Shawshank Redemption, The (Australia)

10 / 10
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Fear can hold you prisoner. Hope can set you free
Certificate: MA
Running Time: 127 mins
Retail Price: 34.95
Release Date:

Synopsis:
Nominated for seven Academy Awards® including Best Film and Best Actor, this film is an extraordinary tale of hope, friendship and survival inside a maximum security prison.

City Banker, Andy Dufresne, (Tim Robbins) arrived at Shawshank Prison in 1947, convicted of two brutal murders, he received a double life sentence.

He discovers that when they send you to Shawshank State Prison for life...that is exactly what they take.

Within the confines of Shawshank, Andy forms an unlikely friendship with the prison "fixer" Red (Morgan Freeman). He also becomes popular with the Warden and the prison`s guards, as Andy is able to use his banking experience to help the corrupt officials amas personal fortunes.

With an extraordinary twist in the tale, Andy finds that survival comes down to a simple choice, get busy living or get busy dying.

Special Features:
Interactive Menus
Scene Index
Interviews
Biographies
Extra Footage

Video Tracks:
Widescreen Anamorphic 1.85:1

Audio Tracks:
Dolby Digital 5.1 English
Dolby Digital Surround 2.0 English

Directed By:
Frank Darabont

Written By:

Starring:
Frank Darabont
Gil Bellows
William Sadler
Morgan Freeman
James Whitmore
Clancy Brown
Bob Gunton
Tim Robbins

Music From:
Thomas Newman

Director of Photography:
Roger Deakins

Editor:
Richard Francis-Bruce

Production Designer:
Terence Marsh

Producer:
Niki Marvin

Executive Producer:
David Lester
Liz Glotzer

Distributor:
Castle Rock Entertainment

Your Opinions and Comments

9 / 10
As stated in my review of the R2 disc, Shawshank is probably my favourite film. I was horrified with the transfer on the R2 disc; trying to squeeze a two-hour plus film, and the extras, onto a single side of a DVD10 had an extremely detrimental effect on the picture quality.

I`d heard good things about the R4 disc, and that`s what prompted this upgrade. Well, let me just say that the picture is worlds better. Gone are the shimmering scenery, the pixelisation and the grain. The image is very good throughout, with only one noticeable instance of aliasing. The colours can look a bit washed out in certain outdoor scenes, but it was the same on the R2 disc, and I`m sure it`s intentional.

Audio comes in Dolby 5.1 and surround flavours. The R2 disc had a pretty good surround track to begin with, so I was looking forward to the 5.1 mix. To be honest though, Shawshank is such a dialogue heavy film that the rear channels don`t get much of a look in. That said the whole mix sounds better than the R2 effort, and there`s some nice use of the rear speakers during key moments and to highlight the excellent score.

Extras are fairly thin on the ground. We get a bog standard featurette, which is nothing speacial. There are some interviews with the cast, but these are mostly repeated from the featurette. We also get some biographies and a theatrical trailer.

The R4 disc is far superior to the R2 disc, with greatly improved video, a richer audio experience, and a reasonable smattering of extras. It`s also cheap to import, about £13. One other thing worth noting is that the menus don`t give away the ending of the film like the R2 disc did!
posted by Chris Gould on 13/2/2001 23:43
10 / 10
Quite simply one of the best films ever made. A modern classic.

Very sad that the R1&2 discs are so shockingly shoddy and disrespectful to the film`s known potential. Makes you sad to the see the effort put into tripe like A.I. when Shawshank is just thrown out on something barely better than VHS. However our friends down under have come to the rescue because they know a good film when they see one and have put together a DVD to do it justice. Everything about the R4 version is vastly superior.

Picture: 1.85 anamorphic, good quality, clear and crisp.

Sound: DD 5.1 at last!

Extras: Run off the mill normal sort of things.

Overall: You must go and order your R4 copy now. Current exchange rates will see it on your doorstep for about £12 and within the week. You`d be a fool not to!
posted by Nigel S on 26/4/2003 01:05