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The Shawshank Redemption
DVD Review by Yanman |
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"You're gonna fit right in. Everyone in here is innocent." Based on the Stephen King Short story novel Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption, Shawshank is the story of unjust prosecution, corruption, brutality, incredible will, redemption, and ultimate revenge. Morgan Freeman and Tim Robbins, give great performances as inmates at Maine's Shawshank State Prison. Morgan was even nominated for best actor for his role (The picture as a whole was nominated for a total of seven Academy Awards® including best picture). The movie does a good job of balancing the truth of the brutal world of prison, and the joy of never ending human hope. DVD Audio and Video is above average, with only a single extra. Andy Dufresne (Tim Robbins) is a predominate banker and upstanding citizen, that is right up until he finds out that his wife has been cheating on him. He does some drinking, grabs his 38, drives over to the other guys house (where the two are "shacking-up"), and… And nothing, he decides not to kill them, throws his gun in the river, and goes home. If that is true though, why do the two of them show up dead the next day, each filed with four 38-caliber bullet holes? A coincidence? Believe it or not. Jury says not, and it is off to prison for this innocent, quite man. When he gets there he realizes that everyone's worse fears about prison are true, what with a guard beating a guy to death, and some "Queens" chasing you around trying to make you bend over all the time. Andy decides that he needs to make some friends, so he approaches lifer "Red" Redding (Freeman) the guy who "knows how to get things" and asks him for some favors. They become fast friends, and Red teaches him the ropes of living on the inside. The super intelligent Dufresne starts, with the urging of the warden, providing financial services for the guards, but eventually moves to "cooking" the books for the warden himself. Who's the hero, who's the fool? You'll have to watch all the way to the end to find that one out. The dual layer SSDL Anamorphic widescreen video looks good, but there are a few flecks (not really dirt, more light white spots) in places. The layer change at 1:13:35 is completely invisible, it happens when they reject Ellis Boyd "Red" Redding's parole document REJECTED. With out the menu option to view layer information on our Sony 550, I would have never been able to tell, very good job. The audio here is good, but due to the nature of the film (Mostly dialog) the range of the 5.1 Dolby Digital soundtrack is not fully explored. The only extra here is a stills gallery and that is in Black and White. Not real and extra, do you think? Stephen
King is an incredible storyteller; of this, there is no doubt. Most of
his stories also seem to translate to big screen, blockbuster gold as
well. The Shawshank Redemption is no exception, it is good storytelling at
it's best. I just hope, for your sake, that if you are ever charged with a
crime you didn't commit that they will let you keep pictures of pretty
girls on the wall
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The Shawshank Redemption Staring: Morgan Freeman Directed By: Frank Darabont Running time: 142 minutes Bonus Materials
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