MovieChat Forums > The Shawshank Redemption (1994) Discussion > Why is this movie such a phenomenon?

Why is this movie such a phenomenon?

posted 2 years ago by SlackerInc (1121)
40 replies | jump to latest

Especially decades later?

It's not that I think it's bad. I do think it's a good movie: 7/10. Just not a great one, and certainly not worthy of such adoration and fervid dedication among its fans.

It's also not that I don't understand how other people could go crazy over a movie while I think the hype is unwarranted.

I mean, I don't think "Fight Club" or TDK are very good, and I think "The Usual Suspects" is good but overrated. But I understand why people are gaga for those three movies, even if I am not. There are themes, scenes, and characters that are just screaming for an ardent cult following. Whereas I don't understand this "Shawshank" phenomenon at all.

I mean, it's a prison drama that's decently written and acted, with a reasonably clever ending. I just don't see what would make it not only be so highly rated, but also inspire this devoted following that watches it over and over and quotes all the lines, nearly thirty years after it came out.

Looking over all the movies I have given a similar score (again, 7/10), it strikes me that a great comp would be the 2002 Tom Hanks gangster movie "Road to Perdition". Like "Shawshank", it got good reviews, was nominated for a few Oscars (and unlike "Shawshank", it won one, for cinematography). "Perdition" has a solid 7.7 average on IMDb, but imagine if it had this rabid following and pegged the needle on user-generated lists of greatest movies of all time (but, notably, not critics' or directors' lists). It would just be like "uhhh...why?" which is exactly how I feel about this actual, non-hypothetical situation.

Although looking more closely, it appears "Perdition" was immediately successful at the box office, unlike "Shawshank". Is this the difference, that people feel like they've uncovered this great hidden gem of brilliance? But surely that feeling would have evaporated many years ago, based on the film's massive popularity online. It has been #1 on IMDb's Top 250 for fourteen years now, for god's sake, which is kind of sad in its own right. Why wouldn't that #1 change at some point?

I guess, looking at Wikipedia, it probably has something to do with being shown on TNT over and over. Which...okay then.

[–] TheMouseShadow (418) 2 years ago

I can tell by all your replies on this post that no answer will satisfy you you.

[–] javie (2225) 2 years ago

My hair stands on end if I shit.

[–] Roguemail (1634) 2 years ago

I am completely mystified by people who post on forums about why some people like movies they don't.

Why do they care? What motivates these posts? Why are these individuals so bothered that some people have different opinions to them?

And why do they select movies like this that are popular and obsess over why lots of other people like them?

I have come to think its an inferiority complex. Seriously.

I could not care less if people disagree with my viewing choices. I never seek approval or validation from anyone. I like what I like, and vice versa.

There are many films I don't like that are held in high esteem and critically lauded. Never have I felt the need to ask people why they like them. Why should that matter to me?

I think some people need to calm down and stop obsessing about why some people like movies they don't.

[–] R_Kane (15828) 2 years ago

This is a movie that I will never watch, along with The Green Mile, and ET. Too many people I don’t like enjoy this crap.

[–] SlackerInc (1121) 2 years ago

Haha, I think you're onto something. I haven't seen The Green Mile either. I liked ET, but I saw it as a kid and then with my own kids.

[–] liscarkat (19447) 2 years ago

It was good enough for me to sit through once. It's not bad, but I wouldn't bother watching it again. All the hype is most certainly unwarranted. It almost seems like a mass hysteria event, in which masses of people felt they had to jump on the bandwagon until it was all out of proportion with whatever level of accolades the movie actually deserves.

[–] SlackerInc (1121) 2 years ago

Sounds about right to me!

[–] Magicdave (1017) 4 months ago

I believe that the reason this film resonates so much with so many people is that it is not a prison movie. Yes, it takes place in a prison, but that is really just the setting.
The film is about hope and never giving up. It's about friendship in the most desperate situation.
And that is why it is my number one drama film.

[–] Redsfan001 (6220) 4 months ago

A fine reply.

I forget where I read it, but someone said of this film, "We are all Andy Dufresne."