Saw VI

Lionsgate's money-making franchise is back with this sixth (VI) entry in the Saw film series. The editor for all of the previous films, Kevin Greutert, makes his directorial debut with this picture, once again written by Feast writers, Marcus Dunstan and Patrick Melton. (Gary Reber)

Special features include commentary with Producer Mark Burg and Executive Producers Peter Block and Jason Constantine; commentary with Director Kevin Greutert and Writers Patrick Melton and Marcus Dunstan; three featurettes: The Traps Of Saw VI (HD 08:50), Jigsaw Revealed (HD 06:01, A Killer Maze: Making Saw Game Over (HD 10:40); four music videos (SD 15:06); the theatrical trailer; BD Touch; Meta Menu Remote; previews; and LG Live functionality.

The 1.78:1 1080p AVC picture exhibits the edgy "industrial" look of the series, with dominant green, yellow, blue, and brown hues. Still, at times, the color palette appears perfectly natural, with accurate fleshtones and strong vivid hues. Contrast is generally excellent, with deep, solid blacks and revealing shadow delineation. Depending on the scene, the color spectrum varies, but consistently delivers a creepy appearance. Dimensional imagery is often excellent as well. Generally, the imagery appears a bit rough, which is sort of a visual trademark of the series. During flashbacks the imagery appears extremely edgy and plugged up. Still, at times, resolution is revealing of fine facial features and object textures. The picture intentionally varies throughout, to enhance the horrific visual tones. Saw fans will not be disappointed with this picture, as it is faithful to the filmmakers' vision. (Gary Reber)

The DTS-HD Master Audio™ 7.1-channel soundtrack is, as with the previous Saw V soundtrack, superb, with the additional channels providing a larger holosonic® presence, but...added side channels are positioned to the back sides of the sweet spot listening position, not to the sides as they should be. Thus, unless you switch outputs, the normal surrounds in a 5.1-channel mix will be at the sides, not to the back sides. Unfortunately, the creative community, the studios, and the equipment manufacturers, have not dictated a spatial loudspeaker setup standard. Our preferred 7.1-channel setup is a perfect circle, with each full-range loudspeaker location equidistant from the sweet spot and equidistant from each other along the perimeter of the 360-degree circle. In this arrangement, the added mid-left and mid-right surrounds convey added surround envelopment and dimensionality. Unfortunately, some 7.1-channel soundtracks are produced with the added channels not at the sides but behind the sweet spot listening position, which then creates positioning problems for normal 5.1-channel presentations, with the surround loudspeakers located to the back sides of the prime listening position, including for surround music reproduction. The sound design is intense, often at system-threatening loud SPL in all channels, with deliberately positioned sound effects in the surround channels. The entire soundfield is often energized, with sound effects directionalized. Bass extension is deep and solid, extending to well below 25 Hz in the .1 LFE channel. Bass serves as a solid foundation for the intense visual portrayals. The music score is well recorded, with a wide and deep soundstage that wraps around into the surrounds. The jigsaw narration is heard effectively in every channel, switching direction, depending on camera view. Dialogue, otherwise, is at times, supported spatially but at other times conventionally produced on location or by way of ADR. This is an intense sonic experience that perfectly complements the horrific storytelling but does not stand apart from the previous Saw V. (Gary Reber)