Petition: Shawshank Redemption S.E (1 Viewer)

Nothin else to say they have to do a Special Edition for this as it is simply one of the greatest and important films ever.
Please make one
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I liked this film, own the current release, and would buy a full-featured SE. Not holding my breath though.
Jeff Peake

This is due out next year, I believe.

Yes I've heard about an SE too. It would not surprise me if Warner used the new british documentary screened last night on Channel 4 (which I missed) about the film.
Warner will be using Channel 4's previous doc about Blade Runner on the future SE of that movie I believe, and it would not surprise me if there is some kind of relationship going with this Shawshank doc as there was their Bladerunner one. I dunno, maybe presenter Mark Mermode is the link, Warner used the BBC Exorcist documentary with him in after all...
Add the doc, an isolated score with Thomas Newman commentary, maybe a Robbins and Freeman commentary and I'm there. Worth noting that I recall an old Darabont interview from a couple of years back (when the SE LD was announced but soon canceled) in which he revealed his lack of interest in doing commentary tracks.
Dan (UK)
[Edited last by Dan Brecher on September 09, 2001 at 06:30 PM]

It would have to be packed to the brim to make me break.
I am happy with the current edition. Bare bones, but the presantation is good.
I would rather see them do more Goonies caliber releases with titles they haven't put on DVD yet.
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I agree with Aaron. There was some bad blood on the set between some of the actors and the director, apparently (Morgan Freeman has alluded to that in interviews) and Frank Darabont has said many times that he doesn't care for commentary tracks for the same reasons Woody Allen and Steven Spielberg don't. I wouldn't mind seeing this revisited, but there are so many early -- and, in the case of Unforgiven -- crummy-looking WB transfers, that there are other films that are in better need of this honor (think "The Road Warrior," which lacks all of the behind-the-scenes footage that's on the VHS tape).
And no more petitions folks-- at least not unless they're for big issues like the Pan-and-Scan debate. The proliferation of all these petitions are just going to make studio execs turn away from them.

This is one of the best movies ever made... cant wait for the special edition..
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I hate to disagree, but Shawshank Redemption is the only bare-bones title in my collection that I think is perfect the way it is. It's a case of "let the movie speak for itself".

I saw the Channel 4 documentary, and it was really interesting.
They had new interviews with all the principal cast members and Frank Darabont, discussing the making of the film, the location and production design of the prison, the poor reception on its initial release and the critical and commercial success on video, and why they think the film was eventually so successful. Morgan Freeman rates this film as his best, with Driving Miss Daisy. Both he and Tim Robbins say they get asked about this film more than any other by the general public.
I just hope they include it on any future SE - it is well worth watching if they ever show it in the US

Oh and they also discuss the films ending and that originally it was supposed to end with the shot of the bus driving towards Mexico, with Freeman's voiceover "I hope...." but eventually they added the scene where Red meets up with Dufresne on the beach

I'm glad they did. That is one of the most powerful endings in my opinion and this is my favorite film of the last 30 years.
Brian
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I could be mistaken, but I'm fairly certain that the "beach ending" is NOT in King's novella - and even if it had been - it's a mawkish and trite way to end a truly powerful movie.
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Scott
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The book does NOT contain the scene of Red and Andy meeting on the beach. I think it works best that way. I don't think the extended ending hurts the film as much as it would have hurt the book. I could have lived without it, but it doesn't bother me.

I dunno, Scott. The ending moved me to tears.
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According to Darabont, intitially he didn't want to put the ending on the beach in the film, but one of the producers persuaded him to film it.
When he did and saw it, he felt it worked, and that the audience needed that release after watching the suffering they both went through

Add my vote for the ending. Made the film complete for me.

If I remember correctly, when this title was first announced, a Morgan Freeman commentary track was one of the features for this disc. However it was dropped (i forget why, either not enough space due to films length, or Freeman did not have time). So there may already be a commentary track recorded for this film. It is just up to Warner to revisit this film and give it the two disc treatment.
J

I love this movie & while i don't mind the ending. I always felt it would've been really powerful & thought provoking with Freeman on the bus & talks n voice over "I hope...".
Just would've made you really wonder what happened after,did he find Andy or just go off his own way hoping to run into him,but maybe not & thats how life works out?
Still i have no problem with the beach ending and it does work!

I've been telling my friends and family forever about how I always felt like the movie should have ended with that shot of the clear blue ocean . . . and now I find that the movie WAS supposed to end like that! That is cool to hear.
I love this movie, but the ending on the beach has always kept it from being unbelievably great. It's not the perfect ending. Look, it's like this . . . you never ever show the afterlife (least, not in a serious movie), and the meeting between the friends counts as the afterlife in this movie. Heaven. It's great to see, but it's also anticlimactic. Just like how you should never see the inside of the space ship in Close Encounters. Yeah, we all want to see it, but afterwards we're sorry that we did.
Another example, Memento. Yeah, you want to know if his wife was diabetic, but then you don't want to know either.
I knew Freeman would meet Robbins, but seeing it made it somehow less magnificent.
Well, maybe they'll do a director's cut on the next version, since hey we're hear to buy that stuff aren't we?

Add my name to the buy list when (and if) a SE comes out. Brilliant movie. Also, I like the ending. I haven't read the book though.