Film Greats: Frank Darabont’s ‘The Shawshank Redemption’ (1994) (1 Viewer)

[Jarod M]

Lou,
I don't necessarily watch movies because I'm hoping they will make me feel good. For example, Kane is my favorite movie of all time. Your point is well taken, though.

 

[ace peterson]

I absolutely LOvE! 'The Shawshank Redemption'!! I have seen it soooo many times. What I still can't believe is that there are soooo many people who have never seen it. I frequently ask people what their favorite movie is, and when they ask me I say, "Star Wars" first off. But then a quick second is "Shawshank Redemption". The other person always says, "reaallly?? I've never seen that, but I heard it was good." And it's adults, college aged, and high school aged people that say that. Man, they're missing out.
AP

 

[David_LM]

There are a number of similarities, especially between Red in Shawshank and a number of characters in Alcatraz, but also a few other similarities. Of course Escape from Alcatraz is not the kind of uplifting movie Shawshank is.

I see many similarities with Cool Hand Luke. Thankfully, Shawshank had an uplifting ending unlike Cool Hand Luke. When you invest so much emotion in characters such as Andy and Red or Cool Hand Luke, a happy ending can sometimes fulfill the experience and make it unforgettable, which was the case with me with Shawshank. The endings with CHL, Bonnie and Clyde, Bugsy, etc. on the otherhand made me want to forget the movie and would not make their way on to my Favorite Movie List.

 

[Sam E. Torres]

Everything is spelled out in this film and Darabont does not allow its audience to think for themselves or arrive at their own conclusions.

i thought that very thing about alan ball's american beauty script, but not about shawshank. this movie is also one of my true favorites, that will never age for me.
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[Carlo_M]

I still remember the hard time I had convincing people that this was written by Stephen King. It's amazing, he's there in the opening credits, but if it ain't about blood, guts and horror, people automatically seem to miss the Stephen King name in the credits (just like The Body / Stand By Me).
I could do with either the "I Hope..." ending or the ending as is. It wasn't a deal breaker for me either way. Of course, having loved the book I was thrilled at how Mr. Darabont stayed true to the course with his screenplay. Just about everything in the book is in the movie (minor exceptions, but nothing major changed or left out).
Is it #2 on my all-time list? Probably not. But it definitely is a top 10'er. And keep in mind, just because its overall rating is #2 on IMDB doesn't mean people count it as the #2 movie for every voter. Face it, we all have widely varying Top 20 lists. If this movie is consistently in people's top 20 lists, then by averages it might jump to #2 because it's consistently on people's lists, whether it's #1 or #20.

 

[AaronNWilson]

I think popularity lists such as the one on imdb can be pretty darn accurate at portraying positioning of films. Who says that a few elite people get to decide that Citizen Kane is placed above Shawshank Redemption. It may have reasons for why it should place above it, but I certaintly place a lot of faith in those popular choice polls.
Aaron

 

[Lou Sytsma]

The responses from a poll for movies such as Citizen Kane and Shawshank Redemption I believe indicate the inherent problem with such an exercise.
Some people place more emphasis on the technical and artistic merits of a picture and downplay the message or emotional response it invokes.
That's why a Citizen Kane receives kudos for being ahead of it's time in terms of the complexity of story structure, editing, lighting etc.
On the other hand movies like Shawshank Redemption, Iron Giant, October Sky, Rocky etc receive kudos for the story and emotional response they generate. The technical and artistic merits are secondary.
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Every man is my superior, in that I may learn from him.
MyHTSetup

 

[Lou Sytsma]

Tino - something further to support my view about the movie:
Andy asks Red what he's in for.
Red replies "Same as you."
Andy "Are you innocent?"
Red "You are looking at the only guilty man in Shawshank"
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Every man is my superior, in that I may learn from him.
MyHTSetup

 

[Carlo_M]

By the way, Lou, I also agree that this movie is more about Red than it is about Andy. Reading the book also gives me that impression.
You see Andy more as the beacon of hope for Red, but I have always thought it was more about Red.

 

[Edwin Pereyra]

Here are additional thoughts to supplement recent discussions of this film.
~Edwin

 

[Thomas Reagan]

For those of you who wish the movie ended with Red on the bus, if my memory isn't failing, that's exactly how the story ended in Stephen King's book "Different Seasons".
Is the movie ending "too neat?" Maybe. But I personally like it!
Thos.

 

[Josh Dial]

Yeah, this movie does seem to tie everything up nicely at the end.
But sometimes it's nice to watch a movie and walk away feeling good everytime you see it. Sometimes feeling good is better that a good thinkin' lesson
cheers!
Josh

 

[Mark Pfeiffer]

I think that, in part, what has made The Shawshank Redemption the favorite film of many, many people is the fact that they "discovered" it. People feel a more direct connection with the movie because here's the little (of course, untrue) film that slipped under the radar but they found. If this film had done $150-200 million at the box office, I don't know if people would feel the ownership.
Periodically threads pop up about the movie because I just don't think everyone realizes how many have seen this on video or tv. It was not a cultural phenomenon at its time of release and has gained admirers through searching or by accident.
That said, it is an excellent film. Not the best of that year, IMO (in addition to Pulp Fiction, there's also Kieslowski's Red, just to name another), but one of the better pictures of the year.

 

[Brian_J]

Well I have also noticed a tendancy on the part of the artsy fartsy types to believe that a movie can only be great if if leaves you feeling disturbed, depressed, bewildered, etc. A movie that leaves you feeling all teary eyed and good about life? how trite.

Brian
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Zed's Dead Baby...

 

[Todd Hochard]

Well I have also noticed a tendancy on the part of the artsy fartsy types to believe that a movie can only be great if if leaves you feeling disturbed, depressed, bewildered, etc. A movie that leaves you feeling all teary eyed and good about life? how trite.

I've noticed this also. For me, there's room for both. But, how dare I allow myself such a range of emotion?

Shawshank is definitely one of those teary/good endings for me. In fact, I'm inspired to watch it again.
Todd
P.S. Edwin, your additional thoughts are a bit, um, "lacking," no?