Shawshank Redemption, The (reissue) (UK)
Fear can hold you prisoner. Hope can set you free
Certificate: 15
Running Time: 137 mins
Retail Price: £9.99
Release Date:
Content Type: Movie
Synopsis:
Nominated for seven Academy Awards® including Best Film and Best Actor, this film is an extraordinary tale of hope, friendship and survival inside a maximum security prison. City Banker, Andy Dufresne, (Tim Robbins) arrived at Shawshank Prison in 1947, convicted of two brutal murders, he received a double life sentence. He discovers that when they send you to Shawshank State Prison for life... that is exactly what they take. Within the confines of Shawshank, Andy forms an unlikely friendship with the prison `fixer` Red (Morgan Freeman). He also becomes popular with the Warden and the prison`s guards, as Andy is able to use his banking experience to help the corrupt officials amass personal fortunes. With an extraordinary twist in the tale, Andy finds that survival comes down to a simple choice, get busy living or get busy dying.
Special Features:
Interactive Menus
Scene Index
Original Theatrical Trailer
Cast and Crew Interviews
Cast Filmographies
Sub-Plots
VCI Title showcase
Video Tracks:
Widescreen Anamorphic 1.78:1
Standard 1.33:1
Audio Tracks:
Dolby Digital Surround 2.0 English
Directed By:
Frank Darabont
Written By:
Frank Darabont
Starring:
Gil Bellows
William Sadler
Morgan Freeman
James Whitmore
Clancy Brown
Bob Gunton
Tim Robbins
Music From:
Thomas Newman
Director of Photography:
Roger Deakins
Editor:
Richard Francis-Bruce
Production Designer:
Terence Marsh
Producer:
Niki Marvin
Executive Producer:
David Lester
Liz Glotzer
Distributor:
Cinema Club
Your Opinions and Comments
There are two sides to the disc containing both widescreen and 4:3 aspect ratios which I thought was a nice feature. I have actually watched both versions and both suffer from poor source material. At first when I watched it on a 32" widescreen I couldn`t quite believe my eyes, I was honestly disapointed with the picture. After 20 minutes or so it seemed to improve although I am not sure if this is just because I became used to it ? The quality can quite easy be compared to a good quality VHS, and still contains imperfections and dirt.
The Audio track is a straight dolby digital surround 2.0 which at first sight appears disapointing, but after watching the film the soundtrack is perfectly adequate, and is of a high quality. Still it looses points for not being 5.1.
I found the features on the disk to be the most lacking, although many films come with very little in this area, I expected more from Shawshank. The sub polts is nothing other than a cheap attempt to add a feature, just showing individual sections of the film that have a story of their own. These plots including "Reds Parole hearings" & "Red and Andy`s Friendship" are all great parts of the film, yet I feel they make the user out to be an idiot if they didn`t notice them when they watched the film. And watching them seperately just doesn`t carry the same emotion achieved from the film in its entirity. The remaining features are weak and short, some interviews, and some information. And lastly the Theatrical Trailer something that was always of great interest to me as I wondered why the film had done so badly on intial release, I`ll let you judge for yourselves if this short piece of film was the reason. But in my opinion it certainly didn`t do it any favours.
Overall the DVD is still very important to me as it is a pernament "reasonable" copy of what can only be described as a masterpiece of story writing, filming and acting. I do hope though that one day the film gets the full remastering treatment.