I believe you are a man who knows how to get things? (The Shawshank Redemption (DVD))

Member Name: Judgee

Product:	The Shawshank Redemption (DVD)
Date:	05/11/02 (331 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Superb story, Excellent cast, Great film

Disadvantages: Poor extra features, Too little extra features

For me Shawshank is the best movie ever made. Written by Stephen King, it is the work of genius. The story is engrossing, inspiring and even overwhelming in parts. The locations are perfect, the actors performances, probably the best you will ever see. I already owned it on video and now I own it on DVD. Unfortunately the extras, or lack of them should I say, have really let this masterpiece down. I will give you a brief outline of the story. There are more indepth reviews around if you want to know more about that. I for the most part, will be concentrating on the DVD features.


Cast/Characters
************

Tim Robbins - Andy Dufresne
Morgan Freeman - Ellis 'Red' Redding
Clancy Brown - Captain Byron Hadley
Gil Bellows - Tommy Williams
Mark Rolston - Bogs Diamond
Bob Gunton - Warden Samuel Norton
William Saddler - Heywood
James Whitmore - Brooks Hatlen


The Story
*******

Set for the most part, in Shawshank prison, the story follows the trials and tribulations of Andy Dufresne (pronounce du-frain) a convicted double murderer. Given two life sentences for the cold-blooded killing of his wife and her lover in 1947, Andy is in a world far different from the one he was used to. As a banker in the outside world, he was far more used to the daily running of financial matters than the extreme violence and hardship that confronts him in prison.

Adjusting to this new and unwanted life is difficult for Andy and he finds it hard to cope. It is only when he is befriended by 'Red' another inmate, that he starts to get to grips with his situation. Red is another convicted murderer, softly spoken, he is known as "a man who can get things" It is through Reds ability to acquire certain items that the two meet, when Andy asks Red to smuggle him in a Rock hammer. From their first meeting, Red is taken by Andy's unusually quiet and thoughtful manner and in time a strong

friends
hip develops.

The main storyline follows this friendship, although there are several sub-plots that keep you engrossed throughout. I will say no more on the story to enable people to watch it for themselves. This is a film that has the most impact, when watched for the first time. It is full of surprises and I would not deprive anyone of these. So if you want to know more, you'd better get yourself a copy!


THE DVD EXTRAS
*************
*************


Scene index
*********

This is a quick listing of the film, scene by scene eg first night, meeting the sisters, etc. Nothing special really just another way of finding your favourite scenes without having to skip through the entire film. Quite useful, but pretty much standard for most DVD's really.


Sub-Plots
*******

There are several sub-plots running through the film. This section lists five of them, although I feel that there are several more that could have been listed here. In this section, clips relating to each sub-plot are strung together. For instance Reds' parole hearings are all joined together, one after the other. This is a nice idea, but there are only five, missing out so many others. I can't imagine that they will be watched repeatedly, even by Shawshank addicts like myself!


Theatrical trailer
************

This is the two-minute trailer shown prior to the films original release. It's interesting enough I guess, if a little uninspiring. It is easy to see why this film seemed to pass most movie-goers by unnoticed. But perhaps that is more down to the nature of the film rather than a lack of effort on the part of the producers of the trailer. Unfortunately the strengths of this film cannot be shown in a two-minute film clip. Unlike action films, there are no explosions and unlike police movies, there are no car chases. So I guess it is what you would expect under
the
circumstances
. Again, not really an extra that would stand up to much if any repeat viewing.


Interviews
********

This is a short collection of interviews with the stars of the film and Frank Darabont, the films director/screenwriter, all lumped together into a small documentary type film. This IS very interesting, but also very short. It explains how the cast were chosen, along with the location, how the crew got on with each other and a few clips from behind the scenes, when the movie was made. This is far too short, approximately five minutes in length and this disappointed me greatly.


Biographies
********

This includes five small written biographies of some of the lead actors. Good for research purposes but not really of any interest to any but the most hardened fans. There was nothing in them that I did not already know and again it could have been expanded quite a lot more.


Also available
**********

This is just a couple of advertisements, notifying you of other DVD's available to purchase from the supplier and in my opinion should not even be included on the disk!


Overall thoughts
************


So there you have it. For me, the ultimate movie on a boring, featureless DVD. There could and should be so much more on it. I was really disappointed that there was not even a voiceover option from any of the cast or crew, something which seems pretty standard on most DVD's these days. The rating I have given this DVD is raised greatly by the fact that this film is actually fantastic, and for this alone the DVD is worth buying. But if you already own the film on video, don't expect to be overwhelmed with the extras, because you won't be, in fact if you do already own the film on video, you might as well forget buying this DVD altogether!



Feature length 137 minutes
Rated 15


*This is a double
sided DVD
, the other side c
ontains the Widescreen version of the film and a couple of the extra features already mentioned above. Why you would want identical extras on both sides of the DVD, I will never know!*


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Summary: