 

Maybe multiple films were always in mind, but I always got the impression that the sequels were more to cash in than being part of an overall plan.  The final chapter tries to tie up some of the loose ends, has cameo appearances from characters from the other films (even one we thought was a goner), but the whole thing feels like its gone on too long. 

There are some gruesome deaths but they just appear to be for the gore value.  The one centerpiece with two guys forced to make a decision about a girl that both are sleeping with was particularly creative, but in the scheme of things it really is just a stand-alone splat. 

Usually, these “games” end up being connected to something else but we’re not given any of that with those three in their very public persecution.  I did snicker when some of the crowds pulled out their cells to video it.  The film did make a ton at the box office (that’s why I think the “final chapter” moniker may not hold) but that probably had to do with the added gimmick of it being in 3D. 

This review copy wasn’t in 3D but you can tell that some of the guts and props are supposed to be coming at you.  As in the tradition, much of the reveal and suspense happen at the end of film but by that time you may be numbed by the “more of the same” aspect of the film… maybe the 3D helped. 

Saw is presented in a 1080p high definition (1.85:1).  Special features are presented in high definition and include two commentaries (producers Mark Burg, Oren Koules, and Peter Block on the first and writers Patrick Melton and Marcus Dunstan on the second), 13 minutes of deleted scenes, 20 minutes of music videos, 2 minute theatrical trailer, and the 14 minute “52 Ways to Die” aka the greatest hits of Jigsaw.  The disc is also BD-Live enhanced.  Disc two is a DVD/digital copy. 

I guess they may start remaking them already since they say this is the last one of this series.  I don’t know that the filmmakers can keep that promise since this entry pulled in so much cash.  It seems the series may have overstayed its welcome.

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