The Shawshank Redemption on DVD (1994)

Is this the greatest movie ever made?

A customer from Poole , 20/09/2003

An all time classic. If you haven?t seen this movie yet, ensure that it is top of your list. It tells the story of wrongly accused murderer, Andy Dufresne (Tim Robbins), and his story of survival inside a maximum security prison, aided by his friendship with 'the only guilty man inside Shawshank', Ellis 'Red' Reddings (Morgan Freeman). Along the way it branches into at least six different side stories that, halfway through the movie, while still entertained, one wonders what they have to do with the plot. The answer is everything, as becomes apparent by the end.

I won't bore you with details of the individual craftsmanship that went into this movie, but I will advise anyone who has not seen it to see it, and as soon as possible. Keep watching until the end, and there is no possible way you can be disappointed. It is absolutely masterly directed by Frank Darabont, and while I thought that his other Stephen King-based film, The Green Mile, was fairly slow and self-indulgent, this isn't. It is drawn out and long, but absolutely impeccable and amazingly inspirational. It delivers the message that even in the face of abject adversity, hope will always prevail. This message was recently hammed up quite terribly in 'The Two Towers', but in The Shawshank Redemption, just one very simple quote sums it up: 'Hope is a good thing. Possibly the best thing. And no good thing ever dies'

This is one for the ages. I cannot imagine that the uplifting effect of this movie will ever die. There is no possible way it could be better. The only possible reason I can think of for not liking or being inspired by this movie is that you just don't want to. There are no two ways about it. Even after nine years, this holds strong as an absolute masterpiece of film-making, and a staggering achievement.

Read all reviews

The Gaping Vent of a Sewer.

A customer from Clunton, Shropshire. , 29/05/2007

Artificially sentimental, naive and dispiritingly predictable, The Shawshank Redemption is a fatuous Hollywood fairy tale, about as realistic about prison life as Pretty Woman was to prostitution. The story of Tim Robbins vacant saint is varnished over by Morgan Freeman's banal, cliche ridded voiceover and it's a film that refuses to make you think but indulges our basic notions of revenge and justice. It's TV-movie morality, Porridge is a more realistic portrayal of life behind bars and the interaction between inmates. I would plead to those who love this ridiculously implausible film to educate themselves about cinema. Starting with Robert Bresson's A Man Escaped might be a good idea.

Read all reviews

Too good to miss

dramakings from berks , 03/11/2004

If you haven't seen Shawshank Redemption yet, then lucky you, for I would love to sit down again and watch this movie for the first time. Unfortunately, I've seen it too many times to count. My advice to you is to sit down either on your own or next to someone who isn't going to talk/ask questions/moan or fall asleep and wake up and say it was rubbish.

Freeman and Robbins are a joy to watch, backed up with comendable performances from lesser known actors. Beautifully written and directed. Anyone who says this film isn't very good is either lying or just trying to be different! This is a prison movie that is so much more than the usual, violence, swearing and escape.

Read all reviews

Simply Stunning!

Rob & Fiona Stanley from Hull, England , 27/02/2004

First and foremost, please do your best to disregard our friend Austin's comments in the reviews for this title.

Obviously, this chap can't have understood the film very well, or has little notion of what true friendship in the face of adversity is really all about.

We've seen this film countless times (though never on DVD), and have never tired of it's inspirational and uplifting message of hope.

If this is the first time you've seen this title, we can practically guarantee that you'll want to buy a copy of your very own after you've returned it!

Read all reviews

ssr

A customer from Coatbridge , 22/08/2008

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Read all highest rated reviews

Shawshank

anmiln from Milton Keynes , 03/09/2008

I think this is the best film I have ever seen. It was so good I do not even want to watch it again. It is incredible what the hero accomplished. It took him about twenty years of really careful planning, patience, humility, courage and inspiration.

This is a fabulous film. The accused and imprisoned hero is totally innocent. By luck, the real murderder arrives in the same penitentiary, but (because of the usefulness of the hero) he cannot be allowed to speak, and so her is killed on the orders of the evil governor.

So then, for years and years, the innocent hero is stuck serving the evil prison govenor and has no hope whatsoever of ever proving his innocence.

But, behind the scenes, he has a plan and is working his plan.

An amazing and inspiring film. What the hero accomplished was marvellous.

Read all highest rated reviews