Is it just me or is The Shawshank Redemption one of the most perfect movies around... (1 Viewer)

[todd stone]

The movie screams excellence.
Any opinions?
Morgan Freemans best imo.

 

[Jason Merrick]

Since I am most definitely not a well-spoken critic, I will simply say I couldn't agree with you more! What a great movie!
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[Graeme Clark]

Perfect.
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[Gilbert Galindo]

The movie is good and gets better with repeated viewings. I'll go on a limb here and say I thought The Green Mile was better. Not by much, but still better. I would still give them both **** stars though. And to all those people that say Shawshank should have won Best Picture in 1994, sorry, but that should have gone to Pulp Fiction.

 

[Scott W.]

Frank Darabont directed a real jem in Shawshank. It's one of the only DVD's I have which I gave repeated viewings to (because I'm constantly buying and viewing new flicks). Yes, it is one of the most perfect movies around IMO.
Scott

 

[Brad_W]

I would disagree with Gilbert and say that Shawshank was better than the Green Mile. I loved Shawshank. plain and simple.
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[Lou Sytsma]

My vote goes for Shawshank over the Green Mile as well.
Shawshank was nicely done. The ending bookend segment from the Green Mile changed the tone of the story and gave it a downer ending that was not needed.
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[Edited last by Lou Sytsma on October 16, 2001 at 09:57 AM]

 

[Kami]

I love the movie, and I agree with Gilbert that it gets better with repeated viewings...one of the few movies to do so.
Green Mile was great, but Shawshank was still better IMO.

 

[Gerard Priori]

Since you asked for opinions, I'll venture mine. Obviously, from the other replies you've received so far, you aren't alone in your admiration of the film. But I have no idea what anyone sees in this film. Words cannot express how much I HATE this film. When I watch SHAWSHANK (I've seen it twice), I see nothing but cheap sentiment and cartoon villains; I feel like I'm the one serving the life sentence as each agonizing minute passes. I find nothing interesting or compelling about anything that happens on screen. I truly am puzzled by why the film is so well regarded. I know that there are others who share my distain for the movie, but around this forum, mine is certainly a minority opinion. But you did ask.
-Jerry

 

[SteveGon]

Well, I like it. Granted, TSR is simplistic, but it's undeniably entertaining. I find it to be quite involving despite its two-plus hour running time.
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He thought on homeland, the big timber, the air thin and chill all the year long. Tulip poplars so big through the trunk they put you in mind of locomotives set on end. He thought of getting home and building him a cabin on Cold Mountain so high that not a soul but the nighthawks passing across the clouds in autumn could hear his sad cry. Of living a life so quiet he would not need ears. And if Ada would go with him, there might be the hope, so far off in the distance he did not even really see it, that in time his despair might be honed off to a point so fine and thin that it would be nearly the same as vanishing.
-- Charles Frazier, Cold Mountain

 

[Marty M]

This is a real gem of a movie with great writing and great performances down the line from Tim Robbins, Morgan Freeman, James Whitmore, et. al. The theme of hope comes out more clearly than in any other prison movie I have seen. This movie also has a great soundtrack, by Thomas Newman, I think.

 

[Neil Joseph]

It's strange just how many posts about Shawshank are popping up suddenly after so many years of the movie being out but I agree, it is one of the 20 best movies of all time in my opinion. Very well made. Great acting etc.
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[Aurel Savin]

Oh yeah ... Shawshank is perfect. Top 5 on my list.
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[Nate Anderson]

Shawshank is perfectly crafted and is an excellent movie.
I also agree Shawshank is better than The Green Mile. Very, very well done.
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[Michael*K]

I find that Shawshank stands up to repeated viewings. Never get tied of seeing this great film. Definitely in my top three.
Unfortunately, I cannot say the same for The Green Mile. I did like the film when I saw it, but it gets tiring after a second or third viewing.
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--Mike
Amazon Hot 100 DVD's

 

[Carlo_M]

I too loved Shawshank, and think it a better movie than The Green Mile.
What's weird is that I think I liked the book The Green Mile better than Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption. But the movies are flip-flopped. Weird, maybe TGM just doesn't translate as well with all of its biblical allegories.

 

[Holadem]

Perfect. Top 5 material.
--
Holadem

 

[Lou Sytsma]

Carlo - I concur with you. I like the Shawshank movie better but I prefer the Green Mile book more.
Darabont was in a real groove with Shawshank and the changes he made for Shawshank were on the mark.
Unfortunately for the TGM he fumbled the ball a little and inadvertently lessened the impact of the movie because of it.
Examples
Spoiler:
not showing the last rites scenes for the prisoners, and in the ending bookend sequence not showing Mr. Jingles passing on and giving Tom Hank's character the knowledge that he too will pass on eventually.

IHMO, of course.
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[jane blinked]

I have never managed to sit through that movie to the end. It lacked convincing sincerity even though the cast was excellent. I'm the only person I know that didn't think much of the film.
On the other hand, I enjoyed the Green Mile. It wasn't the best movie, it wasn't the best book, but it was definitely moving.

 

[Brian_J]

Perfect. And I mean absolutely perfect with no flaws and no changes that I could see making it better.
Brian
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