You know what would make a perfect double feature with 12 Angry Men? Witness for the Prosecution (1957). I have to confess I have fantasised a mashup where Leonard Vole is on trial defended by Sir Wilfrid. When the Jury is sent down to deliberate, Juror #8 fights heroically to acquit Leonard. Can you imagine Billy Wilder and Sidney Lumet doing a collab at that point in their careers, sitting together in the editing room?! And then the post-acquittal scenes from WftP to close the film!
Just watched the epilogue you made! Brilliant review and great addition to this review! Thanks for taking the time to do these ! There was a small section of this video where all sound cut out though thankfully not for long but wanted to let you know in case you didnt know yet.
perfect script. perfect set design. perfect character development. perfect cinematography. perfect acting. perfect score. perfect ending. ipso facto, perfect movie. I just visited the Ohio State Reformatory last weekend and it has renewed my obsession with this movie.
Late to the party here but Thomas Newman's score is ABSOLUTELY is so important to the film. I'd love to see you review more of Newman's scores and film scores in general!
I've watched this movie no fewer than 5 times. It's exactly like you said, it deserves to be revisited every so often. I think another powerful quote was, "either get busy with living or get busy with dying ."
A movie I can watch at any time and always enjoy! It's funny how it bombed at the box office and it took a good few years for it to be rediscovered. Everyone is brilliant in their roles, but Morgan Freeman and Tim Robbins are just about perfect. I can't imagine anyone playing their roles better. There's this thing that Red says about Dufresne shortly after he arrives in prison: "He had a quiet way about him, a walk and a talk that just wasn't normal around here. He strolled, like a man in a park without a care or a worry in the world, like he had on an invisible coat that would shield him from this place". I think Tim Robbins captured that 100%. Loved this analysis, btw!!!
I say, If you haven't yet saw the movie, go read the book. The movie is actually quite loyal to the book in terms of not changing many things, and if I remember correctly, it shows some of the beginning, some of the middle parts and some of the ending. So if you want a more wholesome experience, go read the book. BTW, it's one of Stephan King's fewer non-horror novels
This is in fact my favourite movie ever. I even bought it in BluRay, a thing I don't do often. It's full of magic quotes, fabulous acting, drama .. and epic redemption. Not even Stephen's book comes close (and I love King). A real achievement.
Spoiler: In the book, Red and one of his friends come across a dead Jake in the exercise yard. Like Brooks, he had lived for so long in captivity that he didn't know how to take care of himself.
Oh hey Amy's got a movie review channel! One of the greatest movies ever, saw it on TV countless times though funnily enough I missed the first 15 minutes or so until seeing it dozens of times. Of course you have a music focus in your reviews and that's great! First movie that made me think of is a personal favorite _Gosford Park_ (2001) full of diagenetic music taking place in the interwar period in a British manor house, was the movie that inspired the Downton Abbey though it's more serious and less of a soap opera, with a wonderful ensemble cast!
Great review of a great movie. I continue to enjoy your presentation style and format. I can be terrible at remembering scenes and lines from movies, so your reviews have helped remind me of some of the key parts. As with your song reactions, I always enjoy hearing your thoughts and insights on what you have experienced. Your thoughts on this being a story about friendship and hope, was very similar to what I remember taking away when I first saw this. Along with being very impressed by the acting and story telling. Your observation on the power music had with Andy & the others, reminds me of the story in Rush's 2112 album on a society that bans music. Sneaky I know, using movie reviews to plug songs.😉
I have a fairly unpopular opinion about the ending. No it's not that I don't like the ending, I just partially interpret it diferently: I believe the ocean meeting scene after the shot of the bus Red's travelling, is not necessarily the reality, it's just a depiction of what Red hopes. Of course it's not a definite way of seeing it as I can't prove it's whay they really intended which is why I'm saying it's just an opinion but I have some reasons to believe that: - The story it's based on ends with the "hope" lines of the narration, it doesn't get into them meeting on the beach. The narration of the movie also ends the same way, word by word from the book if I'm not mistaken. The beach scene starts with the unfinished "I hope..." comment as if it's completing the sentence. That's why it depicts what Red hopes. - In the scene Red finds Andy doing the exact thing he told Red before escaping, fixing a little boat and there's nothing else on the beach, just the sea, the sand and Andy repairing the boat. Not even a slight nuance. It makes sense that Red imagines finding Andy exactly as he described because he's clueless about any other thing he might find there, Red's imagination for a the beach is understandably quite limited. - Also, the beach scene is filmed quite dreamy compared to the rest of the movie, the ocean depiction is exactly how a person who has never seen the ocean would imagine it to be like. Just endless dreamy blue with a touch of golden sand. The ending "I hope" monologue in the narration also mentions it. Red says something like "I hope the Pacific is as blue as in my dreams" which we get to see how he dreams it in his "hope" depiction. The way they meet is also depicted from a very very wide shot keeping it simple, vague and dreamy. - It thematically fits. It doesn't matter if Red really will be able to cross the border and find Andy there because what matters most is RED DIDN'T TOTALLY LOSE HOPE. His friend Andy gave him the hope he needs. It would be great if they meet again of course but the movie isn't about them being together again, it's about hope. If Red is hoping again, it's a win for Andy because that's all he wanted for Red. It's also a win for Red because even if he can't find what he hopes to find in the end of that journey, he now has the ability to keep hope fortrying again or hope about some other things. He won't just give up on living. So Red hoping again is already a happy ending, we don't need to see they actually meet. - Many years ago, I've read that originally the movie was meant to end with bus going away to the horizon or something without the beach scene at all but the producers insisted a happy ending that shows them meeting again which is why the beach scene added. I like to think Darabont added that beach scene to satisfy the producers but shooting it as a imagination scene and as a result keeping the ending secretly the same ambigious way he originally intended. To be frank, since that, I've seen interviews of Darabont talking like the scene is real but It makes sense that he doesn't want to take away people's way of interpreting the ending. If he actively says the scene meant to be just Red's imagination it will be disappointing to many fans. I think he wants everyone to reach his own conclusion and most people seems to interpret that scene is real, so he is fine with that.
No idea how many times I have seen this movie. One of my favorites. I doubt it is the movie makers intent, but I always see the Andy as a Christ figure. He brings hope. Most importantly, Red is looking for redemption by saying the right things and acting good before the parole board. He cannot redeem himself. But when he clearly and simply calls Andy his friend after Andy's escapes he claims his redemption through that declaration.
"To Kill a Mockingbird" (1962) with Gregory Peck would be another great one to do. I was reminded of this when I saw in the Wikipedia article that "12 Angry Men" (recommended here by @outspan87) was ranked the 2nd best courtroom drama by the American Film Institute, with "To Kill a Mockingbird" taking the number one spot. This is also one of my all time favorite movies, even edging out "12 Angry Men".
There are only a handful of movies I can watch again & again, Shawshank Redemption is at the top of that list, followed by Ever After, & Shutter Island. Maybe the Harry Potter movies (at least some of them). Shawshank is wonderful!!
One of my Top 5 movies!!! The only prison movie I've ever liked, and it's Top 5 for me! If there is any interest, my others in my top 5: Princess Bride, Jaws, Alien, and Terminator (1 and 2). Ok, that's 6, but Terminator counts as 1 :)
I had a retrospective shudder at the thought that Tom Cruise could have wrecked this movie!!!!! The fact that his range of expressions is matched only by a prison gate, he would not have been a good fit for this movie.
To this day, the only Tom Cruise performance in a film that I truly loved was his portrayal of Charlie Babbitt in Rain Man. And if Amy has not yet covered that film, I sincerely HOPE that she will. :)
@@TangentoTom Cruise is so bad that his only “good” performance is from Eyes Wide Shut, only because he plays an absolutely clueless character, which is apt.
No, I didn't know! Thank you for mentioning it! Here's what I said there: "Now, knowing all this, the best scene is right at the end: Red is riding in the bus on his was to Mexico and says:"
@@AmysCut many of the top critically acclaimed movies of all time are great movies, you’ll typically see The Seven Samurai, Wild Strawberries or maybe the Seventh Seal, Chinatown, Blue Velvet, and the like on these lists made by film experts. Everyone has their own taste, i feel the handmaiden by park chan wook, bladerunner, tampopo, jojo rabbit, are great but better to ignore my picks ( who am i but a mumble in the abyss?) and start with the aforementioned classics that directors, art lovers and film critics are blown away by. Shawshank’s positive attributes don’t need repeating, it is a decent and watchable feel good drama. However, on the negative it is also a cartoonish and self contradictory misrepresentation of prison life, and a not nuanced look at political corruption and its endings. Moreover many characters sail pretty close to a cheesey 1 dimensional casting stereotype, where gusto or a monologue fills in for depth. Much dialogue is either instrumental, or speechified and cliched. We know almost zero about any relationships or personal tastes most characters have, and the few we do see are too often naked plot devices that don’t otherwise need to be there or really add much ( like the warden’s religiosity, we only need if for the rockhammer/bible ). There is some good justification for all this: it’s a hero’s journey faery tale. Faery tales are wonderful, imaginative, inspiring - they are also morality tales, that’s why they endure. But we never get the sense that Shawshank owns responsibility for it’s fantasy enough to want to make it fully work. There are several details and logistics of the story that are rational, gritty, and explanatory, as you expect when a film guides you on the workings of a profession, institution or life path. that makes it seem realistic, but doesn’t gel with the fantasy, faery tale aspect. No bridge is built between these approaches. I don’t know anyone who thinks it’s a bad film but i don’t know any film buffs who think it’s a great film. while I have your ear, on rock music, may i request the songs When Sorrow Sang , or The Soulforged by Blind Guardian ? Both with the pounding, heavy, but very precise and dynamic drumming of one of my favorite percussionists. I know requests likely cost a donation but as I can’t afford that - i thought, hey, why not try my luck? Either way, congrats on your success with the channel.
You're an extremely good film reviewer! You should do more of this!!
Suggestion: 12 Angry Men (1957)
I concur. A very powerful film. One of my favorites.
You know what would make a perfect double feature with 12 Angry Men?
Witness for the Prosecution (1957).
I have to confess I have fantasised a mashup where Leonard Vole is on trial defended by Sir Wilfrid. When the Jury is sent down to deliberate, Juror #8 fights heroically to acquit Leonard.
Can you imagine Billy Wilder and Sidney Lumet doing a collab at that point in their careers, sitting together in the editing room?!
And then the post-acquittal scenes from WftP to close the film!
Just watched the epilogue you made! Brilliant review and great addition to this review! Thanks for taking the time to do these !
There was a small section of this video where all sound cut out though thankfully not for long but wanted to let you know in case you didnt know yet.
perfect script. perfect set design. perfect character development. perfect cinematography. perfect acting. perfect score. perfect ending. ipso facto, perfect movie.
I just visited the Ohio State Reformatory last weekend and it has renewed my obsession with this movie.
Late to the party here but Thomas Newman's score is ABSOLUTELY is so important to the film. I'd love to see you review more of Newman's scores and film scores in general!
At the end, Red offers a list of objects of his hope. I like how he ends by dropping the objects of hope and saying simply, "I hope." Dum spiro spero.
all i know is that i want more of amy's cut encore
I've watched this movie no fewer than 5 times. It's exactly like you said, it deserves to be revisited every so often. I think another powerful quote was, "either get busy with living or get busy with dying ."
A movie I can watch at any time and always enjoy!
It's funny how it bombed at the box office and it took a good few years for it to be rediscovered.
Everyone is brilliant in their roles, but Morgan Freeman and Tim Robbins are just about perfect. I can't imagine anyone playing their roles better. There's this thing that Red says about Dufresne shortly after he arrives in prison: "He had a quiet way about him, a walk and a talk that just wasn't normal around here. He strolled, like a man in a park without a care or a worry in the world, like he had on an invisible coat that would shield him from this place".
I think Tim Robbins captured that 100%.
Loved this analysis, btw!!!
Indeed, perfect description!
I say, If you haven't yet saw the movie, go read the book. The movie is actually quite loyal to the book in terms of not changing many things, and if I remember correctly, it shows some of the beginning, some of the middle parts and some of the ending. So if you want a more wholesome experience, go read the book. BTW, it's one of Stephan King's fewer non-horror novels
This is in fact my favourite movie ever. I even bought it in BluRay, a thing I don't do often. It's full of magic quotes, fabulous acting, drama .. and epic redemption. Not even Stephen's book comes close (and I love King). A real achievement.
A truly great American film adapted from a Steven King novella, which borrowed a few things from Escape From Alcatraz.
I thoroughly enjoyed that movie but to me, my favourite movie is Terry Gilliam's "Brazil". Yes, very subjective! ;)
I always wonder if Jake ended up living a good life after Brooks let him go.
Spoiler:
In the book, Red and one of his friends come across a dead Jake in the exercise yard. Like Brooks, he had lived for so long in captivity that he didn't know how to take care of himself.
@@robertbryant4669 well that's depressing
One of my favorites too!
Thanks for sharing!
Oh hey Amy's got a movie review channel! One of the greatest movies ever, saw it on TV countless times though funnily enough I missed the first 15 minutes or so until seeing it dozens of times. Of course you have a music focus in your reviews and that's great! First movie that made me think of is a personal favorite _Gosford Park_ (2001) full of diagenetic music taking place in the interwar period in a British manor house, was the movie that inspired the Downton Abbey though it's more serious and less of a soap opera, with a wonderful ensemble cast!
Great review of a great movie. I continue to enjoy your presentation style and format. I can be terrible at remembering scenes and lines from movies, so your reviews have helped remind me of some of the key parts. As with your song reactions, I always enjoy hearing your thoughts and insights on what you have experienced. Your thoughts on this being a story about friendship and hope, was very similar to what I remember taking away when I first saw this. Along with being very impressed by the acting and story telling. Your observation on the power music had with Andy & the others, reminds me of the story in Rush's 2112 album on a society that bans music. Sneaky I know, using movie reviews to plug songs.😉
I just LOVE this movie! Thanks for reviewing it. : - )
I have a fairly unpopular opinion about the ending. No it's not that I don't like the ending, I just partially interpret it diferently: I believe the ocean meeting scene after the shot of the bus Red's travelling, is not necessarily the reality, it's just a depiction of what Red hopes. Of course it's not a definite way of seeing it as I can't prove it's whay they really intended which is why I'm saying it's just an opinion but I have some reasons to believe that:
- The story it's based on ends with the "hope" lines of the narration, it doesn't get into them meeting on the beach. The narration of the movie also ends the same way, word by word from the book if I'm not mistaken. The beach scene starts with the unfinished "I hope..." comment as if it's completing the sentence. That's why it depicts what Red hopes.
- In the scene Red finds Andy doing the exact thing he told Red before escaping, fixing a little boat and there's nothing else on the beach, just the sea, the sand and Andy repairing the boat. Not even a slight nuance. It makes sense that Red imagines finding Andy exactly as he described because he's clueless about any other thing he might find there, Red's imagination for a the beach is understandably quite limited.
- Also, the beach scene is filmed quite dreamy compared to the rest of the movie, the ocean depiction is exactly how a person who has never seen the ocean would imagine it to be like. Just endless dreamy blue with a touch of golden sand. The ending "I hope" monologue in the narration also mentions it. Red says something like "I hope the Pacific is as blue as in my dreams" which we get to see how he dreams it in his "hope" depiction. The way they meet is also depicted from a very very wide shot keeping it simple, vague and dreamy.
- It thematically fits. It doesn't matter if Red really will be able to cross the border and find Andy there because what matters most is RED DIDN'T TOTALLY LOSE HOPE. His friend Andy gave him the hope he needs. It would be great if they meet again of course but the movie isn't about them being together again, it's about hope. If Red is hoping again, it's a win for Andy because that's all he wanted for Red. It's also a win for Red because even if he can't find what he hopes to find in the end of that journey, he now has the ability to keep hope fortrying again or hope about some other things. He won't just give up on living. So Red hoping again is already a happy ending, we don't need to see they actually meet.
- Many years ago, I've read that originally the movie was meant to end with bus going away to the horizon or something without the beach scene at all but the producers insisted a happy ending that shows them meeting again which is why the beach scene added. I like to think Darabont added that beach scene to satisfy the producers but shooting it as a imagination scene and as a result keeping the ending secretly the same ambigious way he originally intended. To be frank, since that, I've seen interviews of Darabont talking like the scene is real but It makes sense that he doesn't want to take away people's way of interpreting the ending. If he actively says the scene meant to be just Red's imagination it will be disappointing to many fans. I think he wants everyone to reach his own conclusion and most people seems to interpret that scene is real, so he is fine with that.
The word "cache" rhymes with "moustache." Cache is also a homophone for "cash."
Just watched yesterday for the 30th time. the movie you quoted is Catch me if you can starring leonard Decaprio.
If you're talking about “That’s all I have to say about that.”, that's from Forrest Gump.
The" I concur"line. I also knew the Forrest Gum
@@diverdown631 Oh, that one! Yes, you're right: "Catch Me If You Can"!
No idea how many times I have seen this movie. One of my favorites. I doubt it is the movie makers intent, but I always see the Andy as a Christ figure. He brings hope. Most importantly, Red is looking for redemption by saying the right things and acting good before the parole board. He cannot redeem himself. But when he clearly and simply calls Andy his friend after Andy's escapes he claims his redemption through that declaration.
"To Kill a Mockingbird" (1962) with Gregory Peck would be another great one to do. I was reminded of this when I saw in the Wikipedia article that "12 Angry Men" (recommended here by @outspan87) was ranked the 2nd best courtroom drama by the American Film Institute, with "To Kill a Mockingbird" taking the number one spot. This is also one of my all time favorite movies, even edging out "12 Angry Men".
There are only a handful of movies I can watch again & again, Shawshank Redemption is at the top of that list, followed by Ever After, & Shutter Island. Maybe the Harry Potter movies (at least some of them). Shawshank is wonderful!!
Perhaps not the greatest movie ever, but it is on my Mt. Rushmore of movies! Next: The Green Mile also written by Stephen King.
One of my Top 5 movies!!! The only prison movie I've ever liked, and it's Top 5 for me! If there is any interest, my others in my top 5: Princess Bride, Jaws, Alien, and Terminator (1 and 2). Ok, that's 6, but Terminator counts as 1 :)
Have you ever watched Escape From Alcatraz? You might enjoy that one as well :)
Excellent review! Thanks!
I had a retrospective shudder at the thought that Tom Cruise could have wrecked this movie!!!!! The fact that his range of expressions is matched only by a prison gate, he would not have been a good fit for this movie.
To this day, the only Tom Cruise performance in a film that I truly loved was his portrayal of Charlie Babbitt in Rain Man. And if Amy has not yet covered that film, I sincerely HOPE that she will. :)
@@TangentoTom Cruise is so bad that his only “good” performance is from Eyes Wide Shut, only because he plays an absolutely clueless character, which is apt.
@@ifandwhen-kl2cr 🤣
You know the sound went out for several seconds? Are you saying that the best scene is where they meet on the beach?
No, I didn't know! Thank you for mentioning it! Here's what I said there: "Now, knowing all this, the best scene is right at the end: Red is riding in the bus on his was to Mexico and says:"
Tim Robbins?? What about Morgan Freeman's performance.
Morgan is the greatest!!!!
Watch 'memento'
Yes, a perfect film. But hard to watch and feel hope anymore for me. The world and this country has had all of its hope wrung out of it.
Yes great ❤❤❤❤❤
I should have concurred! 😊
I knew the movie reference. Someone bear me to it!
👍
Great review
Good movie, yes! Best movie ever made, no!
It is not a great movie. It is okay
That's really interesting. I don't think I ever heard anyone saying that. So, then what would be a great movie?
@@AmysCut many of the top critically acclaimed movies of all time are great movies, you’ll typically see The Seven Samurai, Wild Strawberries or maybe the Seventh Seal, Chinatown, Blue Velvet, and the like on these lists made by film experts.
Everyone has their own taste, i feel the handmaiden by park chan wook, bladerunner, tampopo, jojo rabbit, are great but better to ignore my picks ( who am i but a mumble in the abyss?) and start with the aforementioned classics that directors, art lovers and film critics are blown away by.
Shawshank’s positive attributes don’t need repeating, it is a decent and watchable feel good drama. However, on the negative it is also a cartoonish and self contradictory misrepresentation of prison life, and a not nuanced look at political corruption and its endings. Moreover many characters sail pretty close to a cheesey 1 dimensional casting stereotype, where gusto or a monologue fills in for depth.
Much dialogue is either instrumental, or speechified and cliched. We know almost zero about any relationships or personal tastes most characters have, and the few we do see are too often naked plot devices that don’t otherwise need to be there or really add much ( like the warden’s religiosity, we only need if for the rockhammer/bible ).
There is some good justification for all this: it’s a hero’s journey faery tale. Faery tales are wonderful, imaginative, inspiring - they are also morality tales, that’s why they endure. But we never get the sense that Shawshank owns responsibility for it’s fantasy enough to want to make it fully work. There are several details and logistics of the story that are rational, gritty, and explanatory, as you expect when a film guides you on the workings of a profession, institution or life path. that makes it seem realistic, but doesn’t gel with the fantasy, faery tale aspect. No bridge is built between these approaches.
I don’t know anyone who thinks it’s a bad film but i don’t know any film buffs who think it’s a great film. while I have your ear, on rock music, may i request the songs When Sorrow Sang , or The Soulforged by Blind Guardian ? Both with the pounding, heavy, but very precise and dynamic drumming of one of my favorite percussionists. I know requests likely cost a donation but as I can’t afford that - i thought, hey, why not try my luck? Either way, congrats on your success with the channel.