| | | You Won't Believe How it Ends.
Features: DVD, Widescreen, Unrated
In the fifth installment of the Saw franchise, Detective Hoffman is seemingly the last person alive to carry on the Jigsaw legacy. But when his secret is threatened, he must go on the hunt to eliminate all loose ends.
"A cut above its pretentious predecessors; the graphic set-pieces...deliver the gory goods." John Beifuss, Commercial Appeal
"...has a nice flow to it and is still able to dish out newly designed horrific torture scenes." Kevin McCarthy, WJFK-FM
"...makes the entire series coalesce a little bit better." Peter Hartlaub, San Francisco Chronicle
Editor's Note
With everyone else dead and rotting, it's up to Hoffman (Costas Mandylor) to continue Jigsaw's murderous traditions. When he feels that his identity might be discovered, the killer has to use all his training as a detective to track down anything--and anyone--that might expose him.
| Features | Audio Commentary With Director David Hackl & First Assistant Director Steve Webb | | Audio Commentary With Producers Oren Koules & Mark Burg, & Executive Producers Peter Block & Jason Constantine | | Audio: English Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound | | Featurettes: The Pendulum Trap, The Cube Trap, The Coffin Trap, The Fatal Five, & Slicing The Cube - Editing The Cube Trap | | Interactive Menus | | Original Theatrical Trailer | | Scene Selection | | Subtitles: English, Spanish |
| Entertainment Reviews
 | Saw V - DVD Review By: Bill Gibron - filmcritic.com DVD Reviews Published on: 1/9/2009 4:44 PM | |
At this point in the Saw series, reviews really don't matter. Frankly, this is one of the few fright franchises where audiences don't care about character development, directorial flair, or narrative invention. Instead, they want more Tobin Bell as Jigsaw, more illogical puzzle kills, and a reverse referencing that makes unimportant characters major players in later installments. To that extent, Saw V is definitely no different. Unfortunately, whatever made the first four films tolerable has been whisked away by unimaginative writing and even more pedestrian direction....read the full review |
| Technical Info
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Release Information
| | Studio: Lions Gate |
| Release Date: 9/8/2009 |
| Original Release Date: 2008 | | Catalog ID: 24773 | | UPC: 00031398104704 | | Number of Discs: 1 |
Audio & Video
| | Original Language: English | | Available Audio Tracks: English | | Video: Color |
Aspect Ratio | | Widescreen 1.85:1 |
| Cast & Crew
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| | Professional Reviews | Reel.com 5 of 10
At this point in the Saw series, reviews really don't matter. Frankly, this is one of the few fright franchises where audiences don't care about character development, directorial flair, or narrative invention. Instead, they want more Tobin Bell as Jigsaw, more illogical murders, and a reverse referencing that makes unimportant characters major players in later installments. To that extent, Saw V is definitely no different. Unfortunately, whatever made the first four films tolerable has been whisked away by unimaginative writing and even more pedestrian direction...The final failure comes from the actors. Mandylor appears to be sleepwalking through the part, while Patterson's only highlight comes via a self-induced tracheotomy. The rest of the returning horde--including snippets from victims long ago dispensed--are really nothing special, and Betsy Russell's Jill is reduced to a red herring. About the only actor getting a chance is Bell, and though he is limited to playing flashback versions of the fiend, he brings a brilliant gravitas to the role. Too bad then that Melton and Dunstan give him such God-awful lines...For longtime fans of James Wan and Leigh Whannell's original Sundance stunner, Saw V is the weakest installment so far. It can't claim part two's brutality, part three's closure, or part four's intriguing reboot. Instead, it's the first effort that fails to capitalize on all the invention that came before. Instead of striking out in new or unusual ways, it merely recycles information and individuals we thought we were already done with. If you like the broadening of the Jigsaw scenario, you'll end up partially satisfied. Everything else here is just subpar scares. - Bill Gibron
The Onion A.V. Club 5 of 10
Give the Saw franchise credit for sticking to its original vision, as repugnant and hypocritical as it is. Collectively, Saw's torture-porn series has grossed more than $500 million worldwide, yet its sequels still look like they cost the catering budget of a studio horror film. David Hackl, the production designer for Saw II, III, and IV, graduates from hurling buckets of slime all over the film's grimy torture-dungeon sets to directing, but at this point, the series pretty much writes and directs itself. The driving force is inertia and commercial calculation, not inspiration...Scott Patterson stars as a hard-charging FBI agent who survives one of the nefarious traps set by the Jigsaw Killer (Tobin Bell), then begins to investigate shadowy cop Costas Mandylor, a survivor of the bloodshed that ended Saw IV. For the audience's benefit, Patterson considerately announces the implications of every new clue he picks up, even when he's alone; apparently, he's unfamiliar with the concept of interior monologue...Saw V devotes so much time and energy to flashbacks and recycling footage from its predecessors that it threatens to implode. The film unwisely skimps on the gore in favor of endless scenes of Bell espousing his, um, unique philosophy of self improvement through surviving horrible ordeals--he's like the world's grisliest life coach--and the mystery plot grows less interesting with each passing frame. The death-trap scenes, always the franchise's money shots, feel like half-baked afterthoughts, and the plotting and deaths lack the scuzzy ingenuity of the film's predecessors. Saw V jumps back and forth in time in ways that are confusing to downright incoherent, but chronology isn't the only thing that's hopelessly muddled in this punishingly arbitrary retread. - Nathan Rabin
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