SAW IV: UNRATED DIRECTOR'S CUT
SAW IV: UNRATED DIRECTOR’S CUT
Jigsaw is dead. And now, Swat Commander Riggs, the last surviving officer on the Jigsaw case has been thrust into a game to confront his obsession with saving those around him, in particular his friend Eric Matthews (Donnie Wahlberg), missing for 6 months and whom he’s convinced is still alive & being held captive. Along the way, he must decide weather or not to intervene with other Jigsaw victims. Meanwhile, FBI agents are interrogating the one person that knew Jigsaw best, his ex-wife Jill (a welcome return from actress Betsy Russell!) while trying uncover who has secretly been helping Jigsaw this whole time!
Ok, let’s get right into the features, because that’s what you want to know about, right? (And don’t worry, the commentary reviews will cover the new material that’s been added back into this “unrated director’s cut”.)
Audio Commentary with Director Darren Lynn Bousman and Actor Lyriq Bent – Obviously, one of the first things I put on once getting my hands on this DVD was the director/actor commentary. Considering this was the most complex of the SAW films, plot-wise, I wanted to see if Bousman would go into detail explaining his film and sure enough, he didn’t disappoint. Right from the get go, he confirms that he’s seen the comments on the message boards and understands some of the fans confusion over the complicated plot points in SAW IV, so he spends the majority of the commentary track explaining everything, pointing out the several cameos through out the film (going back to people from the first SAW!) and how it all fits in with the 3 previous films. Don’t worry, with Lyriuq there, it’s not all about explaining. It still makes for a light and comical commentary track, in particular because of the fact that this is the first time Bent is seeing the completed movie. (His reactions to the traps are priceless!) Bousman goes on to point out the additions to this cut, which in actuality was his first cut of the movie. Among the deleted material are a few short scenes that just help flesh out some of the characters a tiny bit more. In particular there’s one great short scene where Agent Strahm calls Agent Perez’s parents to inform them her daughter’s been hurt and is fighting for her life. Sure, I dig the extra couple of seconds of gore tacked on to each kill sequence, but it’s these little character moments that really add so much more texture to a film like this for me. There’s plenty of other fun tid-bits along the way, like Bousman confessing that he had to beg Donnie Wahlberg to come back as Eric Mathews, and he even goes as far as to point out the shots that are NOT Wahlberg, but a stand in. (And of course, he drops numerous shameless plugs for REPO, his next film which was in pre-production as he was shooting SAW IV.) He does reveal that there was plenty of more material they shot for the end, but which was all removed and will most likely appear in the beginning of SAW V. (This is possibly where the rumors began that parts of SAW V were already shot.) Overall, a stand out commentary track and something SAW fans are definitely going to want to listen to so they can fully understand all the subtleties and efforts that were put into making this sequel.
Audio Commentary with Producers Oren Koules and Mark Burg and Executive Producers Peter Block and Jason Constantine – There’s also a producer’s commentary, which fans will definitely want to give a listen to. It’s odd, because while Bousman mostly jokes about it, it seems that most of the few deleted bits were all things that the producers didn’t like and wanted him to remove. It’s clear almost right away when they point out things they deleted for the theatrical cut that I don’t agree at ALL with any of the producer’s decisions for this movie. I much rather prefer Bousman’s choices. There are several examples such as a quick flash when “Jigsaw” runs by the door in Rigg’s apartment, or even the phone call to Agent Perez’s parents, which I mentioned earlier in this review. They also didn’t seem to fully “get” Bousman’s crazy transition shots, arguably something he does quite a bit during this film, but which I thought was kinda neat. I will give the producer’s credit for dropping a lot of subtle hints in part 3 that are all paid off now in SAW IV. And they do hint to a few things that might pop up in the next installment. (Keep your eyes peeled for a key that Jill aka Jigsaw’s ex wears around her neck during the movie. Or a giant glass box in Jigsaw’s lair that may hold significance for a trap we have yet to see.) This commentary definitely offers an interesting counter balance to Bousman’s, so as a fan of the series, I’m sure you’ll want to listen to them both to really get the full scoop behind the making of this movie from all those involved.
Darren’s Video Diary – This is a great little “making-of” SAW IV featurette, all shot on camcorders and following around director Bousman from pre-production all the way to the actual shoot. It begins right away in April of 2007 with Darren asking the producers why key plot points are making their way onto the internet before they’ve even begun shooting. After a quick production meeting, we’re thrown right into the middle of the shoot, which at points is problematic (some of the “traps” don’t work), and at other times fun and crazy. Sarain Boylan (who’s in the “scalp pull” trap) in particular shows off her wild side, as you’ll see her during her few days on set kissing members of the crew and dancing under the interrogation table. Bousman’s dog Chance makes numerous appearances (both in this featurette and the new unrated director’s cut) as do his parents. And both Bousman’s girlfriend and lawyer show up to be a part of the photographs that appear in the rapist’s room for when his Jigsaw judgment comes. Despite the serious subject matter of the movie and the crunched shooting schedule, it seems like it was a hell of a lot of fun to make. And this video diary definitely shows that.
The Traps Of SAW IV – This is a series of short featurettes focusing on how each trap was thought up, designed and built. We hear a lot from David Hackl, the production designer on the last 3 SAW films, who is the one that helps think up some of these crazy traps and then actually builds working versions of them. It’s great to see his understanding of this important aspect of the SAW movies considering he’s directing the next chapter! There’s a funny bit here with Donnie Wahlberg not looking too happy to be hanging around on a block of ice for his “trap”. He tells the camera, “My son’s friends are going to give me shit for this for a month.”
The Props Of SAW IV – Another short featurette with property master Jim Murray who explains how the various props from the movie were put together. For example, the “spike gun” which is the device that pins the couple together in the classroom scene. There was also a prop involving a locket that Jill was supposed to wear, but this was deleted from the script before filming began. Regardless, Murray talks about it here and explains what its importance would have been. He also shows us a little bit about the “clay soldiers” (which first made their appearance in SAW 3), which gives us a peek at a deleted scene where Jigsaw visits his son’s grave and leaves this toy soldier on his tombstone. (Inevitably, we’ll probably see this on the “special edition” SAW IV DVD re-release?). And last but not least, we get to see the back history of the “pig mask” which as the movie reveals originates from the Chinese New Year. Over all, the props featurette is just as fascinating as the traps featurette. These two featurettes really showcase how much thought goes into every aspect of what you see on screen.
Music Video by X JAPAN for “I.V.” – A video for a song from the feature. Hey, its ok, I guess. But not something I’d watch over and over again, or even rock out to on my Creative Nomad. (Yes, I don’t own an iPod, I’ve got a Nomad)
Deleted Scene – Not much of a deleted scene, especially considering we know there’s a ton of stuff NOT on this disc that was deleted from the final film. (Bousman talks about some of the missing stuff in his commentary.) This scene is Hoffman showing the FBI agents the specific files set aside for anything Jigsaw-related. There’s extensive files on 16 people that have gone missing, all of which were somehow involved with Jigsaw, or studied by him, and whom may now be taking part in one of his games.
Overall, this has been one of my favorite SAW releases to examine. I enjoyed all the sequels thus far, but this is the one that left me the most confused after my initial viewing of it in theaters. I was awaiting the DVD so I could give it a thorough look, and sure enough, it’s the type of movie that gets better and better with repeat viewings. This also might be the film’s biggest downfall. It relies too heavily on your knowledge of the previous SAW films. Sure, the other 2 were sequels but they had their own stories and resolved themselves by the end. This one had too much going on that wouldn’t make sense unless you were familiar with what happened in SAW 3, and the ending just left us with even more questions. There was no neat, tied up resolution like SAW 2 and 3 offered. Still, considering this is “Part 4” in a horror series, it’s quite amazing the quality they’ve been able to sustain with each outing. If you’re a fan of the series, this disc is highly recommended. –Robg.
