I put the MC in the header so people can tell it's a fresh post from the new forum.
shareThe credits.
It's a fine movie and all but vastly overrated in comparison to other movies.
I'm with you there... I speak about it gently as I would someone else's religion because it is so beloved by others. Still, did you not find anything of personal value during the entire film?
shareI liked the carving red sees when he is about to hang himself because he's been so institutionalised, I like the wickedness of the governor willing to use the lead as an accountancy slave, I enjoyed how the decades passed and styles and tastes changed in movies and music.
Standard Stephen King stuff though if you read his books.
Not a bad movie by any stretch but certainly not the #1 in my opinion.
Glad to see I'm not alone in my assessment.
Which parts did you like and which parts did you not?
I thought the acting was fine throughout... Robbins, Freeman, Gunton, Whitmore... the story itself is decent... though pretty basic with not a lot of nuance (if there is any I attribute it mostly to the actors). My biggest problem with the film and possibly the novella (didn't read it) is that whole film revolves around an artificially manipulated plot device that exists simply to fool the viewer/reader and doesn't fit with the tone of the film. Perhaps that should be expected with a horror writer making a prison drama... but having a guy who may or may not be guilty suddenly become an innocent man wronged by the system in the middle of the film was too distracting. It reminded me in a way of the film Hard Candy where Ellen Page plays a vigilante trying to get revenge on a potential child molester... but they also reveal the truth late in the story which changes the whole meaning of the movie. For me both stories would be more effective if you know what he is throughout... or if you never know at all.
For this reasons, I'd rate films like Papillon, Le trou, Midnight Express, Bridge on the River Kwai, Great Escape, Un prophet... better because they doesn't resort to such manipulations. But if I don't think about that... I can still enjoy the basic theme which is the triumph over an abusive system.
I don't know if it's the Manhunter fan in me or what but I always picture Robbins' character as having done the crime - whether he remembers it or not.
This is solely down to him brushing off a boat on a beach at the end, works for me though :)
It was a more interesting film when you wondered... once the warden tried to suppress the witness... it became another type of story. It was also annoying that they hid that torment from the audience so they could surprise us later. It works with films like The Sixth Sense and Shutter Island... with a regular prison drama it just feels phony.
shareIt's a feel good movie that touched a lot of people the right way when it came out.
I get that, but it's just The Green Mile without the actual green mile part or magic - standard prisoner who gets free movie.
Now Sleepers - that's a movie worth praising!
I'll get back to you on Sleepers... remember thinking it was good but not great... but it's getting close to 20 years so maybe it's time for a rewatch. Maybe I'll appreciate it more this time. Was overhyped at the time because of the big cast.
shareI hadn't heard of it until I caught it on video and so the cast was all a bit of a surprise.
Once you've seen it we'll discuss it further, no point adding in thoughts too soon which might sway opinion.
Dredd was awesome BTW, as good as it was the first time I saw it (Maybe even better).
I also first discovered it on video and while I was impressed with the cast, I was unaware of any hype surrounding the movie .
And I also liked this movie very much and have rewatched it several times now, although none of those occasions packed the wallop of the first time, except for a few key scenes.
It is one of those films which you don't get to see for a first time ever again.
But a great movie nonetheless!
Oh, what would have been better, actually.
shareThe look on Captain Hadley's face as he's being arrested. You can tell he's about to start crying just like the con he beat to death.
shareBrooks when he says he could shoot the store manager to get put back in prison. Always makes me smile and set me off crying as i know what happens next. It was like the final bit of his warmth humour and humaness before the end.
shareI have a few that stick out to me now. When they have beers on the roof and Andy doesn't even drink one! When Red finds the tree, digs up the box and looks around paranoid, wondering if anyone is going to get him out in the middle of nowhere.
shareLots of great moments.. maybe when Red is on the Greyhound.
sharePlaying the Mozart aria in the yard as a form of cultivated rebellion.
shareAndy standing in the rain free from prison.
Andy playing the opera song to the inmates.
The Warden and Red looking at the big whole in the wall. :-)
Red finding the tin under the tree.
Red and Andy finally meeting at the end of the film.