- A prominent banker unjustly convicted of murder spends many years in the Shawshank prison. He is befriended by a convict who knows the ropes and helps him to cope with the frightning realities of prison life. Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: DRAMA Rating: R Age: 053939273427 UPC: 053939273427 Manufacturer No: C2734
A prominent banker unjustly convicted of murder spends many years in the Shawshank prison. He is befriended by a convict who knows the ropes and helps him to cope with the frightning realities of prison life.When this popular prison drama was released in 1994, some critics complained that the movie was too long (142 minutes) to sustain its story. Those complaints miss the point, because the passage of time is crucial to this story about patience, the squeaky wheels of justice, and the growth of a life-long friendship. Only when the film reaches its final, emotionally satisfying scene do you fully understand why writer-director Frank Darabont (adapting a novella by Stephen King) allows the story to unfold at its necessary pace, and the effect is dramatically rewarding. Tim Robbins plays a banker named Andy who’s sent to Shawshank Prison on a murder charge, but as he gets to know a life-term prisoner named Red (Morgan Freeman), we realize there’s reason to believe the banker’s crime was justifiable. We also realize that Andy’s calm, quiet exterior hides a great reserve of patience and fortitude, and Red comes to admire this mild-mannered man who first struck him as weak and unfit for prison life. So it is that The Shawshank Redemption builds considerable impact as a prison drama that defies the conventions of the genre (violence, brutality, riots) to illustrate its theme of faith, friendship, and survival. Nominated for seven Academy Awards including Best Picture, Actor, and Screenplay, it’s a remarkable film that signaled the arrival of a promising new filmmaker–a film that many movie lovers count among their all-time favorites. –Jeff Shannon When this popular prison drama was released in 1994, somecritics complained that the movie was too long (142 minutes) to sustain its story. Those complaints miss the point, because the passage of time is crucial to this story about patience, the squeaky wheels of justice, and the growth of a life-long friendship. Only when the film reaches its final, emotionally satisfying scene do you fully understand why writer-director Frank Darabont (adapting a novella by Stephen King) allows the story to unfold at its necessary pace, and the effect is dramatically rewarding. Tim Robbins plays a banker named Andy who’s sent to Shawshank Prison on a murder charge, where he gets to know a life-term prisoner named Red (Morgan Freeman). Andy’s calm, quiet exterior hides a great reserve of patience and fortitude, and Red comes to admire this mild-mannered man who first struck him as weak and unfit for prison life. So it is that The Shawshank Redemption builds considerable impact as a prison drama that defies the conventions of the genre (violence, brutality, riots) to illustrate its theme of faith, friendship, and survival. Nominated for seven Academy Awards including Best Picture, Actor, and Screenplay, it’s a remarkable film that signaled the arrival of a promising new filmmaker–a film that many movie lovers count among their all-time favorites. –Jeff Shannon
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March 12, 2008
#1
I didn’t need to sit through 90 minutes just to see a guy going through a crap tube barfing up his guts. Oh, give that guy an Oscar. More like Shawstank Congestion. It’s like some twisted kinda Karate Kid who’s mute and has a sort of Southern Fried Yoda for a companion. But then he’s always barfing and swimming in poop. It gets disgusting and after a while you’re like I get it and why? for godsakes.
March 12, 2008
#2
Morgan Freeman ruins this movie with his horrible voice over and acting. If you want to see Morgan Freeman in a good role, see “Dreamcatcher”. That is an epic film.
March 12, 2008
#3
I really enjoyed this movie when I first watched it, as I did most movies with Tim Robbins. I just wish that he kept his politics to himself and not used his celebrity to amplify them. Nothing wrong with free speech- but actors generally have more media attention than the millions of fans they have. When was the last time CNN asked you about whether you liked a candidate, or policy?
Anyway, Tim Robbins is a great actor, but I can’t get the image of him telling me how to think out of my head when I see him act now- and that has ruined a lot of movies for me.
March 12, 2008
#4
I’m sure no one’s disputing that The Shawshank redemption is a bad movie. However, I would like to go further, and suggest that Shawshank redemption is one of the worst movie’s ever made. For starters, it’s got Morgan Freeman in it. Morgan Freeman(this spelling may be wrong, but I don’t care) is a man of limited talents: he can play a guy hunting a serial killer, and sometimes the president, but when he tries to act he’s terrible. And you know I’m right.
Two: The film is really boring, goes on forever, covers a span of decades yet the cast never age(Morgan freeman should be dead by the end), has voiceover to explain everything, is really sentimental, everything ends ridiculously happily, he escapes in a stupid way, it actually contains the tagline “hope can set you free” and so on and so on.
Three: The film’s star, Tim Robbins, actually said it was awful. He is right and you are all wrong.
March 12, 2008
#5
This paean to middle-aged scofflaws, attempts to persuade the viewer to side with rapists, thieves, and murderers. If Mr. Freeman didn’t want to imagine what it was like inside that pipe, then he should avoid viewing this waste of celluloid, I assure you it is 100 times worse. A rampant glorification of gynicide.