DVD Review: Saw 2

After sitting through the first Saw, I was reluctant to play Jigsaw's game again. It was one of the first films that I reviewed on this site, and needless to say, I wasn't impressed. The same cannot be said about the sequel. This is one of those rare sequels that overtakes the original. It starts off with a jolting, skin crawling scenario and keeps it coming all the way up to the revealing end. This was cleverly written and orchestrated and I never saw the end coming. That is incredibly hard to do in today's cinema. I just read the other day that there will be a third installment and as long as they up the ante like they did here, then I'll be waiting in line to see it. It's hard for me to say it, but this is one Hollywood made movie that delivered the goods in an original, fresh way. If only they could all be this well made! Saw 2 gets ****1/2 out of *****.

DVD Review: War of the Worlds

Sorry it took so long for this one, but it just kept falling to the back of the line. It's always a weird feeling when you're watching a sci-fi movie, and with all the far out stuff happening on screen, when the tiniest reality-based goof sets you off. This picture is loaded with them. For instance, the lightening storm takes out ALL electrical devices in the area, even wrist watches, yet people's cameras and video cameras still function. Or, how many times does an airplane fall from the sky, leaving a nice ready made trail to drive through, not to mention not even scratching the paint on the van parked about 5 feet from the wreckage? Infuriating, I say! There's no doubt that Spielberg is a great director and there are a few scenes in this movie that are amazing but with all his attention to detail, there were way too many little things that got by the man. As far as the look and sound, they were both spectacular. It's a good disc to show off your new surround system with. All the little things added with an anti-climactic ending are too much to overlook here. It gets **1/2 out of *****.