Jigsaw 4K UHD Blu-ray Review

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Piecing Things Together

Jigsaw begins with a vivid chase scene, sparks, fire, and eventually, gunfire. Whatever is insinuated by the high-energy opening, maybe a brasher, louder version of Saw, soon whittles into the formulaic patterns. Jigsaw doesn’t reset or reboot. It’s still Saw, trapping people in a violent edition of an escape room, testing their abilities to apologize.

Cut to people with buckets on their heads chained to a wall that sprouts saw blades. That’s the right way to star in a Saw sequel – hide your identity under a bucket.

It’s a tired movie. Also cruel, dull, and rudimentary. The series’ nihilism remains, hating humanity and punishing anyone who wronged another. Jigsaw is flush with angry, spiteful people. Seeing them die is expected. They will, gruesomely, if a touch more reserved than in previous editions. That doesn’t necessarily justify any of this. Amputations and in one case, a head being split like a blossoming flower, barely fit within the context of the story.

It’s nigh impossible to avoid contrivances and convenience after such a number of sequels

There’s one idea of note: Jigsaw considers the aftermath of such a specialized serial killer. Corners of the web freely discuss the now famed killer. He’s adored by those who appreciate vicious craftsmanship. Some study him, others build their own traps. But this is all in the background, a touch of lore to build the Saw saga. Characters discuss this before it’s shuffled aside for a routine police procedural with an obvious end.

“Jigsaw is alive” makes for a fine marketing tagline (in the timeline, he died in Saw III). The writing team of Josh Stolberg and Peter Goldfinger need to finagle around the pieces left behind by seven films. They sort of succeed. It’s nigh impossible to avoid contrivances and convenience after such a number of sequels. Jigsaw relies on those in an otherwise pale story designed around kills.

That’s what Saw is though. That won’t change. Audience expectations for bloodshed in disturbingly creative ways forever ingrain themselves are part of the attraction. Without. Jigsaw would relate to a Halloween movie without a machete murder. Like the lesser follow-ups starring Michael Meyers, Jigsaw himself exists for box office. He hasn’t changed in death, and the producers certainly don’t want him to. Jigsaw is absolutely vapid, with a crass look at society for those who need some splatter in their lives.

Video (4K UHD)

From a 2K digital source, Jigsaw shows up on UHD with great clarity. With minimal levels of noise (only one instance of an odd artifact, in a window reflection), the cinematography captures excellent fidelity. The barn setting involves stray dust, piles of straw, and aged wood, all of which looks gorgeous on this disc. Facial definition stays consistent and high.

Occasionally shying away from pure black, Jigsaw still holds superb contrast. Although primarily indoors, light filters in from windows, glancing the scenery with bold highlights. Dolby Vision effects give this all some zing, with preservation of shadow detail. Laura Vandervoort wears a black jacket, challenging the disc to maintain depth without crush. It does.

Lionsgate’s encode is given a hearty challenge in one scene as a grain silo opens up, pouring in thousands of individual grains onto the characters. Even attempting to be petty and pausing the scene revealed no significant artifacts. That deserves credit.

Shifting between a typical orange/blue/teal set of color palettes, Jigsaw isn’t a colorful outing, but the denseness of the saturation provides some satisfying hues. Blood pours onto the screen with hearty reds. Flesh tones follow the overall scenery.

Video (Blu-ray)

Attractive with pleasing definition, Jigsaw comes to Blu-ray with sharpness and fidelity. Resolution piles onto the screen with minimal impediment from compression or noise. Close-ups deliver definition, down to the shoddy paint job on the bike puppet.

A bit of black crush isn’t enough to ruin things, and contrast is beefy enough to keep dimension stable. Color looks reserved and obviously graded digitally, adding a visible artificiality to each scene.

Audio

Both discs utilize Dolby Atmos. Most of the track’s oomph comes from the opening moments, a vivid police chase with vehicles panning around, followed by a dynamic car wreck. The subwoofer works and makes itself known here, good since it receives only a little work elsewhere.

Ambiance picks up inside a bar or at a crime scene. Both sound sufficiently full, with excellent use of positional channels. Some traps utilize the surrounds, the first one notably. Chains rattle throughout the soundfield as victims attempt an escape. Jigsaw is otherwise a routine sound mix on a budget.

Extras

Three producers come together for a commentary track (Mark Burg, Oren Koules, Peter Block), leading into a fine 80-minute documentary I Speak for the Dead. Split into seven parts, this delves into the expected topics from discarded ideas for a sequel and trap design, spliced together between behind-the-scenes footage. It’s worth watching. The additional bonus is The Choice is Yours, looking at the process of recreating props as many were sold off after The Final Chapter.

The 15 unaltered images below represent the Blu-ray. For an additional 17 Jigsaw screenshots, early access to all screens (plus the 10,000+ already in our library), exclusive UHD reviews, and more, support us on Patreon.