The Shawshank Redemption

zombie no.one · February 23, 2020, 03:59:16 AM

I finally got round to watching the greatest movie ever the other day. I'd barely even seen a clip before. I managed to avoid all trace of it for that long.

yes its reputation precedes it, but I tried to give it something of an 'honest watch". leave preconceptions at the door and all that

man....what a boring film. it's not terrible, and despite some surely unintentional campy interplay between Robbins and Freeman sadly it's not 'so bad it's good' either... But I was surprised by what an uneventful slog the film was. scene after scene of nothingness, for a large portion of the film. but not much 'atmosphere' to fill in the blanks either. A movie on valium. And I found it surprisingly unrealistic in places as well. and downright corny in others.

it feels as if to dislike this movie probably comes off as a deliberate attempt to seem 'different' or 'cool'...but I genuinely didn't like it at all

RCMerchant · February 23, 2020, 05:11:11 AM

I don't know why it has this reputation of being so fantastic. I reckon because it's 'up-lifting' or some such thing... If I want 'life-affirming' or such, I'll skip the pablum and watch the TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE.

Rev. Powell · February 23, 2020, 11:01:35 AM

It's a good movie, but its status as the highest rated on IMDB is totally mystifying to me.

zombie no.one · February 23, 2020, 12:31:59 PM

I can't argue that many aspects of it could be considered good....technically. acting. directing? but not the kind of good that equals entertaining, in my book. even in the prison genre there's way better

Quote from: RCMerchant on February 23, 2020, 05:11:11 AM
If I want 'life-affirming' or such, I'll skip the pablum and watch the TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE.

Allhallowsday · February 23, 2020, 01:15:23 PM

Based on STEPHEN KING's novella Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption, if one had not read the novella, one would be surprised at how much STORY was added to make that film!

chefzombie · February 23, 2020, 06:16:35 PM

i'm with you, fellow zombie, it bored me silly.

zombie no.one · February 24, 2020, 03:23:58 AM

cool, it's not just me then...

there must be something about this movie that got it to imdb's #1 spot. that's not a fluke. but I'm racking my brains.

I guess it's the good old theme of 'underdog battling against corrupt system' coupled with the general sense of 'profound epic' which it exudes (not very convincingly in my opinion)....but there are loads of other films that do that as well

ER · February 24, 2020, 11:22:31 AM

I agree with everything you guys wrote. A decent film but not an all-time great. (If you ever are in central Ohio, take a tour of the prison where it was filmed. Now that is neat.)

Alex · February 24, 2020, 11:32:29 AM

I think this one is most often judged after watching a few other Stephen King adaptations. Many of them are so bad, that this seems like a classic in comparrison.

WingedSerpent · February 24, 2020, 06:45:38 PM

I liked it. Certainly not my favorite movie, but I wouldn't call it bad.

Last year for Halloween, my friends and I went to the Mansfield Reformatory where this was filmed. While we couldn't get the ghost tour, we were able to get the movie tour. Ad leraned some interesting facts about the film. Like, the building was literally moments from being demolished when the film crew showed up for the first time.

Maybe it just suffers from being over-hyped.

Gabriel Knight · February 26, 2020, 08:32:02 AM

I actually picked it without any kind of hype whatsoever. In fact, when I watched it I wasn't even aware that it was considered as the best movie ever or ranked #1 in IMDb, or even what the hell the plot was about.
I loved it, one of the few movies I gave it a 10. Not sure why, the plot is no better than LIFE, another movie that I enjoy even more than SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION. Yet, the latter had more impact on me, I guess it's all about the scene under the rain.

It's a rare case on me because I usually just hate movies just to go against the tide (and particularly when the hype goes overboard), but this one is one of few exceptions. Even with all the stupid cliches of evil christian warden, sadistic prison guards, and overall good and innocent convicts, I still loved it.

I would make it shorter, I can agree with that. Runs for an unnecesary long time.

zombie no.one · February 26, 2020, 09:01:26 AM

fair enough! interesting to get some different (positive) takes on it... I mean, I can't see this ever being a movie I change my mind on, but I'll probably watch it again at some point, and who knows...for e.g. I never thought I'd ever find anything to like about THE BIG LEBOWSKI, and over time I now consider it a near-classic

FatFreddysCat · March 04, 2020, 11:24:00 AM

I've seen it once or twice, enjoyed it, but I don't feel particularly compelled to revisit it any time soon.

Its current status as some sort of modern classic has always struck me as a little weird -- I mean, it's good, but it's not THAT good.

If memory serves, it was a box office bomb. It didn't get "discovered" till a few years later when it hit cable TV.

HappyGilmore · March 04, 2020, 08:00:10 PM

I like it, overall. Wouldn't put it as my all time favorite. I can see how others would dislike it.

I'll watch it if it's on cable but wouldn't like, seek it out specifically. I like the acting, overall.

zelmo73 · March 16, 2020, 12:10:18 AM

Quote from: RCMerchant on February 23, 2020, 05:11:11 AM
I don't know why it has this reputation of being so fantastic. I reckon because it's 'up-lifting' or some such thing... If I want 'life-affirming' or such, I'll skip the pablum and watch the TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE.

Because it's the first Morgan Freeman movie where Morgan Freeman was free to "Morgan Freeman" everything.