SAW III: Widescreen Unrated Edition DVD Review

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Title: SAW III: Widescreen Unrated Edition

Region: One

Genre: Horror

Stars: Tobin Bell, Shawnee Smith, Angus Macfadyen, Bahar Soomekh, and Dina Meyer

Writer: Leigh Whannell

Based On A Story By: Leigh Whannell and James Wan

Director: Darren Lynn Bousman

Feature length: 113 minutes

Extras: Audio Commentary With Director Darren Lynn Bousman, Writer/Executive Producer Leigh Whannell, and Executive Producers Peter Block and Jason Constantine, Audio Commentary With Producers Oren Koules and Mark Borg, Audio Commentary With Director Darren Lynn Bousman, Editor Kevin Greutert, and Director Of Photography David K. Armstrong, The Traps Of SAW III Featurette, The Details Of Death: The Props Of SAW III Featurette, Darren’s Diary: Anatomy Of A Director Featurette, Deleted Scenes, Trailers, and Previews

Languages: English Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound and Dolby Surround Sound

Subtitles: English Closed Captions and English, and Spanish Language Subtitles

Packaging: Clear Keep Case Within A Plastic Slip

Chapter Stops: 24

Sound: Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound and Dolby Surround Sound

Year of Theatrical Release: 2006/DVD Release: 2007

Theatrical Distributor: Lionsgate

Home Video Distributor: Lionsgate Home Entertainment

MPAA Rating: Unrated

Reviewer: Mark A. Rivera

SAW III is arguably the darkest in the continuing series of horror thrillers that builds upon the events of the first two films to fill in the gaps and explain unanswered questions and deceptively give a kind of closing to the film series if there were to be no sequels though SAW IV is already in the works for a theatrical release close to Halloween of 2007. Jigsaw (Tobin Bell) is on his deathbed and he has tasked his apprentice Amanda (Shawnee Smith) with getting him a surgeon to ease his pain, which she does. Doctor Lynn Denlon (Bahar Soomekh) must relieve the swelling in Jigsaw’s head by performing cranial surgery using the tools at hand and a device has been placed around her neck so that if she refuses, tries to escape, or if Jigsaw should expire during the procedure, a ring of bullets will blow apart her head. Meanwhile somewhere in the labyrinth of Jigsaw’s lair, a father whose son was killed in a car accident is forced to face those who are in some form responsible for the chain of events and grant them forgiveness while trying to save their lives. These actions culminate in what is perhaps the most complex game Jigsaw has ever set up with everyone’s lives held in the balance.

Charlie Glouser’s brooding score is especially effective here because the victims in the story are not evil people so much as they are human beings that quite honestly are rather ordinary. Anyone could fall into the same tragic circle of misfortune and while we might not like what they have done, the reality is no one knows how they will react to a given situation truly unless they are put into one and that is what Jigsaw does. He creates horrible traps that give the individual to confront and overcome a horrific challenge or die horribly. Another tough element in the film is that by now Jigsaw as played by Tobin Bell and Amanda as played by Shawnee Smith are antiheroes. Horror icons that we are both appalled by and yet compelled to watch. Angus Macfadyen adds a lot of pathos to his characterization simply through the anguish in his eyes. There is a point where I wanted to cheer for him, but yet I could not because Jigsaw’s puzzles within puzzles are so devious that one just knows that a moment of triumph could actually be a moment of failure in Jigsaw’s grand scheme. Bahar Soomekh is wonderful as the surgeon forced to perform the surgery. She is not an uncaring person and although she already has developed a kind of professional coldness in her approach toward her patients that some Doctors develop when they become increasingly detached from their practices, she is not as insensitive as was Cary Elwes Doctor character in the first film. She is professional and ultimately one senses a possible emotional connection and even mutual respect between her and Jigsaw. The problem is ultimately that by this point we already know that Jigsaw can keep a good Poker face in tense situations so whether or not what we see is sincere or contrived for the viewer is difficult to tell and I suppose open to interpretation..

The SAW films change our perspectives with each new installment and I have no doubt that there is still much to be learned in the next film. I personally think there was as yet, another player who has been introduced in this film, but has not yet stepped into the forefront. My reasons cannot be discussed further without giving away spoilers, but I suppose we will find out eventually. I just hope that the series does not degenerate or become an unending maze of unanswered questions because as is, if this were the final film in the series, I’d consider the trilogy as a whole one of the great horror classics. It still is a classic in it’s own right, but too many dips in the pool prunes up the skin and then chlorine in the water dries it out so I hope the filmmakers and studio know when to take a break and provide some sort of fitting resolution even if there will always be windows for further installments down the line. Every beginning eventually has an end after all.

Lionsgate Home Entertainment’s Unrated Edition of SAW III presents the film in a 16 by 9 (1.78:1) widescreen aspect ratio for DVD users. I did not see SAW III in the theater so I am not sure if the film was exhibited in a different aspect ratio, but I am inclined to think that if it were, the DVD probably is an uncropped version that shows more details onscreen to benefit the size difference between home theater displays and the projection screens used in movie theaters. The image quality on the DVD is a bit hard to judge at times because SAW III employs various in-camera techniques and stylized forms of editing and color saturation so since I have not seen this or any of the other SAW films on the big screen, I am again inclined to give the DVD the benefit of the doubt. Most of the scenes are both very dark and monochromatic or have a sickly green tint about them with splashes of a deep magenta here and there for when blood is spilled. The English Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Soundtrack is about average. It is not remarkably ambient and it stands up to what I have come to expect from a standard definition DVD 5.1 audio track. An English Dolby Surround Soundtrack and English Closed Captions for the Deaf and Hearing Impaired as well as English and Spanish Language Subtitles have been encoded onto the disc as options too.

There are three feature length audio commentaries. The first features Director Darren Lynn Bousman, Writer/Executive Producer Leigh Whannell, and Executive Producers Peter Block and Jason Constantine. The second features Producers Oren Koules and Mark Borg. The third features Director Darren Lynn Bousman, Editor Kevin Greutert, and Director Of Photography David K. Armstrong. They are conversational in nature and screen specific. There is a nice informal nature about them all that makes listening to the commentaries more enjoyable. Among the things discussed are the filmmakers seeking advice from Rob Zombie about how to approach the MPAA, the difference between certain scenes in the unrated edition with a discussion of what kind of cuts the MPAA asked for and how the filmmakers in some cases were able to keep the existing edits for the theatrically released version. A lot of deleted sequences are mentioned that will no doubt appear in some future incarnation of the film on DVD. One interesting cut that goes back to a plot element in the first film was something I wish they kept. Unfortunately I cannot go into any detail about what scene I am referring to because it would reveal spoilers for the entire series thus far. Another interesting element is the various cameos revealed that fans might recognize right away, but the casual viewer may not. Other interesting tidbits related to the film that are discussed was the fact that they cut down the film from a three and a half hour version, the pre-production on SAW III was already on the way by the time SAW II was in theaters, the shoot took 28 days, the difference between Jigsaw and Amanda’s characters as well as a discussion of Shawnee Smith’s role in the first three films and how it has developed, and finally viewers will learn what a merkin is.

Companion featurettes include a Director’s video diary (9:20), a look at the props (7:54), and traps (9:19) of SAW III, and the theatrical trailer (1:16) and teaser (: 44). All of these features are presented in a 16 by 9 enhanced aspect ratio. Two letterboxed deleted scenes (5:28) and previews that appear before the opening menu and can also be viewed as a one reel feature from the bonus features menu (8:41) includes Crank (1:57), SAW II: Unrated (1:31), The Punisher: Extended Edition (1:22), SAW: Unrated (1:37), The Invincible Iron Man (1:25) and Hostel: Part 2 (: 39) and these wrap up the bonus materials included on this DVD.

The interactive menus feature full motion scene selections and are easy to navigate. SAW III: Widescreen Unrated Edition is available on DVD-Video now at retailers on and offline courtesy of Lionsgate Home Entertainment.

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