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A 1994 movie directed by Frank Darabont
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Rating:
The first time I watched this movie was way back in highschool (about 15 years ago or so) when it was showing on TNT. Being that I never heard of this movie before at the time, I had the lowest expectation for it possible. But after watching it, I'd have to say it is the best non-action movie ever!!! It had it all, from great acting, great character development, and one of the best stories/plot I've ever seen.
+5
The movie is about Andy Dufresne(A hotshot banker played by Tim Robbins) who is convicted of murdering his wife and her lover and gets a life sentence. Keeping to himself most of the time from the rest of the inmates in the beginning, he eventually befriends a group of them. But prison life is rough for him in the beginning until he one day helps out one of the prison guards, that happens to be the bully of the prison, with a financial problem. After getting on the good side of this prison guard, the rest of the prison guards comes to him for financial/tax solutions including the warden. But like all stories, things go south and he has a huge challenge for him to overcome once he realizes the warden's best interest is to keep him in prison.
This movie has one of the greatest ending I've ever seen. I've watched it many times and it always puts a smile on my face in the end. I just love how they start the movie with Andy Dufresne going to prison and being picked on and looking like he's gonna have a pretty shitty life in there (even for prison standards) and somehow he catches a break when he helps out that guard and gets him on his side somehow. He then starts projects in the prison that would lead you to think that he was gonna adapt to prison life and that the movie was about how a man with a life sentence survives in jail. But that all changes when things go south with him and the warden and it looks like a shitty life for him again. But the ending was so well done that I think anyone who watches this movie would have a nice big smile on his face in the end.
Another great thing about this movie is the bond between Andy and Red's(Morgan Freeman) friendship. The movie does a great job of character development and how close these 2 become during their time in prison together.
All in all, the 5 star rating doesn't do it justice. I consider this to be one of the top 3 movies of all time and that says a lot for a non action movie. Especially coming from me.
P.S. I almost forgot to mention one of my favorite lines ever that came from this movie, "Hope is a good thing. Maybe the best of things. And no good thing ever dies".
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More The Shawshank Redemption (movi... reviews
Tim Robbins stars as Andy Dufresne, a successful banker youth sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of his wife and her lover. Andy is sent to Shawshank prison, an austere and depressing place where the brutality of the two guards and other prisoners are commonplace. Andy is friends with Ellis Boyd "Red" Redding (Morgan Freeman), a lifer who has spent many years inside. Red specializes in the contraband in prison for other inmates. Red soon discovers that Andy … more
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Compliments (22)
review by Sean_Rhodes.
July 14, 2009
In 1982, Stephen King released a book he merely called "Different Seasons". It was a book that included four novellas that weren't really horror at all. It was a book that showed people that King could write something that wasn't about things that go bump in the night. It was also one of the few books he released in the 80's that silenced his critics. Temporarily. Within it was a story called "Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption." It is … more
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Compliments (48)
Is there a film where Morgan Freeman ISN'T good? I don't think so. Another tale where justice is served in a deserved manner.
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Beautiful, powerful movie. See it. You will think differently about prison life.
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As close to a masterpiece as it gets. Great acting. Story. Plot. Yep, it's all there.
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Great story telling in this movie. One of the most well put together movies I've ever seen.
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A Stephen King book adapted to the silver screen. It is uplifting, well told, and has a fantastic cast.
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Very powerful!
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Quick Tip by h0mersimps0n.
June 24, 2010
My favorite King story, short but amazing. What an ending!
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Quick Tip by MonikaWoods.
June 15, 2010
A movie about hard times, hard knocks, and redemption. Matruer audiences.
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About the reviewer
Jerry Lau (foboftheyear)
"I'm a gambler. Whatever I can bet on, I'm a fan of. It doesn't matter whether its horse racing, boxing, football, or even a coin flip - if I can bet on it, I will." That was 2 … more
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About this movie
When this popular prison drama was released in 1994, some critics complained that the movie was too long (142 minutes) to sustain its story. Those complaints miss the point, because the passage of time is crucial to this story about patience, the squeaky wheels of justice, and the growth of a life-long friendship. Only when the film reaches its final, emotionally satisfying scene do you fully understand why writer-director Frank Darabont (adapting a novella by Stephen King) allows the story to unfold at its necessary pace, and the effect is dramatically rewarding. Tim Robbins plays a banker named Andy who's sent to Shawshank Prison on a murder charge, but as he gets to know a life-term prisoner named Red (Morgan Freeman), we realize there's reason to believe the banker's crime was justifiable. We also realize that Andy's calm, quiet exterior hides a great reserve of patience and fortitude, and Red comes to admire this mild-mannered man who first struck him as weak and unfit for prison life. So it is thatThe Shawshank Redemptionbuilds considerable impact as a prison drama that defies the conventions of the genre (violence, brutality, riots) to illustrate its theme of faith, friendship, and survival. Nominated for seven Academy Awards including Best Picture, Actor, and Screenplay, it's a remarkable film that signaled the arrival of a promising new filmmaker--a film that many movie lovers count among their all-time favorites.--Jeff Shannon
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Movies, Drama Movies, Drama, Movie Adaptations, Stephen King, Morgan Freeman, Tim Robbins, Prison Drama, Prisions
Director:
Frank Darabont
Genre:
Mystery
Screen Writer:
Stephen King,
Frank Darabont
DVD Release Date:
December 21, 1999
Runtime:
142 minutes
Studio:
Castle Rock
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This is one of my absolute favorite movies of all time. And I think you wrote an awesome review depicting it.
It's one of those movies that I own. For a time there was a moment when I watched the film once a week. Whenever I'm flipping through the movie channels I stop and watch Shawshank. All the time.