Saw

Saw (2004)

Plot summary

(12 votes)

A young man named Adam wakes to find himself chained to a rusty pipe inside a decrepit subterranean chamber. Chained to the opposite side of the room is another bewildered captive, Dr. Lawrence Gordon. Between them is a dead man lying in a pool of blood, holding a .38 in his hand. Neither man knows why he has been abducted; but instructions left on a microcassette, order Dr. Gordon to kill Adam within eight hours. If he fails to do so, then both men will die, and Dr. Gordon's wife, Alison, and his daughter will be killed. Recalling a recent murder investigation by a police detective named Tapp, Dr. Gordon realizes he and Adam are the next victims of a psychopathic genius known only as "Jigsaw." With only a few hours left to spare, they must unravel the elaborate puzzle of their fate in the midst of mounting terror. The killer has provided them with only a few clues and two handsaws – too weak to break their steel shackles, but strong enough to cut through flesh and bone.

Saw mistake picture

Revealing mistake: After Dr. Lawrence cuts off his leg and is crawling towards the gun, if you look at his dismembered leg, you can make out the shape of his foot hidden beneath his ripped up slacks. (01:29:30)

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Adam: My name is very fucking confused.

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Trivia: The actor playing Adam is actually a co-writer of Saw. The film was shot in 18 days and for under a million dollars, and it all took place in 2 warehouses. The writers/directors wanted to make a movie about people trapped inside a single room.

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Question: How exactly was Adam supposed to win the game? We know the Doctor had to kill Adam before 6 to live, but how was Adam meant to get out? Was he there solely for the Doctor to kill or was there a way out for him that I've missed?

Answer: Amanda was supposed to put the key around Adam's neck rather than just on his chest. If she had done so as instructed by Jigsaw, he would've been able to unlock his shackle and leave the bathroom. Adam was a voyeur, the irony being that if his key had been placed correctly around his neck, all he would've had to do would be to look around to find it. Adam's tape states, "what do voyeurs see when they look into the mirror, " so, again, it's a hint that all Adam would've had to do was look at himself. I noticed as well, Jigsaw says, "the key to that chain is in the bathtub." /IS/ in the bathtub. Not /was/. So Jigsaw probably thought Adam could still get out. He says, "so many people are ungrateful to be alive. But not you. Not anymore." So it's like, 'I have taught you this lesson, now you can go free because now you'll appreciate your life unlike you did before'.

Answer: Adam simply had to either unlock his chain with the key, if it hadn't gone down the drain, or cut his foot off to get out. Or he could've pulled an Eric Matthews with the toilet lid and try to get out that way, but that idea wasn't introduced until Saw III. Let's say Lawrence killed Adam before 6AM. Lawrence would win his game, yes. But he's missing a foot, and the door is still locked because Zep or someone would have to unlock it still. But would Zep or John have to help Dr. Gordon and provide medical attention? Ignore Saw 3D for a second and focusing solely on the first film, I'd say I don't think either of them would do so. Lawrence would be left to get help for himself. Imagine if Mark or Paul beat their tests. Would Jigsaw get them help? He didn't try to help Amanda. He let Amanda fetch help for herself. This also shows that Dr. Gordon was supposed to have died at the end of the first film.

Answer: Adam was never supposed to win, I don't recall which movie, I believe it be the 5th where John is talking to Amanda and says how her games were rigged and impossible to win, and Adam and Lawrence were part of Amanda's game.

Even though Amanda (sort of) sabotaged the game, it didn't make it impossible for him to escape. He could've sawed off his foot like Dr. Gordon did later in the film or could've broke his foot with the toilet lid like Eric Matthews did in Saw II.

It's never mentioned in the films that tossing the key in the bathtub was any kind of sabotage. What is said on the commentary or in the script, but doesn't make it into the final cut, has no relevance for the movies.

Answer: It's mentioned multiple times throughout the movie how unambitious and apathetic Adam is, and how angry he is at the world. His game is to actually escape, which he fails because he's quite content to let Dr. Gordon go and get help instead of trying to do something himself. He was meant to be able to roam freely around the room, and that would probably have made his and Dr. Gordon's relationship and interactions a lot more severe and hostile. The reality of it is simple: Saw is a rushed movie. It's fun to speculate and theorize, but the truth is that by the time they got to editing, they had already lost a chunk of footage after only having 18 days to shoot.

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