SAW 10-Film Collection 20th Anniversary Edition

As I mentioned in my review of Lionsgate’s Walmart Exclusive 8-Film SteelBook - I’m a fan of the Saw franchise. Some I liked more than others, but for the most par,t they’ve all been entertaining. I’ve always appreciated that our villain Jigsaw played by Tobin Bell is actually more of an anti-hero than a mindless killer. Sure his traps are lethal, but he gives his captives a chance for life and salvation - they just have to be willing to endure untold horrors and pain to do so. It’s a clever conceit that may not have been enough to fully support ten films, but they keep coming and I keep going to the theater. So what does that tell you?

If I’m going to catalog my favorites of the franchise I would stack Saw through Saw III at the top with Spiral, Jigsaw, and Saw X next. Saw VII and Saw 3D (aka Saw VIII) were pretty good, but I find Saw IV, V, and Saw VI to be rather sluggish entries. Part of that is due to a plot point at the end of Saw III that kinda cocked up the franchise going forward. Those who know, know. With Saw XI on the horizon, we’ll just have to see how many more sequels, requels, or prequels this franchise can support and still come up with inventive, gnarly, and painful ways to kill someone.

For more in-depth reviews, here’s our previous Saw Franchise coverage:

Saw Review

Saw II Review

Saw III Review

Saw IV Review

Saw V (Unreviewed)

Saw VI Review

Saw: The Final Chapter (Unreviewed)

Jigsaw

Spiral

Saw X

Vital Disc Stats: The Blu-ray   

If there’s one thing Lionsgate loves it’s repackaging their existing discs in fancy new duds and sending them out into the world for collectors to gobble up. Celebrating 20 years of Saw this ten-film 23-disc set brings the whole franchise (as it currently exists) together. You get 5 BD-25 discs, 5 BD-50 discs, and thirteen DVDs to get you everything that’s been previously released. Nicely enough that does include the 3D copy of the eighth film! However, if you’ve already bought the films as they came out, there’s nothing new here. All of the discs are housed in one of those oversized Scanovo cases that’s actually the size of a DVD so it won’t easily fit on your shelf if that’s how you’re set up. Likewise, with so many discs stacked on top of each other, it can be damned difficult to get individual discs out. If you do get this set, my recommendation is to put the discs in sleeves or separate cases so you don’t risk damaging the trays or the discs. 

As Lionsgate is keen on repackaging previously available discs, all of the Blu-ray and DVDs in this set were previously released. So for full details see the linked reviews above. With that, the good news for the first Saw is they used the more recent updated disc instead of the moldy oldy. However films that desperately need an A/V upgrade like Saw II, Saw III, and Saw IV are still the same dodgy barely-better-than-DVD discs we’ve had before. Since Lionsgate has been slowly but surely upgrading the franchise to 4K, you might want to consider that if/when making a purchase.

Like the video transfer, these are the same audio packages from previous releases. Which for the newer or updated Blu-ray of Saw is fine, but for some of the middle chapters it leaves a lot to be desired.

And likewise, all of the bonus features carry over. While some films in the set are given more than others, you still have hours of extras to dive into.

One low-budget horror film with Cary Elwes cutting off his foot somehow spawned an entire franchise of gnarly ghastly gory terrors. Whether you love the Saw franchise, hate it, or are indifferent to it all, you have to admire how the filmmakers keep coming up with some disgusting ways to slaughter people. I enjoy some entries more than others, but for the most part, I’ve enjoyed the whole run. Now to celebrate 20 years of bodily dismemberment and painful retribution, Lionsgate buddles all of the available Blu-ray and DVD discs into one big package. And I mean big. Using the DVD-sized Scanovo cases, the set looks nice but it doesn’t sit well on shelves. Adding some insult to injury, the early sequels are in desperate need of some restoration/remastering attention. On top of that, the 4Ks available for the first and later sequels are vastly superior options so the appeal of this set really only boils down to convenience over best quality. For Fans Only 

Order Your Copy of the Saw 10-Film Anniversary Collection