Saw
(2004) |  |  |  |
Saw Blu-ray features mediocre video and decent audio in this mediocre Blu-ray release
Obsessed with teaching his victims the value of life, a deranged, sadistic serial killer abducts the morally wayward. Once captured, they must face impossible choices in a horrific game of survival. The victims must fight to win their lives back or die trying...
For more about Saw and the Saw Blu-ray release, see the Saw Blu-ray Review
Starring: Leigh Whannell, Cary Elwes, Danny Glover, Ken Leung, Dina Meyer
Director: James Wan
Saw Blu-ray, Video Quality
Saw is presented in 1080p high definition inside its original 1.85:1 frame. There is a fair amount of grain present throughout the length of the feature. Much of the movie takes place underneath the harsh fluorescent lights of the restroom and it gives everything an unnatural sheen. Even though the image is dark in nature, black levels proved less than ideal. A few dark scenes are downright horrendous in appearance, notably the scene where Adam recalls his abduction. Detail and image clarity proved to be hit and miss. At times, the detail of the image, notably in close-ups of actors, was pretty good, but most of the time the image lacked the depth we've come to expect from even moderately good Blu-ray transfers. Much of the time the image only fares slightly better than a typical upconverted DVD. Perhaps in the early days of the Blu-ray format this disc might have looked good, but compared to the more recent releases of a fairly mature format, this one is very subpar.
Saw Blu-ray, Audio Quality
With this release of Saw, Lionsgate has foregone a lossless or uncompressed track in favor of a DTS ES 6.1 soundtrack as well as a Dolby Digital 5.1 EX track. I screened the movie listening to the DTS track, and I was mostly pleased with the results. This is a very loud track with an active, 360 degree sound field. One complaint I had with this soundtrack was that some of the sounds emanating from the rear sounded rather gimmicky, forced, and out of place. Bass is not ever-present, but when it kicks it is pretty hard hitting. One word of warning: the Lionsgate intro that comes up on screen when you first put the disc in is recorded at an unusually high level, so be forewarned. While this track is not bad, the lack of a lossless option and the sometimes gimmicky nature of the use of sound ranks this one only slightly above average. It's a track that gets the job done, and that's fairly good praise in and of itself.
Blu-ray bundles with Saw (1 bundle)
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