The Shawshank Redemption

Summary

“Hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies.”

As a child, I remember watching the Academy Awards in 1995 as David Letterman walked through one of the greatest slates of nominees of all time for Best Picture. The nominees were: Four Weddings and a Funeral, Quiz Show, Pulp Fiction, Forrest Gump, and The Shawshank Redemption. The first two nominees that I just listed are solid films, but the last three are some of the finest films of that era. Forrest Gump took home the award that evening, but both The Shawshank Redemption and Pulp Fiction are every bit its equal. The Shawshank Redemption was a critical favorite when it was released theatrically, but it failed to do much at the box office at first. Luckily, the film was given a second life when the Academy nominated it for Best Picture and when the film was shown repeatedly on cable television for decades. I don’t know how many times I have watched the story of Red and Andy unfold, but my guess would be that I have seen the film over a hundred times. It was one of those movies that was just always on television growing up, and I am basically incapable of turning off Shawshank after I watch a few moments of the film. Based on the novella Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption by Stephen King, the screenplay by Frank Darabont fleshes out the story beautifully into a work that taps into something universal. The struggles of the lead characters become the audience’s struggles. When Warner announced that they would release the film on 4K UHD, I was excited to revisit the film in the same way that I would be excited to see an old friend.

As the film begins, banker Andy Dufresne (Tim Robbins) sits outside in the rain in his car. The year is 1947 and Andy is drinking whiskey while looking at a revolver and the bullets for the gun. Andy is contemplating murdering his philandering wife and the golf pro she is sleeping with, but his better angels take over. Through a freak twist of fate, they are murdered that very evening by someone else using a similar weapon to the one that Andy had thrown over a bridge. Andy is found guilty of the crime and sent to The Shawshank State Prison. There he meets Red (Morgan Freeman) who has a talent for bringing items into the prison and Heywood (William Sadler.) Red has been imprisoned since he committed a murder as a teenager. Andy is reserved and quiet, and the homosexual rapists in the prison nicknamed “the sisters,” led by Bogs Diamond (Mark Rolston) take notice of him. Andy begins to work within the prison system to help the prisoners gain back dignity through developing a program to reform the prison library and educate those around him. Over the years, his friendship with Red is a constant. Andy is brilliant in terms of understanding tax codes and leverages this ability with the guards and the warden within the prison. The guards are led by the cold and brutal Captain Hadley (Clancy Brown.) Warden Norton (Bob Gunton) uses the prison’s work release programs to line his pockets, and uses Andy’s tax knowledge to help launder money. It becomes obvious to Andy that he will never be allowed to leave Shawshank alive despite his innocence. The film takes place over a few decades as Andy works towards his freedom and the redemption of his fellow prisoners.

Over a quarter century later, The Shawshank Redemption has not lost any of its spellbinding powers. The film does a wonderful job of showing the depth of human desperation and the perseverance of the spirit within to overcome even the most daunting and unfair of obstacles. Shawshank is an extremely hopeful film that comes from a very grim place. This is not unusual for a prison drama, but The Shawshank Redemption has remained the most beloved prison drama ever made since its release. Frank Darabont adapted the script and directed the film. He would later return to the prison drama format to adapt The Green Mile (also from Stephen King.) I like that movie pretty well, but it can not compete with The Shawshank Redemption. The film tells one of my favorite stories of any film, with the notes of the plot points cleverly thought through and each ringing true. Occasionally a film captures something universal that can appeal to everyone who watches it. I believe in my heart that it would take someone with a heart of stone to not fall in love with the characters in the film and be completely wrapped up in the plights they face. The villains in the film are some of the most convincing put on screen. The warden is played to perfection by Bob Gunton. He is a frightening character in a very real way. Self serving people with unchecked power are frightening, because they exist. The helplessness that Andy and the other men feel in the face of the warden and Captain Hadley becomes our collective helplessness. As the warden’s actions become more desperate and sadistic, the cathartic release of the finale becomes even more exultant. I have seen thousands of movies in my lifetime, and The Shawshank Redemption ranks as one of the most moving pictures that I have ever seen.

The characters in the film are well fleshed out with pitch perfect narration from Morgan Freeman in the voice of his character Red. The narration reveals a lot about Red as it also works to keep the storyline of the film moving. Narration in films can sometimes work too hard to explain the obvious, but the narration in Shawshank is an incredibly important aspect of the film. It is a testament to its efficacy that people still ask who aside from Morgan Freeman they would like to have narrate their life. It has been assumed since the film was released that there is no better or iconic narrator than Morgan Freeman. Freeman is wonderful in the film as Red. Very few actors have the amount of dignity in their overall aura to do what Freeman does in this role. He deservedly was nominated for Best Actor that year, but he lost to Tom Hanks for Forrest Gump. Tim Robbins is an understated actor with some serious range, and he is perfectly cast as Andy Dufresne. His interactions with Red and the other cast members always feel real and lived in. William Sadler is enjoyable as Heywood and James Whitmore is absolutely heartbreaking as the elderly librarian Brooks Hatlen. Gil Bellows is memorable in the role of Tommy, and Mark Rolston is fantastic as the despicable and frightening Bogs. As I mentioned before Bob Gunton and Clancy Brown are fantastic in their roles.

Darabont directs the film beautifully without ever trying too hard to show off or distract from the action onscreen. Legendary cinematographer Roger Deakins does great work on the picture. Revisiting the film, certain sequences impressed me in ways that had not been possible on prior formats. The UHD really brings the best out of the picture. Both Darabont and Deakins received nominations for their work on the film. The score by Thomas Newman is beautifully rendered and accentuates the emotional nature of the film. 

To put it all more simply: The Shawshank Redemption is a perfect film. It is one of the greatest dramas ever made, it is the greatest prison drama ever made, and stands with The Shining as the best Stephen King adaptation brought to film. If for some reason you have never seen the film, I can not recommend it highly enough.

Video

Warner Bros. have done a solid job on their new 4K UHD presentation of the film. Presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1 in Native 4K with HDR10, it is safe to say that The Shawshank Redemption has never looked better than it does here. As mentioned in other reviews, the color timing is different than on prior releases. The bluer tones in certain sequences felt more like what I remembered from watching the film on TV growing up than the lightened up display on the Blu-ray version. Clarity is greatly improved and so is fine detail. There are certain sequences in this presentation that looked so much better that I was actually taken aback at things I had never noticed before. While this film is not a visual showcase like films that take place outside of prison walls, Roger Deakins’ excellent cinematography shines through. Fans should be more than pleased with this new presentation.

Audio

The Shawshank Redemption has been given a very good sounding DTS-HD MA 5.1 track. I noticed some reviewers have mentioned that some of the dialogue sounds a bit “hot” from the audio levels having been turned up. I honestly didn’t experience this sensation, so I am not sure if my ears didn’t catch it or if it was more noticeable on their system. All said, I was very pleased with how the track sounded – especially the score by Thomas Newman. 

Supplements:

• FEATURED ON THE UHD DISC:
• Audio Commentary by Director Frank Darabont

• FEATURED ON THE INCLUDED BLU-RAY DISC:
• Hope Springs Eternal: A Look Back at The Shawshank Redemption

• Shawshank: The Redeeming Feature

• The Shawshank Redemption

• The Charlie Rose Show with Frank Darabont, Tim Robbins, and Morgan Freeman

• Shawshank Stills

• Theatrical Re-release Trailer 

Overall Scores:

Video – 4.5/5

Audio – 4.5/5

Supplements – 4/5

Overall – 5/5

The Shawshank Redemption is one of the best films ever made. It is the greatest prison drama ever made and stands next to The Shining as the best Stephen King adaptation on film. The film is incredibly moving. Morgan Freeman and Tim Robbins are great acting alongside each other. Bob Gunton and Clancy Brown are utterly convincing in their roles as abusers of power. The screenplay by Frank Darabont is excellent and his direction is superb. Legendary cinematographer Roger Deakins does great work on the picture. The Shawshank Redemption currently ranks as the most beloved film by users of the service IMDB – out of all films ever made. It is one of my favorite films of all time and one that never fails to draw something out of me emotionally whenever I revisit it. The new Warner Bros 4K UHD presentation of the film, presents the film in its greatest presentation yet. The supplements are the same as on prior releases, but they are of high quality. This release earns our highest recommendation.