"To some degree, this re-release is to let people remember what the first Saw film was, and let them know there was a time in the Saw history where it wasn’t all about blood and traps," says [James] Wan. "In Leigh’s and my opinion, it’s actually a pretty leisurely paced thriller. People can go back and see that there was actually a lot of thought that went into that first script and story. Leigh and I spent two years crafting that story."
[Leigh] Whannell adds, "There’s definitely a vindication in people seeing [Saw] and realizing it wasn’t ‘torture ****’ at all. I remember writing the first film and not thinking about the gore in any way. What I thought James and I were creating was a cool kind of locked-room thriller with this non-linear structure. To me it was a combination of Se7en, Cube, and Memento—all my favorite films at the time. So it was interesting when the film entered the public consciousness and became the yardstick for gory horror films. That wasn’t our intention."
I think it's interesting that the only reason Saw became a real horror/gore franchise was because of it's marketing and desire to please fans of the trap scenes in the first movie.
Is there new footage? Because I'm pretty sure most people have the DVD on their shelves, or can get it for much cheaper than a theater ticket. And "remembering it wrong" means little, since every movie we re-watch is viewed through the lens of nostalgia. But...slay, I guess.
On topic, Saw is pretty good up until the awful acting from Cary Elwes at the end. It legitimately ruined my experience in the theater when I saw it the first time. He hammed it up something awful.
As for the whole franchise, I'd say:
Saw II > Saw VI > Saw III > Saw > Saw IV > Saw V >>>>>>>>>>>>> Saw VII
I LOVE the Saw movies.
