The Shawshank Redemption

Rating:
Summary: Makes Me Want to Go to Prison
Review: This was a very well-done film about friendship and persistence. I won't waste anyone's time retreading through the plot, but there are some wonderful touches.

Overall, with the exception of some beatings, this film made prison life seem alright (or at least Prison life in 1940-s through 1960s Maine).

Parts of the film were a bit slow, and the Red's (Morgan Freeman) narration was overdone. Makes me want to go to prison and see what I am missing.

Rating:
Summary: Powerful, Emotional, Unforgettable
Review: Why this movie never won a single Oscar, I'll never know. It's easily the best movie of the '90s, and qualifies as one of the best ever. This movie has a luster, a shimmering quality that has yet to dim, even after all the times I have watched it.

"Redemption" is a stark look at prison life. From the brutal discipline of the guards, and the crushing lonliness that each and every prisoner feels. Andy (A stirring Tim Robbins) is wrongfully convicted of his wifes' and her lover's murder, and is sentenced to life in a prison at Shawshank prison. There, he befreinds Red (Morgan Freeman at the utmost of his abilities), a black inmate who was convicted of murder back in the '20s, and is one of the few men in Shawshank who will admit he is guilty. For the first few years, Andy is only stays quiet staying out of the reach of the prisons' homosexual gang, who have their eye on him. After that threat passes, he comes into his own at the prison. He revitalizes the prison library, keeps financial records for the warden, and ends up doing the taxes for all the guards in Shawshank. Later on, he struggles to find the truth to the murder he is convicted of, in light of new evidence brought forth from a new inmate.

Andy's story is not the only compelling one in Shawshank. Morgan Freeman brings a vulnerability and a maturity to his character that gives it depth and dimension that makes it seem that Red's soul is borne before you eyes, and you know him as if he were yourself. And the voiceovers that he gives never come off as unnecessary filler. Instead, they serve to give even more perspective to the movies' themes of freedom lost, despair, helplessness and triumph.

I really wish I could say more, but that would make this review seem drawn out and repetitive, and spoil the movie. All you need to know is the "Shawshank Redemption" is on a higher plane. Rarely does a movie like this, a simple story with epic undertones but never loses sight of its true essence, ever come along. I give this movie my highest recommendation, though it definitly deserves even more.

Rating:
Summary: Truly deserves its high rating.
Review: Shawshank is an absolutely amazing film. Its concept is not especially compelling; you might even call it plain, but oh, the execution! Certainly this is how to make a movie.

I saw Shawshank in the cinema, which is always good, but not necessary for a film where the plot and filmatic skill are what draw you in. When I left, I noticed that everyone was sniffling. The film is so beautiful that even the tough people cried. I don't mean that it's a tearjerker either, it doesn't make you cry out of sadness or pull cheap stunts to get the tears flowing. Well, perhaps sadness has something to do with it, but it's a deeper kind of sadness, one that's got tears of joy in it too, not "how could they kill the dog?" sadness. And while it makes people cry, they're glad they saw it. It's not even my kind of movie, but there's no way I can give it less than a 10.

Notice that this movie is loved by all kinds of viewers. From the people who aren't so articulate to the movie snobs, this film hits home on a level that none other I know of does.

Rating:
Summary: One of the greatest movies of all time
Review: With tremendous performances by Morgan Freeman and Tim Robbins this movie is a work of art that leaves you warm inside. A must own for any respectable collection. Based on 80,000+ votes on IMDB this movie is rated second only to The Godfather, as the best movie of all time.

Rating:
Summary: The Ultimate Growth in life by error
Review: This movie begins in a way that is amazing in many ways. In growth with Friendship, Honor, Dignity, and Faith in the world. A quiet buisness man (Tim Robbins) is thrown in a world of corrupt judicial courts. Accused of murding his wife wile haveing afair with another man. Starting his new life or ending his life in the Shawshank Penatentury. With all odd's against him, and betting inmates that he won't even make through his first night. He show's incredibal stregnth through out his journey in proving justice in the most coruppt of ways. With incredable narration by Morgan Freeman he adds a earthy and knowledge that could pour out on the ground as thick as old pine sap on a hot July day. In final note looking for a moment in a movie were all thing's are possible in the darkest of times, anythig is still possible.

Rating:
Summary: [e-mail]
Review: I have just returned from county jail, where a inmate(friend) told me that I have to see this movie. I have just finished it, and I believe that this movie should be in everyone's library. It really shows you a story about life. I would recomend this movie to anyone- that wants to put a smile on their face.

Rating:
Summary: greatest movie
Review: I'd give this 10 stars if I could. I have watched it over and over and love this movie. The story is fantastic and so are Robbins and Freeman. This is a must for any collection.

Rating:
Summary: Surely the best movie of ALL time?
Review: I don't want to say too much about this film because it says all it has to in the watching of the film. You cannot explain to someone who hasn't seen the film just HOW good it really is, it is indescribable!. I bet those who have seen it and love it as much as i do cannot name a better film, it is THAT good.
This film is a truely classic film, and a case of a film being released in a lowish profile, in the shadow of Evita (can you believe it!) and gaining a snowboard effect in the fact that everyone recommended it to their friends and so on!. Even today it is still on the best sellers lists and has been voted in the top three films of ALL time many times. For me i have yet to see a better film and i doubt i EVER will.
Tim Robbins is so good in the role of Andy, and as for Morgan Freeman, you could not have picked a better actor to play that role.
Those of us that LOVE this film dearly should also love "The Green Mile". It is the same Writer/Director combo, and while not as good a film as Shawshank, is still a classic in its own right.
I will sign off now saying how unjust the film industry was to NOT award any Oscars to this film, in my oppinion it should have swept the board in all categories and Evita should have had NOTHING!!

Rating:
Summary: One of the best I've seen in a while.
Review: This is a really great film with some of the best acting and character development that I have seen in a long while. While I wouldn't go so far as to watch this movie several times likes some reviewers, it is definitely worth seeing at least once. Beyond that, it has some important life lessons that have nothing to do with being a convict, but simply being human. Highly recommended.

Rating:
Summary: Robbins and Freeman a stunningly good team
Review: Tim Robbins and Morgan Freeman make for a stunningly good team in The Shawshank Redemption. Based on the "Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption" novella that appeared in Stephen King's Different Seasons and directed by Frank Darabont, The Shawshank Redemption is the story of Andy Dufresne (Robbins), a young banker who is convicted of murdering his wife and her lover and sentenced to life in the Shawshank State Prison in Maine. His guts and resourcefulness earn the friendship of Red (Freeman), a lifer who is known around the prison for procuring otherwise unattainable things, such as the rock hammer Andy uses for his sculpting hobby. Because of Andy's will to survive the harsh conditions of the prison as well as the corruption of the warden and the guards he soon earns the respect and friendship of the other inmates as well. Although Andy seems to have accepted his life sentence, the other inmates soon find out otherwise when it is discovered that he might not be the guilty party in the murder of his wife and her lover after all.

All in all, The Shawshank Redemption is a very good movie with a fine supporting cast in Bob Gunton (the warden), James Whitmore (Brooks), Clancy Brown (the head guard), William Sadler, and Gil Bellows. My only real problem with the DVD was the lack of extras, but I enjoyed the film nevertheless.