As often as a film film script undergoes
numerous rewrites so does the title of a film.
During Production it quite often changes to simply cover the identity (as was the case
with James Cameron shooting Titanic in its early stages).
A Films title is a very important part of the marketing as sadly just this one little
detail can make or break a film, as was the case with The Shawshank Redemption.
Here is a film that over the years has gained cult status, is Oscar worthy material from
start to finish in all respects and is loved my millions around the world yet failed to
generate a nice box office taking.
Considering it was based on the Stephen King Novella (Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank
Redemption), stars Tim Robbins and Morgan Freeman, it must have been quite a shock to its
makers that this occurred. Then again with a title like Shawshank Redemption many
people would have heard or seen it in print and wondered what the hell this stupid title
meant....Set in the maximum security prison of
Shawshank in the early part of the 20th century, Andy Defresne (Tim Robbins) has just been
committed to a double life sentence for the Murder of his Wife and her lover (a crime it
seems he didn't commit). With his quiet and isolated existence many of the inmates take
him for a snob and for a while he is pretty much ignored by the others. As time goes
on Andy approaches an inmate by the name of Red (Morgan Freeman) for Red is the sort of
man that knows how to get things in prison. In not too much time Red and Andy form a
bond/friendship that will last for many years to come.
During the screen time of nearly 20 years Andy changes the life of many people that cross
his path. Warden Norton (Bob Gunton) sees Andy's talent as a former Bank Manager and
soon has him working as his "inside" accountant to launder of dirty money for
his retirement fund, as well as doing taxes for most of the prison guards and local
baseball teams. While on the side, Andy takes the time to initiate a new prison
Library (the old one was looked after by old man Brooks (James Whitmore), and also helps a
few of the inmates with their schooling. On particular inmate that Andy takes a
shining to is Tommy (Gil Bellows of Ally Macbeal). Tommy is a young rebel of sorts
who has been in and out of prison for most of his young adult life, but wished to make
some sort of amends as he now has a wife and kid, and so seeks out Andy's help.
Running for well over 2 hours Shawshank is a very involving
Character driven movie that is simply too complex to outline with any ease. At the
end of the day this is film making at its finest and should not be missed (even
considering the title).
So How Does This Transfer Hold Up??
VIDEO
After a very very very length delay in it's worldwide release this region 4 PAL version is
a stunner. Presented in all it's exquisite Anamorphic Widescreen
Glory this is a jawdropper from start to finish. The Level of detail in this
transfer is incredibly high, and gives off a great deal of depth to the extremely sharp
picture that in no way looks over enhanced. Though intentionally muted in many
sequences, colour saturation remains consistently good throughout. The most impressive
aspect of this transfer is undoubtedly the shadow detail. It's perfect. Never
have I see so many shades of black come though with such accuracy.
Really, this is a near perfect transfer in ALL respects and is easily Roadshow's finest
looking DVD.
Running a whopping, but never dull 136 minutes, this movie has been spread of 2 layers of
an RSDL DVD. The Layer change occurs at the 79:47 minutes mark just as Morgan
Freeman walks off screen to the Left in the Library scene.
Video Highlights
Ch 02 01:53 - 02:02 Andy on the Stand
Ch 02 04:15 - 04:21 Hand Held Gun
Ch 04 17:41 - 18:14 Beating up Tubby
Ch 10 47:15 - 48:41 Cell Inspection
Ch 13 70:02 - 70:35 Another Rejection for Red
Ch 16 87:15 - 88:02 Elmo's Admission
Ch 21 120:08 - 120:27 Red Misses his Friend
AUDIO
To Compliment this truly amazing picture is a beautifully haunting soundtrack, musically
attributed to the talent of Thomas Newman. While the soundtrack is generally
confined across the front 3 channels (and LFE track) the surrounds do get used lightly
throughout the film, with the occasional push just to let you know this is a 5.1 mix.
With truly amazing clarity Dialogue was always clear and intelligible, not at any point
was there a single passage that was hard to hear, and being a dialogue driven film this
was a blessing. The music Score also suits the on-screen action so appropriately,
with it's subtitle and graciousness, and is ever so powerful. It would have to be
one of the most moving scores I've heard.
Contained on this DVD is a second Audio Track in Dolby Digital 2.0.
For a matrix surround mix this is also very good, but ultimately lacks the
spaciousness and impact of the 5.1 discrete mix. Also of note is the narration by
Morgan Freeman, to give it that "James Earl Jones" feel Freeman's voice
has been spread across all three front channels (with emphasise on the centre). Nice
touch. (the 2.0 mix only presents the narration through the centre channel seeing as
anything that is equal in both Left and rights channels to begin with automatically gets
re-directed to the centre channel in a Pro-Logic configuration).
Audio Highlights
Ch 03 06:10 - 06:20 Red's first Parole
Ch 03 08:18 - 09:10 New Inmates
Ch 04 15:33 - 17:06 Fishy, Fish, Fish
Ch 12 65:30 - 67:55 Voices of Angels
Ch 17 93:52 - 94:00 Tommy get's a gun...ning
Ch 19 1:09:11 - 1:09:17 Rocking Raquel
Ch 20 1:12:50 - 1:14:00 Tunnelling Out
EXTRAS
It really is a pity that the running commentary KNOWN to exist was never made available
for ANY Distributor to Release on DVD(whether it be the Aussie, UK, or USA DVD release for
that matter). Here is a movie that has had such an impact on those who have seen and
loved it, that NOT giving us further insight into this truly inspirational film should be
a criminal offence!
But in spite of this there are a few goodies to look over.
For starters ALL the sepia coloured menus are backed with lovely snippets from the music
score and the Chapter selections are motion based with segments from the movie.
There's the 16:9 Enhanced Theatrical Trailer, cast and crew interviews,
Biographies, a nice stills gallery, a Featurette, Shank Trivia, and the Dolby Digital
Egypt Trailer.
Here is a DVD that has almost received the treatment it deserves(curse the missing comm
track :-(. With a beautiful picture and wonderful sound to showcase this ever so
uplifting movie, even given the situation, this is a MUST HAVE DVD for any Collection!
| PICTURE QUALITY |
10/10 Picture Perfect! |
SOUND
- Quality
- 5.1 WOW Factor |
- 10/10 Amazing Clarity and detail
- 6/10 Great front soundstage, shame about the surrounds |
| FEATURES |
6/10 loved the menus |
Review Equipment
TV: Pioneer SD-T50W1 (16:9 RPTV)
DVD: Pioneer DV717 (using RGB outputs)
Receiver: Marantz SR870 & Sony SDP-EP9ES
Speakers:-
Fronts: B&W 602
Centre: B&W CDMC-SE
Rears: Jamo Magic 14
Subby: M&K V125
- Reviewed 14th February 2000
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