Saw II (Widescreen Edition)

Saw II (Widescreen Edition)
by Darren Lynn Bousman

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DVD details

Actor: Beverley Mitchell, Donnie Wahlberg, Emmanuelle Vaugier, Franky G, Tobin Bell
Director: Darren Lynn Bousman
Brand: Lions Gate
Cinematographer: David A. Armstrong
Editor: Kevin Greutert
Producer: Peter Block
Producer: Jason Constantine
Producer: Stacey Testro
Producer: James Wan
Producer: Leigh Whannell
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language)
Format: AC-3, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DTS Surround Sound, DVD-Video, NTSC, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.78:1
Running Time: 92 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2006-02-14
Audience Rating: NC-17
Studio: Lions Gate Films

DVD Reviews of Saw II (Widescreen Edition)

DVD Review: Good, effective sequel
Summary: 4 Stars

This is a good piece of horror with some great & gruesome traps in it. There are a quite a few very effective setpieces and some really twisted games involving some truly unpleasant characters. It's a worthy sequel and worth watching for any horror fan.

DVD Review: The Games Continue!!!
Summary: 4 Stars

This was a really good sequel! I like the S.W.A.T team scenes and the traps and twists! After bailing his son out, Detective Eric Matthews finds out where Jigsaw is hiding, but for Jigsaw, getting caught is part of the game. Eight people are trapped in a house. Included in the game are Amanda from the original, Eric's son; Daniel, Xavier, Obi, Gus, Laura, Addison, and Jonas. They all must find an antidote for the poison gas they are breathing. Later, Xavier chases Amanda and Daniel to the classic Saw bathroom. Eric is finally enraged by Jigsaw that he beats him up until he tells him where the house is. If you love horror, Saw, and twists, you'll love SAW 2!!!

DVD Review: very happy
Summary: 4 Stars

I was very pleased with the speed of product delivery and the quality of the product.

DVD Review: You gotta play by the rules
Summary: 4 Stars

Saw 2 is a sequal that worked for the most part in my opinion. It stays true to the Saw theme by still asking if you are grateful to be alive, and asking how much blood you are willing to shed to stay alive once you are in a life or death situation (or game, as Jigsaw calls it). The games (or traps some may like to call them too) are more played out in this sequal, where as we only got to see glimpses in the first Saw. The main scenario is on a larger scale, played out in an old house with a group of people, as compared to the two men in a large bathroom in the first movie. A nice connection is made with the first movie (in addition to story elements) which brings some of the people into the same bathroom once again near the movie's end. There is also that unexpected surprise to the story that made probably the biggest impact (in my opinion) with the first Saw. Again, you couldn't quite see this one coming either, but it didn't have quite the satisfying and felt impact as the first Saw.

Tobin Bell is Jigsaw, and gets a lot more screen time in Saw 2, we even actually see his face quite a bit. More light is shed about who he is, where he's come from, and why he does what he does with these sick little games. The man has a point, but the scenarios he creates are so brutal its nearly impossible to see it as fear and panic take over. This is the case with detective Mathews (Donnie Whalberg) who is the main character in Saw 2, and whom the main game's focus is around. You got a house full of young men and woman (including Mathews son) trying to stay alive, playing one brutal game after another, but the bigger picture is Mathews and the game he is playing right in front of Jigsaw. The rules are laid out for Mathews, but they are so wrapped up in the fear and panic that it is impossible for him to see and that's when things begin to unfold and the surprise ending is told.

While disturbing and difficult to watch at times, Saw 2 doesn't have quite the impact as the original. There is plenty of blood, gore and violence, and one of the guys named Xavier (Franky G) becomes the scariest guy in the movie when he is driven to do whatever he feels he must to stay alive in that house. There are more traps and possible the most frightening was the very first of the movie, even before things get rolling we see a man who has had the key to unlocking his trap surgically inserted under his eye. He has 60 seconds to dig it out with a little knife. Not a very bloody scene at all, but just the thought of what must be done to survive is gut wrenching enough. On a good note, things move along in Saw 2, going from one trap/test to the next, while the first Saw was a bit more laid back, with the two men in the bathroom talking things out in grave details and referring to flashbacks to piece the puzzle together, however I believe it was those moments that created more tension and fright when the bloodshed and panic occured, resulting in more of a felt impact in regard to those in Saw 2.

Saw 2 works for what it is, by carrying on the Saw theme, expanding on the scenarios (and some gore if that's your thing) and exploring Jigsaw's background a little more. I don't think it's quite as sharp as the original, but it improves in various areas and falls in others.

Acting - 4
Characters - 4
Horror/Gore - 4.5
Story - 4
Overall - 4

DVD Review: Not the cutting edge of sequels
Summary: 3 Stars

This second installment of the Saw series is by far the worst of the bunch. Sequels are always a bad idea, especially when you're up against something as brilliant as the original Saw. Let's face it. This is a premise with severely limited room for expansion. The first Saw was a beautifully wretched and gruesome concept that was played out great on film. But this sequel didn't have much of a chance of matching the sweet bloody ambiance of its pedecessor. Like most sequels, since the premise of the movie was explained during the plot of the original flick, the writers don't feel the need to weigh down part II with a storyline. They just set the villian out in public again and have him wreek havoc and spill more blood with greater special effects than the first. And as always, it makes the sequel an insult to the original and a basic disappointment. They didn't even try to stand up to the original with this movie. The plot about all the people locked in a house with nerve gas was just so weak and contrived!! What was Lee W. thinking when he did this??? It was an okay movie over all. Blood, carnage and special effects are always fun to a point...but for the most part, this movie was the average expectation of a sequel...trying too hard to live off the name of the original, not bothering with a movie as long as we can depend on special effects. They really rushed through making a sequel before they had a real movie in mind. As much as I love carnage, I hate the obvious cheap capitalism displayed in this quick knock-off. If you like gratuitous violence and blood, this flick has a certain charm........but don't expect this to be as good as Saw.

Description of Saw II (Widescreen Edition)

Jigsaw is back! the brilliant disturbed mastermind who wreaked havoc on his victims in 2004s saw is back for another round of horrifying life or death games. Dvd features audio commentary with director and actors the props of saw 2 and deconstructing jigsaws traps! Studio: Lions Gate Home Ent. Release Date: 09/23/2008 Starring: Donnie Wahlberg Tobin Bell Run time: 92 minutes Director: Darren Lynn Bousman

Saw II brings back many features of the original Saw: elaborate sadistic scenarios designed to "test" the victims' will to live; Tobin Bell as the Machiavellian (yet doomed) serial killer Jigsaw; Shawnee Smith as Amanda, a survivor of one of Jigsaw's "games", forced to play again; Dina Meyer (Starship Troopers), whose role as a detective is considerably expanded; and the stunningly godawful dialogue of screenwriter Leigh Whannel. The set-up this time is even more preposterous than before, as a rough-and-tumble cop named Eric (Donnie Whalberg, Band of Brothers) watches, on video monitors, his son trapped in a house filled with nerve gas and a handful of other victims, all of whom are mysteriously connected. Eric has captured Jigsaw, but the implacable killer refuses to reveal where the cop's son is being held... unless Eric will play by Jigsaw's rules. Fans of Saw will love Saw II, as the tortures are more gruesome than before; viewers who found Saw either detestable or laughable won't like Saw II either, as the characters rarely behave like actual people (even when a moment's explanation would solve a conflict, no one bothers to communicate, even though their lives are on the line). It's a festival of body fluids, agonized grimaces, and shrieks of pain--and if that's your thing, this is your movie. --Bret Fetzer

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