*** Official "THE RING" Review Thread (1 Viewer)

"The Ring" is definitely belongs in the horror film genre. It begins a little awkwardly, but as Naomi Watts' character (Rachel) tries to make sense of some unfortunate events, she gets involved in something that's very eerie and spooky. The film's not great, but it's competently done, and Watts carries the film rather well for her starring vehicle. The rest of the cast is so-so, perfunctionary. The film does build to a decent climax, but will leave you scratching your head at the logic involved in the end. But if you suspend your disbelief just a bit, you'll get sucked into believing the validity of Rachel's fears and have a good, somewhat scary time with this film.

I give it 2.75 stars, or a grade of B-.

Here's my review for this remake:

Not scary.

Hollywood is simply uncapable of doing a scary film. They completely missed the effect at the end. It was way too fast! Those who have seen the original know what I'm talking about. It's not a bad movie per se, but the original is a lot better/scarier.

Interesting.

This movie blew my mind. NEVER, have I been so frightened in a movie theater.

I have not seen the original, however, I don't see how one can go to this movie and not get into it.. unless extremely biased before you even step foot in the theater.

I had a frightened blast.

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Crawdaddy

The Ring: in a word? Terrifying.
Patrick and I are agreed on the awkward beginning. I have to concede that a tad too much is spelled out with hollywood's signature "Ram-it-down-your-throat" style of narrative. Though overall I thought this film was beyond excellent. The soundtrack alone was enough to make me a nervous and addled wreck, to say nothing of the extremely macabre feel of the picture.
The cinematography is all around well-done with more than a few gorgeous shots, all of which seemed useful in advancing the plot and did not feel disjointed or 'out there' for it's own sake, like in The Cell. My favorite might be an early shot of a rain-blanketed car window, which slowly pans until it reveals Naomi's son, staring out the glass. There's a LOT of rain in this movie.
The pacing was a little jaunty at times, but only in hindsight- I was much too caught up in the suspense and fear for our protagonist to notice.
This is definitely not from the crummy camp-dependent all-gore no-brains frenzies like Jason X. Those who compared it to The Omen and The Shining in the discussion thread are completely on the mark. Note that I did not say this film was their equal. Merely kick-ass and replete with freakiness.
Also, I did not see any of the original Ringu nor it's prequel and sequel, but if they're half as good as this film then dag nabbit they deserve to be seen. by many.
Naturally time will tell whether anyone will consider it a masterpiece. For now, I just wanna see it again! 4.5 out of 5

A great movie!! Really creepy and i dont scare easily. Could be the best horrow movie i've seen ever. The whole mystery aspect keeps the movie interesting in addition to the horror. Leaves a lot to discuss about.

I've got to say, this was one really unsettling film. Although I was anticipating the film for months, based on the plot outline and reputation of the original Japanese version (which I have yet to see, by the way), I was a little skeptical, considering Gore Verbinski had done two films I found no redeeming value in whatsoever prior to "The Ring." I have to say, however, that this film didn't disappoint me in the least. The look and feel of the film was so complementary to the plot that it invoked feelings of claustrophobia at points. The acting was great and I expected no less from such a talented actress like Ms. Watts. The gore wasn't overdone and wasn't used for cheap shocks.
Overall, this film gets a high score from me, and is easily one of my top five horror-esque films of all time. I can't wait to see this one again, hopefully many times, in the theater (and of course, to eventually own the DVD). Go see it! If mental horror is something you enjoy (that doesn't sound right, but hopefully you know what I mean), you'll probably enjoy this film.

9 of 10
no spoilers (and I have never seen the original)
Scary. Yes it is. That's enough to put you in the theater I think.
But how is it scary? Well, think The Changling or The Others. I also got a Legend of Hell House vibe thanks to titles depicting which day in Naomi's 7 day journey we were on. You have creepy visions (plenty), you have scary "coincidences", and (like Changling) you have some investigation going on to get to the bottom of it all. In fact I think I ended up enjoying The Ring MORE because I had seen The Changling.
Watts and Cox give you what you already know they've got. Also the boy playing Watts' son is just terrific and gets one of the best laughs in the whole film with an excellent reaction shot.
I will WARN YOU...our audience was LOADED with teens that laughed right off the bat even as the house lights dimmed. The also got a big laugh at a retarded boy. They also laughed after being scared. It was annoying as hell and bordered on being fake. It almost felt like some people were trying to debunk the film so that it couldn't scare them.
This film is for people who liked The Changling, Ghost Story, The Others, and Devil's Backbone.
Not since Poltergeist has TV static been so scary.

There's a LOT of rain in this movie.

The setting is Seattle after all, which perfectly gives them a reason to have that great somber mood throughout the film and all that rain.

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Wow.
Because of this movie, I have had to rethink my definiton of horror. This movie scared me so thourghly and completely that there are some films that I used to call horror that have just been downgraded to comedies. It is as unsettling as it is quick. The pace is as brisk as a summer breeze and lets up only one time.... and then quickly slams a homerun. I am talking out of the ballpark. I will be spreading the word (so to speak) in hopes of letting people get the shit scared out of them as well.
:star: :star: :star: :star: :star: /:star: :star: :star: :star: :star:

I will WARN YOU...our audience was LOADED with teens that laughed right off the bat even as the house lights dimmed. The also got a big laugh at a retarded boy. They also laughed after being scared. It was annoying as hell and bordered on being fake. It almost felt like some people were trying to debunk the film so that it couldn't scare them.

Me and my friend are 18 and did the same thing.
It didn't work.
Still scared us out of our socks.
And also, I was flabbergasted to see this thing was rated PG-13 after I exited the theater. I know there wasn't anything "over the line", but no R movie has ever scared me like that. Never.

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A mish-mash of ideas that never quite settle in. I could excuse the somewhat drab opening but after an hour, it became apparent: this film was not going to introduce tension, in any form. Without tension, what was left were creepy visuals and a wonderment on where the film was headed. If in-your-face shock video is what scares you, this film will be right up your alley. If you are seeking something deeper, something with more undercurrent, forget it. The Ring foregoes that step in an effort to put as bland a face on horror as it can. Except for the ending (which I really liked), there was hardly any wit to the story at all. Things play out, visions are seen, weird moments occur and yet, nothing happens. It's as if two hours are spent trying to spring the next "gotcha" moment and it fails. That's not to say the film is a failure, but the direction it tried to take was. This was not a scary film because it had no atmosphere. It was a hollow, pointless meandering that didn't take the time to explain anything it was portraying. It just wanted to jump to the next scare.
That being said, there were beacons of hope. Naomi Watts is terrific and she shows she can carry a film with sheer force of will. Her effort is outstanding and it needs to be, because the director took away any help from the other actors. Brian Cox is criminally underused and Martin Henderson looked like he was sleepwalking through the film. David Dorfman, while he did an admirable job, was really nothing more than a token addition and was a ploy for manipulation. And Samara...sigh. What a waste. The central point to the whole film and her character is barely touched upon. By the end, we know just as little about her as we did when the film started. She has visions, she can come use a videotape to decide who to kill...she is ruthless, and yet none of this is explored. Her abilities are used to move the story along and discarded in favor of quick-cut editing to fake horror. That just doesn't fly and looked straight out of the MTV generation style of movie making. Hard to imagine that a film with such promise and a great premise could end up as unscary and uninvolving as something like 13 Ghosts, but it did.
If there is one thing that can partially absolve this clunker, it has to be the ending. Without revealing anything, I will say that if the rest of the film had even half the inventiveness the last 5 minutes had, this would have been a classic.
As it stands though, this ends up being another film that was alot of style but no substance.
The Ring :star: 1/2 (half star for the acting...full star for the ending-the rest, nada)
Bruce

Rain in Seattle?! You people obviously haven't been around here for awhile! My lawn still hasn't recovered from the lack of "liquid sunshine." Oh, btw, I loved THE RING!

The Ring

- scary
- creepy
- atmosphere
- special effects

- tied an explanation to a lot of things that should've been left mysterious
Film Score: B
Movie Score: A
Overall Score: A-
Off to discussion I go.

This is going to be short, but I thought this movie was HORRIBLE. I don't remember the last time I saw such a bad movie (Blair Witch?!). The beginning started off promising, but after the initial 15 minutes, the next hour or so was so very boring and un-intriguing. I just kept waiting and waiting for "something" to happen, but it never did. I couldn't wait until it was over.
1/2 / :star: :star: :star: :star: :star:

Very good film, very effective, very scary - would have preferred a slower, more stultifying feel for the expository and plot-connecting scenes to really amp up the dread factor.

Speaking of which, I've heard the original follows this type of aesthetic a bit more. Any idea where I can pick up a copy of the DVD?

Rich, please post your question here. I'm sure someone will be able to help.
Now we return to member reviews of "The Ring".

Saw the movie Friday night. Very enjoyable.
During 2 separate scenes 3/4 of way through movie microphone heads and boom-arms were visible in the shot. Has anyone else noticed this error or was it just a bad print sent by Dream Works?
Post Edited By Administrator - Please, Post your question in this thread.

There are those who easily get scared and then there’s me.
The Ring sets itself up for a decent payoff in the end. But that payoff never materializes. It reminded me of another film earlier this year that strings along its audience in the hopes of a much deserved payoff that never comes – Enigma.
There is hardly any tension in this film, which is even more saddled with a throwaway plot. At first I thought that Naomi Watts overacted here. But upon further analysis, I realized it’s the material that is so weak that even Watts tried so hard to boost it as much as she can to no avail.
In addition, there were some unnecessary jump scares that were far too predictable to be even scary because of the tired old formulaic execution that has been used over and over again in these types of films (i.e. a buildup in music, sneaking up on people’s backs, etc).
The Ring is a horror film/part ghost story that lacks in both mystery and thrills.
Bottom line: Lame!
~Edwin

I thought this movie was good for watching sake. It did a good job of building suspense and then startling the piss out of you. Scary? Some parts were scary. But I'd say this movie is a lot more suspensful and startling.

I thought that it looked like a collage of a bunch of movies. Some teen horror movies like Urban Legend, when they watch the movie
and there's the quick editing with the weird pictures and then their pupil dilates was taken directly from Requiem For A Dream, and the story feeling was kind of like the Exorcist.

Overall it was a good movie and an interesting plot. Definatley worth checking out. But don't go into it expecting Oscar quality cinema.