Get out of Jail Free -The Shawshank Redemption on DVD (The Shawshank Redemption (DVD))

Member Name: colin.lawson

Product:	The Shawshank Redemption (DVD)
Date:	28/09/04 (151 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Wonderful film, Good Extras

Disadvantages: Bug with menu on side 2

Certificate: 15
Colour
Feature length: 137 Minutes
Starring:
Tim Robbins
Morgan Freeman

The Movie
A gritty prison drama from the pen of Steven King.

The Blurb on the back of the DVD states;
“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.”

The film is quite long at well over two and a quarter hours but every second of the film is required. It is a masterpiece and is sad, funny, ironic and scary (but not in the horror film sense) all at the same time. Don’t let the fact that this is a Stephen King story made into a movie put you off, it is unlike any other Steven King film to date – it is a real quality production.

It’s basically the story of a man convicted of crimes he did not commit and sent to prison. The reason this film shines out from others in the same genre is the depth of story and amount of wonderful characters.

Every aspect of the movie reeks of class from the story, acting and script right to the cinematography that is very well executed.

The DVD
The film and DVD contents are rated 15 in the United Kingdom

The DVD is double sided with widescreen on one side and a normal TV aspect on the other.

When you start the DVD on the Widescreen side you are taken to the main menu that is animated with running scenes from the movies and is well put together. The menu contains seven options;

Option 1 Play:
Play the film from start to finish in its original Format.

Option 2 Scene Index:
The usual ability to skip from scene to scene. There are eighteen scenes to choose from and they have been well thought out. The scenes are;
1 The Trial
2 Shawshank Prison
3 First Night
4 Andy Encounters The ‘Sisters’
5 Up on the Roof
6 Warden Norton
7 The Library
8 More Funds Please!
9 Brooks Attacks Heywood
10 The Marriage of Figaro
11 Hope
12 The Parole Rejection
13 The Warden’s Secret
14 The Truth
15 Tommy is Murdered
16 The Shawshank Redemption
17 Red Keeps His Promise
18 End Credits

Option 3 Sub Plots:
This is quite a nice feature that I have not seen on another DVD. Here there is a separate menu featuring:
1 Red’s Parole Hearings
2 Red and Andy’s Friendship
3 The ‘Sisters’
4 Red Gives Andy… Rita, Marilyn And Raquel Too!
5 Funds, Funds And More Funds – The Library Grows
Each of the five options allows you to view parts of the story all together which are a running theme that appear here and there in the film and you can see the sub plots of characters and story develop in their own right, a nice touch.

Option 4 Theatrical Trailer:
Allows you to watch the original movie trailer.

Option 5 Interviews:
This is an excellent mini documentary of the movie. It contains info and excerpts from the movie as well as interviews with all the main players. This is a well put together piece of work and allows us to see other perspectives from many of the stars, the producer and the director.

Option 6 Biographies:
Textual biographies and mini filmographies of some of the stars.
Tim Robbins
Morgan Freeman
Clancy Brown
Bob Gunton
James Whitmore

Option 7 Also Available:
Simply shows the covers and back cover blurb about other movie releases including;
Riverdance - The Show
Heathcliff
Les Miserables
Hellraiser

When you start the DVD on the TV Aspect side you are taken to the main menu similar to the menu on the other side but for some reason the menu contains only three of the seven options;

Option 1 Play:
As Described Above.

Option 2 Scene Index:
As Described Above but on this side the option does not seem to work!

Option 3 Sub Plots:
As Described Above.


Overall
A great film with some good extras.

Summary: