I finally decided to see the first Saw film after all these years. Mixed reaction.

Submitted by Any-Satisfaction-770 t3_11c99mx in movies

I never was into the torture horror genre so this film series was never something I was interested in. Goofy slasher films or cool atmospheric movies are more my thing. I will say I walked into this thing excepting a lot of gore and the first film at least is pretty tame. It's more a murder mystery/moral drama.

I'll start with the negatives. The plot is too convoluted, the acting especially in the climax is very hammy, the budget for this film sometimes shows and the middle in this movie does drag.

The positives are interesting. The first third of this film is legit chilling. The backstory of the Jigsaw kills and the one that survives feels eerie and it plays into the theme of valuing ones life. The climax though goofy is gripping and the twist which I already knew is still very creative. I'll say this. Saw in 2004 was definitely an original concept.

I have no intention of seeing the other movies since this genre was never my cup of coffee to begin with, but yeah I totally get why this thing kicked off. It wasn't just the torture horror thing, this thing had passion.

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Comments

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rollercoastervan t1_ja2ak95 wrote

The first one was good once. Never really cared for it after that

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DYTTIGAF t1_ja2baqv wrote

It's the perpective of being out of control and helpless. Audiences typically can follow a narrative , or at least pretend they have control of the plot and scene direction.

"Saw" movies rips that control away. Making you feel helpless as the victims...on the screen. Powerful fright.

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-ThatGuy882 t1_ja2cabl wrote

The first and second films are the only ones in that series I like. Same as you, the torture thing has never really appealed to me

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lizzpop2003 t1_ja2gdy0 wrote

You should watch the second one. While there is more gore to it, it's a legitimately good film that builds on what the first one set up well and has some excellent twists and turns. After that, they get too convoluted and more obsessed with the spectacle of it, but the second one is still just trying to be a good movie.

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Scungilli-Man69 t1_ja2i2ti wrote

As a horror fan, I've never understood the hype. It's Se7en, but worse in pretty much every way.

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jackfaire t1_ja349i7 wrote

I was bored for most of the movie. I was at the "Wow I've wasted my life" point. The last 3 minutes made the slog worth it though.

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Sherrdreamz t1_ja3f7h9 wrote

I liked Saw 1 and 2 as they were much more thoughtfully created and gave many opportunities for people to use intelligence and bravery to survive. It was even more of a mystery and dare I say social "game" than Saw 1. I turned off Saw 3 as soon as it seemed to me the first victim had no chance at survival and the game wasn't being helmed by Jigsaw.

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LomaSpeedling t1_ja3f8qe wrote

Replying to -ThatGuy882 (#2,019,093)

The third is ok to me, but the rest are just sit through to satisfy my gore fiend but I don't think I've seen any of the later ones more than once. I dont think I even managed five minutes of the last one.

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Milk_A_Pikachu t1_ja3qam4 wrote

Yeah. OG Saw is pretty much the epitome of "a good concept with a really bad execution". The elevator pitch was amazing but the script was incredibly lacking. And the idea to emphasize the torture porn aspects of it hurt the film.

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And then every single sequel took all the worst aspects and made them the core.

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GaryKing1413 t1_ja3w3d8 wrote

Saw 1&2 are actually good movies with kinda good plots and not just full torture porn

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dennythedinosaur t1_ja4kuuk wrote

Very entertaining, despite some flaws (editing, hokey acting, etc).

Obviously, despite the low budget, you could tell the filmmakers had a lot of talent. Considering who James Wan and Leigh Whannell are today.

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malfarcar t1_ja5plvc wrote

I enjoyed the whole saw series until spiral. If you haven’t watched it yet I would I would pass, 2 hours I wish I could have back

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