Thanks, Bobby! ![[Smile]](smile.gif)
It ALWAYS throws me off when I hear familiar music in a trailer and just can't place it. Legends of the Fall was another movie in which the score was used over and over in other previews and it took me two years to figure it out!
Posted by Kamakshipalya Dhananjay (Member # 1391) on 04-20-2003, 05:42 AM:
Come On. I do not see it as a privilege that DVDs that are available in INDIA are mostly the pirated copies of American releases.
Would any of you be surprised to note that no American Cinema has ever been released in INDIA on a DVD yet ? On VHS or VCD, they are. But never on a DVD. Why ?
Nobody knows why it is so but all we do know for a fact is that the pirates are having their best season in INDIA. Thousands upon thousands of DVDs which are not camera prints but digital copies of the originals with the Region Code removed for the copies sell at the heart of each city in INDIA. The Police and the authorities turn a blind eye to these.
Let me ask a question here. If all you could ever get is a pirated copy and that alone, for a movie like say SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION, what would you do ?
Let me also remind here that options such as purchasing from the net from US websites are not feasible at all. The Customs regulations in INDIA will require the buyer to do a hundred or more things just to import a DVD.
The VCDs that are released here are released only for a handful of films and without exception all of them are pan and scan copies and all of them are so badly mastered that few people would really like to watch them.
Given the impossible route to acquire an original DVD, sometimes people here take to the pirated copies. And SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION never released in movie theatres here. It is not available officially on a VCD or a VHS. And as far as I can remember, it was never telecast on TV either.
When I said that there is no difference between the pirated and the original, I meant not that I got a bargain at so small a price, but only that the pirated copy is a digital copy of the original DVD.
Being a movie theare owner myself, it may be expected that these practices have our strongest disapproval. In fact, in the days I got into this business after my college, I personally made a complaint to the police and when they would do nothing at all, I contacted the New York Times and the MPAA to see if they would do anything to help. Did they ? Did anything change ?
Posted by Brad Miller (Member # 2) on 04-20-2003, 12:35 PM:
I'm sorry but bootlegging is bootlegging. Your purchasing a copy is just as bad as the pirates who create them in the first place and neither is acceptable. The bootlegging discussion needs to end right here without further comment.
Posted by Bobby Henderson (Member # 840) on 04-21-2003, 11:47 PM:
To get back on the topic of the movie itself, "The Shawshank Redemption" came up today in a news item on CNN. A poll asked a group of movie fans their favorite climactic lines from films. The quote, "get busy living or get busy dying" scored number three on the top 5 list.
Incidentally, "The Termintator" scored the number 1 and number 5 spots on the list with "I'll be back" and "Hasta La Vista, Baby." The infamous quote, "Frankly My Dear, I don't give a damn," from "Gone With the Wind" was number 2 (kind of surprising really).
Posted by Kamakshipalya Dhananjay (Member # 1391) on 04-22-2003, 12:20 AM:
A vist to IMDB.Com should reveal a number of interesting facts about this film.
Of the 90000+ plus votes for this film, more than 42000 users gave a complete 10 out of 10 for this film. Some people are quite puzzled at what is truly there in this film that makes thousands swear by this. And it has been discovered that this film in fact ranks greater than or carries more votes than Godfather which is currently rated as the No.1 movie on that site - feedback in that regard has been made to the site which is in the process of re-evaluating the votes again.
If I were really asked for why I would appreciate this film, all I have to give is that this movie reaches out and touches a part of oneself that no other movie manages to do. Period.
As to the Box-office performance of this film when it released, this was a disaster then. I do not have information about video or DVD sales for this film.
Here are some facts :
U.S.Release Date : September 23, 1994
Distributor : Columbia
Theatrical Revenues in the U.S : 28.34 Million USD
Not surprisingly, this movie did not do well in any other country. With six academy nominations, this movie also did not win any of them.
Nonetheless, I feel that this film truly is a masterpiece.
With several rumours that there is an attempt to re-release this film, does anybody here know if there is indeed an attempt to re-release this film ?
Posted by Bobby Henderson (Member # 840) on 04-22-2003, 01:39 PM:
It is no surprise "The Shawshank Redemption" didn't do well at the box-office. American audiences usually avoid prison movies because they think the show will just be depressing. Let's face it, most prison movies are depressing! Look at films like "Midnight Express," "Pappillon," "Kiss of the Spider Woman" and others.
In truth, much of America's movie audience has no balls. They don't want to give such movies a chance. The show just gets judged on surface value. In the end the audience misses out on some big emotional payoffs. Movies like "The Shawshank Redemption" are about triumph of the human spirit and giving value to things like hope and friendship.
Posted by Matthew Nock (Member # 1575) on 04-23-2003, 09:05 AM:
I would have to agree that it is a fantastic film also. Its great to see an "everyday man" as bobby puts it, struggle through the hell that is prison, and come out fighting but not in a physical sense.
I saw in recently, in our theatre - cause we are lucky that every year, it is one of those films that all the local schools request cause they are making the kids study.
Its also one of those rare films that these school kids come to, they sit down, all noisy, then the film starts, and within 5 minutes, not a sound. Not a fart joke, not some crude noise. nothing. nothing at all, except what is in the film.
its just unfortunate that we cant source a print that doesnt look like its been through a set of sabre-toothed rollers.
Posted by Patrick McDonough (Member # 1363) on 04-23-2003, 09:53 AM:
I would agree with Bobby on this, it is a great film but i wouldnt say of all time.
Posted by Kamakshipalya Dhananjay (Member # 1391) on 04-24-2003, 08:22 AM:
Also, the imdb.com info for this movie is ample testimony to the view that movies could be an universal medium of expression and that they transcend barriers if so authored.
Of the votes received by this film, an equal number of them have been cast by people who reside outside the United States.
Posted by System Notices (Member # 2357) on 05-17-2009, 09:30 PM:
It has been 2215 days since the last post.
Posted by David Stambaugh (Member # 1102) on 05-17-2009, 09:30 PM:
Excuse me for dredging up this old thread. I watched "Shawshank" on Blu-ray last night (Netflix rental) and was really impressed. I'd had the disc sitting here for over a week and almost returned it without even watching it. I know I saw "Shawshank" in a theater when it first came out but for some reason it didn't make a big impression then. This seems like one of those films that works very well on home video, maybe better than it did in a theater. Glad I did watch it, and I might have to buy the BD, which seems to be mastered very well.
A full 5 out of 5 stars from me. ![[beer]](graemlins/beer.gif)
![[thumbsup]](graemlins/thumbsup.gif)
Posted by Mark Gulbrandsen (Member # 72) on 05-17-2009, 09:33 PM:
Dave,
There ARE movies that work better on TV. The Old Man And The Sea is the first one that comes to mind that works better on the confines of the TV set. On the big screen it's all sky!
Mark
Posted by Frank Angel (Member # 248) on 05-31-2009, 10:48 AM:
![[Mad]](mad.gif)