The Shawshank Redemption Blu-ray delivers stunning video and great audio in this excellent Blu-ray release
Framed for murder, upstanding banker Andy Dufresne begins a new life at Shawshank prison, where he slowly comes to be admired by the other inmates -- including an older lifer named Red -- for his integrity and unquenchable sense of hope.
Nominated for seven Academy Awards, including best picture, and often called "the best film of the '90s," The Shawshank Redemption tells the inspirational tale of two convincts' difficult transcendence from their life in prison to freedom. On first viewing, the movie is heartwarming and preaches the gospel of hope. Those who adore it will enjoy Warner's special edition Blu-ray, which not only delivers high definition video and improved audio, but includes a 32-page booklet as part of the packaging. With actor info, movie trivia and glossy photos, the book edition BD is an impressive keepsake. Warner's digibook Blu-ray is easily recommended as the definitive version of the film. As for whether The Shawshank Redemption stands up to repeat viewing and analysis, or whether the story is realistic, in which the warden is guilty and the criminals are innocent...well, your mileage may vary. The most prominent words in all capital letters on the back cover insert belong to Roger Ebert, who gushes that the movie "absorbs us and takes away the awareness that we are watching a film. Watching the film again, I admired it even more than the first time I saw it."
Andy Dufresne (Tim Robbins) is tormented by his past, but sees redemption in his future.
Based on a story by Stephen King, the plot focuses on Andy Dufresne (Tim Robbins) as he masters the art of life in prison after being wrongly convicted of murdering his wife and her lover. Andy gradually develops a deep friendship with an older inmate, Ellis Boyd "Red" Redding, who is known at Shawshank prison to be able to "get things" from the outside, thanks to his influence with the guards. A bright and successful bank executive prior to his incarceration, Andy uses his intelligence and knowledge of tax laws to help Warden Samuel Norton (Bob Gunton) and guards to launder money and cover shady deals. But are Andy's services designed simply to relieve him of other prison duties and curry favor with prison officials, or does he have a more elaborate plan? Among the main characters, the film portrays most convicts as good guys and innocents, while the guards and warden are sinister murderers.
Red handles the narration duties with a firm, intelligent vocal style, describing how Andy becomes a crusader for the prison library and education system. The entire film can be viewed as a Hollywood advertisement for prisoner rights. It seems to have been produced to promote advocacy of prison reform and inmate rehabilitation. That's a noble cause, but how does it impact the realism of the story? While Ebert finds The Shawshank Redemption better with repeat viewing, its Hollywood ideals and feel-good story do not quite hold up to analysis. The script and direction, by Frank Darabont, carefully wrap up every opened box, tie together every loose end and shine a light on every dark area. Real life is not like that--especially not life in jail. It would be natural for people watching this film to come away with a totally false understanding of prison life and the psyche and behavior of hardened criminals. But The Shawshank Redemption succeeds in its core message of friendship and hope, and for that it will live in the hearts of audiences around the world.
Part of what makes the story universally appealing is that the prison walls are not the only confines holding down Andy and Red. Each man struggles with inner demons that do not allow them to forgive themselves or fully come to terms with their lack of freedom. Ultimately, Andy finds redemption in helping others and letting go of the past, while Red must overcome his conditioning that makes him think the prison is the only thing giving meaning to his life. The common thread is hope. Hope in forgiveness for transgressions. Hope in a brighter future. Hope in release from the everyday barriers that prevent each of us from becoming the people we know we can be, deep inside. While Morgan Freeman, with his charming demeanor and magical smile, pulls off his role with characteristic flair, Tim Robbins is less convincing except for brief sequences of intensity. Even those moments show Robbins to be overacting his part, whereas Freeman effortlessly melts into character. The pair of them have good chemistry on screen but again, it's a bit naive to suggest a white banking executive and a black prison swindler will find so much in common that they become the closest of friends within the walls of a penitentiary. Only in Hollywood.
A more subtle and insidious message of the film is disdain of religion and faith. Warden Norton is a devout Christian who urges his prisoners to study the bible. Norton is also shown time and again to be the most immoral and evil figure in The Shawshank Redemption. Andy uses his knowledge of the bible to quickly earn Norton's trust and to trick him--and that is the extent of Darabont's use of religion in the film. Nowhere is Darabont's message about religion clearer than when the camera lingers on Andy's defaced, gutted bible. This message stands in stark contrast to real-life stories of hardened criminals who have been successfully rehabilitated, adopted more ethical principles and found true redemption in religious teaching and in faith. While Darabont's emphasis on prison education is commendable, it is disheartening that he and other Hollywood figures feel the need to denigrate and vilify religion in their films.
Boasting impressive contrast and definition within its 1.85:1 picture, The Shawshank Redemption features superior resolution compared to all NTSC versions--even upscaled DVD. It also compares well with most other Blu-rays, achieving near reference quality. I decided that minor issues with the depth and loss of detail in the dark areas held it back from a perfect score, but honestly it could not get much better. Grain haters will delight in the clean presentation, although small film granularity is visible if you look carefully. Skin tones and earth colors were especially realistic, and hair and fabric textures showed good detail. The blue color and material of the prisoner outfits appeared so rich and detailed, it drew my eye and held my attention in almost every scene. Not a film that will dazzle the viewer with action sequences or breathtaking vistas, the imagery in The Shawshank Redemption was still captivating.
One reason for the gorgeous picture is the work of cinematographer Roger Deakins. The photography director of choice among certain elite filmmakers for two decades, Deakins' camera work is on display in such classics as Martin Scorsese's Kundun and the Coen brothers' No Country for Old Men. His cinematography is consistently excellent--highly detailed and crisp--and The Shawshank Redemption is no exception. Part of Deakins' gift is finding the right angles to make a scene work, no matter what the obstacles. Watch the rooftop scene after Red arranges to have his friends work outdoors. The brightness of the sunlight, position of the guards and of the prisoners in addition to the limited options for camera placement--all of these factors present challenges for the scene. But Deakins turns the problems into assets, creating memorable shots as the prisoners work and as Andy confronts the chief of the guards to offer his accountant services. The shots remain uniformly excellent, rich with detail and conveying a sense of danger. I especially like how Deakins allows some characters in a scene to go soft while focusing intently on other areas. These details and softness transfer well to 1080p on Warner's BD.
The audio is not as stellar as the picture quality. At times it is spotty and reminds me a bit of CDs produced using a bad transfer of analog tape-to-digital, though to be fair those are brief moments. The majority of the film is better than those passages. On the "plus" side, the BD does have a Dolby TrueHD track, delivering lossless digital audio at 16-bit 48 kHz, which is not much better than CD quality. At times it sounds like a good CD, with impressive definition, lush presentation and linear reproduction across the dynamic range. At other times it sounds like a bad CD with bloated treble and a thin, digital veneer that seems like it could break at any moment, causing the sound to fall apart. Granted, most listeners will be perfectly happy with the audio. The dialog is sharp and crisp, and Freeman's voice for the most part sounds full and resonant throughout his narration. His voice in The Shawshank Redemption certainly sounds superior to his narration in March of the Penguins.
Since there isn't much action at all in the film, use of surrounds and LFE is minimal, and just used for some ambient noise. The most raucous scenes occur when the guards are abusing or in one case shooting a prisoner. Gunshots are somewhat shelved and do not appear particularly convincing. The sound of fists or in one case a baton striking a prisoner is a bit more realistic. Typically, these sound effects are achieved by recording a head of lettuce striking the floor, or some similar noise. It's not clear how such sound effects were produced for The Shawshank Redemption, but watch the scene near the beginning when one of the new prisoners is taken out of his cell and beaten. The sound effects do not hold back the scene, but do not particularly add to its realism, either. One would hope Warner would put a greater emphasis on transferring the original track to Dolby TrueHD using a higher sampling rate than 48 kHz and a greater PCM world-length than 16-bit. Doing so could significantly improve the realism and audio performance of its BDs. On the other hand, the studio should be encouraged for evolving beyond Dolby Digital, as many of its catalog titles on Blu-ray still do not offer a high definition soundtrack.
The book edition Blu-ray includes all the bonus features from Warner's special edition DVD, and therefore it is all in standard definition. Frank Darabont's audio commentary addresses his changes to Stephen King's story and various production issues. I found the commentary quite boring and uninformative, but your mileage may vary. The bonus features are as follows:
Hope Springs Eternal: A Look Back at The Shawshank Redemption--clocking in at 32 minutes, this documentary features interviews with Robbins, Freeman and Darabont, as well as many others, including actors Bob Gunton and Gil Bellows. For thos who haven't seen it on the special edition DVD, the documentary lauds the film's popularity in the context of its conception, shooting and poor box office results. Recommended for fans who have not yet seen it.
Shawshank: The Redeeming Feature--this 48-minute documentary is a similar exploration of the film's influence and popularity. This BBC production offers different cast and director interviews than the Hope Springs Eternal Warner production. With a longer run time, some of the interviews deliver more detail--particularly in regard to the story and production development. Other interviews result in very much the same message.
The Charlie Rose Show--a 24-minute interview of Darabont, Robbins and Freeman ten years after the original release of the film. Rose is a great interviewer, so this is worth a watch even though the comments get very repetitive. After watching the documentaries, there is not much new info in this featurette.
The Sharktank Redemption--a nearly 25-minute spoof gets some good digs in at Hollywood. Alfonso Freeman (Morgan's son) stars as an agent's assistant. The character playing Andy must serve time under the agent's jurisdiction. Pretty funny. Rounding out the bonus features are more than 100 high definition photos and a 1080 theatrical trailer.
Since The Shawshank Redemption tells such a wonderful story, some may ask why it deserves criticism at all. Emotional films are very influential because they disarm audiences and make the viewer more susceptible to all their messages. Most of The Shawshank Redemption's messaging is very admirable--the lack of racial barriers and the emphasis on education and hope. But some is not so admirable. Religion is subtly expressed in the movie as a tool for corruption and lack of morals and, overall, the film shows a lack of credible perspective in portraying hardened criminals. The message of rehabilitation is not totally realistic. Figures show the rates of recidivism are very high for hardened criminals, but The Shawshank Redemption didn't realistically address that, except to blame it on incarceration itself. The sad truth is that some people in society are unlawful and cannot be trusted to abide by the rules, no matter how they are rehabilitated. Ultimately, the decisions of the director make the movie stronger, and that is why the film resonates so strongly with audiences all over the world. The 1080p picture and gorgeous booklet and package make this BD an easy recommendation, especially for fans of the film.
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