Ringu

Rating:
Summary: Ringu
Review: This is the original Japanese production that inspired 2001's THE RING, in the United States. I rented this when it was first released in Canada and was truly mesmerized. The filmwork in this movie is really creepy, adding to the atmosphere of the film. The music score is undoubtedly the creepiest I've ever heard for a while, and the acting is superb. Both the remake and the original are stunning, so it doesn't matter which one you see first. A spectacle!

Rating:
Summary: Better than the Remake
Review: I saw the American remake of "The Ring" this past summer and had high expectations. It takes a lot of convincing for me to be scared by a horror film and the only recent movie that has sufficiently made me cringe in my seat was "The Sixth Sense." Needless to say, the American remake of "The Ring" disappointed me. It got off to a good start, the "curse film" was artistic, unsettling, and creepy, but I felt the remake's plotline became less and less frightening from that point on. I understood the plot, but had questions as to why certain things were included in the movie. I felt as though elements had been introduced in the storyline that were never answered. In a way, I felt cheated. They tried to tell too much story in too little time and got bogged down in the details.

Since watching that film, I'd heard many accounts that said "Ringu" was much better, much scarier than the American remake. I was thrilled to find that "Ringu" had been released in conjunction with the remake. Needless to say, "Ringu" scared me--a lot. Though the story and effects of the original film are much simpler than that of the remake, I think it is better so. So much more is left to the power of one's imagination rather than the power of special effects. The plotline--even though questions remain in the mind of the viewer following the film's end--is satisfying and complete. In the american remake, I grew tired of the protagonist having to whisper clues to us as if we the audience wouldn't pick up on them without her help. In "Ringu", we aren't spoonfed in such a way. It's definitely a more rewarding film experience.

Rating:
Summary: CHILLS WITHOUT THE OVERKILL....
Review: Having not seen "The Ring", I chose to see this version---the original---instead. I have to say that true to the other reviews, "Ringu" is truly creepy. A bizarre urban legend about a weird and deadly video tape is discovered to be (gulp) true. And a journalist (who watched it) is on a race for her life (and her young son's) to get to the source. With the help of her psychic ex-husband, she tracks it down to an even more bizarre series of events that happened 40 yrs.ago. This film does creep you out and without all the obnoxious special effects and gore. It sets you up for the chills right from the beginning and doesn't let up. But it does so with seemingly normal and mundane things like the telephone ringing after watching the video, the weird video cassette itself with no title, static images on a TV screen, schoolgirls who know that the urban legend is true because their friends have died horribly (and no telling how many adults who won't believe them) and it appears they've been scared to death. Maybe these things have been done before but hardly this well. It all seems so fresh in "Ringu" that you find yourself getting edgy. Marvelous directing and acting, beautiful photography and an excellent music score with just the right creepiness in it. I loved it. And I loved the ending. Highly recommended all around. If you havn't seen "The Ring"...wait. See this one first.

Rating:
Summary: Wrong Point of View
Review: My personal opinion is that people who say that the American version is worse because they use eye candy and special effects to scare us with only some jumps but no actually creepy parts definitely did not see both movies with the mindset of seeing two different movies. You have to realize that what scares Americans is completely different from what scares people of any other culture in the world...every culture has a different opinion when it comes to fear. Unfortunately, not everyone can freely watch two movies in different languages that have a similar plot but different methods of scaring and like the both of them. Unfortunately, Ringu and The Ring cannot be compared because they were both influenced by their country.

Rating:
Summary: Better than the American version
Review: Unfortunately, I saw the American version first. Ringu relies far less on special effects than The Ring. The Ring overpowers you with special effects, especially in the scenes where, uh, bad things start happening. The effects are so jarring they tend to throw you out of the movie. Also, there is far more backstory in The Ring, and I think some of this is a bit overpowering also. It gets in the way of the plot. Ringu is more subtle, it relies more on the viewer's imagination. There is at least one plot element that makes more sense in Ringu than the Ring, but I can't tell you what it is without giving away the plot. Well, it has something to do with location. Well, that's about all I can say about that. If you like horror movies, then see Ringu before seeing The Ring. There are no extras on the DVD of Ringu. However, I think the Dolby 5.1 soundtrack on Ringu is extremely well done. It is restrained--the back channels are not used that much, but when they are used they are used extremely effectively. I found the effect almost dizzying in one scene. The video transfer looks very good. One final note--there are scenes in The Ring that involve horses, and bad things happen to them. If you dislike animal violence you will definitely like Ringu better than The Ring as these scenes do not exist in Ringu. Ringu is not on the plane of Alien or Silence of the Lambs as a great horror movie, but it is original and fun and very well done.

Rating:
Summary: persistantly creepy
Review: What many of you do not know is that long draping hair over your face and white dress is quintessential "classic" female oriental ghost. These ghosts usually appear crying or they've been seen bunny hopping around rice fields at night. I sh!t you not. So when i first so ringu i kinda smirked a little bit and caught the tongue and cheek part of the movie. Needless to say it's alot funnier to notice how hollywood which probably has no clue about the "joke" of the long draping hair and white dress faithfully copy the original. But hey! who cares! it works and it's gonna make them money money money!

As for the million dollar question, I'd say if you r born of western culture watch the hollywood version and skip the original. Vice versa for those born of eastern culture. These two films are so similar there is no point in watching both. If you must insist, watch the japanese original first. But that's just my opinion.

Rating:
Summary: horrific and spine chilling!
Review: i had heard a lot about this movie(both the japanese as well as the american version). i had also heard that it was a novel which had inspired this movie.
when this movie was released in india(bombay), i was dying to see before everyone else, so as to not hear it from anybody else.
and boy! was't it great?
the movie is very slick, and moves at a swift pace(after all they just had seven days to save themselves). the plot, the cast, the effects, the suspense, everything proves that a edge-of-the-seat thriller can be made without horrific, evil and slimy creatures and also without spilling any blood!
well1 this movie is a MUST!!!! for all horror lovers!

Rating:
Summary: equally as good
Review: Just as good as the American version;amazing they've went from Godzilla to Ringu so fast.

Rating:
Summary: A Subtle Film
Review: Ringu is not The Ring. It is the original film which The Ring is a remake of. Ringu does not have the flash, the flare, and the shocks that The Ring has, but this film does not need any of that to effectively creep out its viewers. It is a quiet film that slowly goes about explaining itself, while refraining from answering all the questions to the story. The viewer is meant not to know everything about the shady past from which the cursed video tape came from.

The important thing, however, is the race to solve the mystery of the tape before its too late. As legend goes, once you watch it, you only have seven days to live. Reiko Asakawa, a single mother and reporter, watches the tape and must hurry to save herself and the lives of those she shows the tape to. The story is very similar to that of The Ring, but The Ring elaborates greatly on Ringu. The cast for Ringu is very strong. Much stronger, in my opinion, than the cast for the Ring. The people seemed more realistic, more natural, except that we are let on to one of the characters having psychic abilities. Luckily, it's not the little boy.

Now comes the million dollar question. What's scarier, The Ring, or Ringu? It all depends on which you see first. These movies are so similar, once you've seen one, you know how the other will turn out. Some may find it easier to jump during The Ring however, due to all the added special effects. There are no flashy effects and loud noises in Ringu. The fear is much more subtle than that. Still, while I myself saw The Ring first, it was hard not to get creeped out by Sadako's twitchy, jerking movements as she slinked across the room.

Rating:
Summary: A pure horror
Review: When this movie shown in Hong Kong, it broke the record for horror film. It caused so much rumors and news that it was truly a must for every movie (horror) fans. First, it didn't use sound effect and too much special effect for creating the creeping atmosphere. It used purely the edit and storyline to absorb you. Second, the movie did not show a SINGLE DROP OF BLOOD, but it can have the same horrible effect to leave you unsleep for nights. (I was truly scared when my phone rang at midnight during those months!!) It teaches Hollywood how to make a good horror movie without using banging soundtrack and bloodshed. Finally, please grab a copy of the original novel to read.

The whole saga of RING has four parts - RING, RAISEN and LOOP (reprise the theme of 'circular' like RING) and BIRTHDAY. For the movie - we have RINGU, RAISEN, RINGU 2, RINGU 0. The author Suzuki-san mentioned in the introduction of RAISEN that it was very difficult for him to write a sequel to RINGU, since the first one has already got a very complicate plot. But he sure can create a true mesmerizing sequel.

In summary, RAISEN is about the rebirth of Sadako. RINGU 2 (movie only) is a somewhat parallel sequel to RINGU, with a different splitting storyline after the movie of RINGU. RINGU 0 is the prequel to RINGU and is about the life of Sadako as a child, which based on the book BIRTHDAY. And for LOOP, it is a collection of short stories which talks about the widespread of RING virus, and probable termination of mankind. Yes, in RING, you may believe that the deaths are caused by CURSE in the video tape. But in RAISEN, the author cleverly developed the plot that RING is actually a virus triggered by the curse!! The widespread of the curse via video tape is like the outbreak of any virus plague. Interesting? Yes, very much.