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Interesting that although the hero of the film is the convicted former banker Andy Dufresne ( Tim Robbins ), the action is never seen from his point of view. The film's opening scene shows him being given two life sentences for the murder of his wife and her lover, and then we move, permanently, to a point of view representing the prison population and particularly the lifer Ellis 'Red' Redding ( Morgan Freeman ). It is his voice remembering the first time he saw Andy ("looked like a stiff breeze would blow him over"), and predicting, wrongly, that he wouldn't make it in prison.

From Andy's arrival on the prison bus to the film's end, we see only how others see him - Red, who becomes his best friend, Brooks the old librarian, the corrupt Warden Norton, guards and prisoners. Red is our surrogate. He's the one we identify with, and the redemption, when it comes, is Red's. We've been shown by Andy's example that you have to keep true to yourself, not lose hope, bide your time, set a quiet example and look for your chance. "I guess it comes down to a simple choice, really," he tells Red. "Get busy livin' or get busy dyin'."

The key to the film's structure, I think, is that it's not about its hero, but about our relationship with him - our curiosity, our pity, our admiration. If Andy had been the heroic center, bravely enduring, the film would have been conventional, and less mysterious. But we wonder about this guy. Did he really kill those two people? Why does he keep so much to himself? Why can he amble through the prison yard like a free man on a stroll, when everyone else plods or sidles?

People like excitement at the movies, and titles that provide it do well. Films about "redemption" are approached with great wariness; a lot of people are not thrilled by the prospect of a great film - it sounds like work. But there's a hunger for messages of hope, and when a film offers one, it's likely to have staying power even if it doesn't grab an immediate audience.

"The Shawshank Redemption" premiered at the Toronto Film Festival in September 1994, and opened a few weeks later. It got good reviews but did poor business (its $18 million original gross didn't cover costs; it took in only another $10 million after winning seven Oscar nominations, including best picture).

There wasn't much going for it: It had a terrible title, it was a "prison drama" and women don't like those, it contained almost no action, it starred actors who were respected but not big stars, and it was long at 142 minutes. Clearly this was a movie that needed word-of-mouth to find an audience, and indeed business was slowly but steadily growing when it was yanked from theaters. If it had been left to find its way, it might have continued to build and run for months, but that's not what happened.

Instead, in one of the most remarkable stories in home video history, it found its real mass audience on tapes and discs, and through TV screenings. Within five years, "Shawshank" was a phenomenon, a video best seller and renter that its admirers feel they've discovered for themselves. When the Wall Street Journal ran an article about the "Shawshank" groundswell in April 1999, it was occupying first place in the Internet Movie Database worldwide vote of the 250 best films; it's usually in the top five.

Polls and rentals reflect popularity but don't explain why people value "Shawshank" so fervently. Maybe it plays more like a spiritual experience than a movie. It does have entertaining payoff moments (as when the guards from another prison, wearing their baseball uniforms, line up to have Andy do their taxes). But much of the movie involves quiet, solitude, and philosophical discussions about life. The moments of violence (as when Andy is sexually assaulted) are seen objectively, not exploited.

The movie avoids lingering on Andy's suffering; after beatings, he's seen in medium and long shot, tactfully. The camera doesn't focus on Andy's wounds or bruises, but, like his fellow prisoners, gives him his space.

The Morgan Freeman character is carrier of the film's spiritual arc. We see him at three parole hearings, after 20, 30 and 40 years. The first hearing involves storytelling trickery; the film has opened with Andy's sentencing, and then we see a parole board, and expect it's about to listen to Andy's appeal. But, no, that's when we first see Red. In his first appeal he tries to convince the board he's been rehabilitated. In the second, he just goes through the motions. In the third, he rejects the whole notion of rehabilitation, and somehow in doing so he sets his spirit free, and the board releases him.

There's an underlying problem. Behind bars, Red is king. He's the prison fixer, able to get you a pack of cigarettes, a little rock pick or a Rita Hayworth poster. On the outside, he has no status or identity. We've already seen what happened to the old librarian ( James Whitmore ), lonely and adrift in freedom. The last act, in which Andy helps Red accept his freedom, is deeply moving - all the more so because Andy again operates at a distance, with letters and postcards, and is seen through Red's mind.

Frank Darabont wrote and directed the film, basing it on a story by Stephen King . His film grants itself a leisure that most films are afraid to risk. The movie is as deliberate, considered and thoughtful as Freeman's narration. There's a feeling in Hollywood that audiences have short attention spans and must be assaulted with fresh novelties. I think such movies are slower to sit through than a film like "Shawshank," which absorbs us and takes away the awareness that we are watching a film.

Deliberate, too, is the dialogue. Tim Robbins makes Andy a man of few words, quietly spoken. He doesn't get real worked up. He is his own man, capable of keeping his head down for years and then indulging in a grand gesture, as when he plays an aria from Mozart's "The Marriage of Figaro." (The overhead shot of the prisoners in the yard, spellbound by the music, is one of the film's epiphanies.) Because he does not volunteer himself, reach out to us or overplay his feelings, he becomes more fascinating: It is often better to wonder what a character is thinking than to know.

Roger Deakins' cinematography is tactful, not showy. Two opening shots, one from a helicopter, one of prison walls looming overhead, establish the prison. Shots follow the dialogue instead of anticipating it. Thomas Newman's music enhances rather than informs, and there is a subtle touch in the way deep bass rumblings during the early murder are reprised when a young prisoner recalls another man's description of the crime.

Darabont constructs the film to observe the story, not to punch it up or upstage it. Upstaging, in fact, is unknown in this film; the actors are content to stay within their roles, the story moves in an orderly way, and the film itself reflects the slow passage of the decades. "When they put you in that cell," Red says, "when those bars slam home, that's when you know it's for real. Old life blown away in the blink of an eye. Nothing left but all the time in the world to think about it." Watching the film again, I admired it even more than the first time I saw it. Affection for good films often grows with familiarity, as it does with music. Some have said life is a prison, we are Red, Andy is our redeemer. All good art is about something deeper than it admits.

Roger Ebert

Roger Ebert was the film critic of the Chicago Sun-Times from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, he won the Pulitzer Prize for distinguished criticism.

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Film credits.

The Shawshank Redemption (1994)

142 minutes

Tim Robbins as Andy Dufresne

Bob Gunton as Warden Norton

William Sadler as Heywood

James Whitmore as Librarian

Clancy Brown as Captain Hadley

Gil Bellows as Tommy

Frank Darabont

Writer (short story "Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption")

Stephen King

Cinematographer

Roger Deakins
Richard Francis-Bruce
Thomas Newman

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‘the shawshank redemption’: thr’s 1994 review.

On Sept. 23, 1994, after a premiere at the Toronto film fest, the drama hit theaters nationwide.

By Duane Byrge

Duane Byrge

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'The Shawshank Redemption' Review: 1994 Movie

On Sept. 23, 1994, after a premiere at the Toronto film fest, The Shawshank Redemption hit theaters nationwide. The Morgan Freeman and Tim Robbins film eventually nabbed seven Oscar nominations. The Hollywood Reporter’s original review is below:

Castle Rock has tapped into the wellspring of yet another Stephen King novella, from the same collection as Stand by Me . While it seems unlikely that this well-wrought film about hope and friendship in a maximum security prison will do Stand by Me -level business, The Shawshank Redemption should appeal to a mature audience. The marketing challenge will be to lure a mainstream audience to this dark drama starring Tim Robbins and Morgan Freeman with, to boot, an enigmatic title.

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The Shawshank Redemption Reviews

Darabont cut right to the heart of a flock of human birds trapped in a giant cage, under the watch of a corrupt warden and terrifyingly sinister guard. It was serious, certain, and made you laugh. Freeman's legend has never shined brighter.

Full Review | Original Score: A+ | May 7, 2024

If this is a feel-good movie -- and by the end it certainly is -- then at least it challenges us to dig deep for those good feelings when everything inside those mausoleum walls is unrelievedly harsh and grey.

Full Review | Mar 4, 2024

The Shawshank Redemption is both resigned and inspirational, grittily realistic and vaguely surreal, matter-of-fact and operatic. Somehow, these opposites are combined into a remarkably smooth and lyrical composition.

The sad thing is that The Shawshank Redemption, a so-so film, would have made a terrific little movie. A pacier project would have given us less time to notice sentimentalities.

Next to Stand By Me, The Shawshank Redemption ranks as the strongest, purest film ever made from a novel or novella by Stephen King, a monster film where the horrors are frighteningly human.

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/4 | Mar 4, 2024

It's Robbins and Freeman who carry the film, working around the most predictable moments with simple understatement.

There's nothing going on in The Shawshank Redemption from shot to shot -- no expressive life, no spontaneity or feeling. It's a stunted movie.

The acting is so strong, so seductive in The Shawshank Redemption that you almost don't notice this epic prison drama isn't all that good.

Full Review | Original Score: 2.5/4 | Mar 4, 2024

Darabont, making his debut as a director, is swamped by ambition. There is just too much here -- too much plot, too many particulars, too many prisoners vying for attention.

A hackneyed prison movie with acting so strong that it often seems more substantive than it is.

The Shawshank Redemption may be working with stuff we've seen before, but it's surprisingly strong and engrossing. Even elitists in the audience who dismiss King as a shock schlockmeister may be amazed at this picture's narrative grip.

Its message of hope and friendship comes premixed with a sizable dollop of unappetizing violence, intended to convince audiences that what they're watching isn't a big glob of cotton candy after all.

Darabont gets Robbins' most subtle and multi-layered performance to date. But the Oscar nomination will go to Freeman, who shows the majesty of sadness and how sweet redemption can be -- even when all hope is lost.

It's a movie with dignity and surprises and before it has finished, it has acquired a good deal of power.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Mar 4, 2024

The towering Tim Robbins has a solidity and gentle interiority that occasionally reminds one here of Burt Lancaster. Of equal excellence is Morgan Freeman as Red, who holds the film together with his poetic, often quipping narration.

You've never seen a prison movie quite like it, and I found its eccentric rhythms and the performances of co-stars Tim Robbins and Morgan Freeman nearly irresistible.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/4 | Mar 4, 2024

Even the most prosecutorial viewer will concede that Robbins and Freeman give The Shawshank Redemption a persuasive validity. They hold The Shawshank Redemption together as it gives way to story-driven melodrama.

A work of sincerity and honorable purpose, with a first-class cast... [But] Darabont has not found a way to resolve the problems and improbabilities that tower higher than the walls of the maximum security prison.

Never will you be so glad of the voyeuristic nature of filmgoing. Because The Shawshank Redemption is as close to prison as you'll want to get. And Robbins and Freeman make what could have been an endurance test an utterly engrossing experience.

It's a blissfully old-fashioned melodrama spanning three decades, a classic tall tale that experiences some particularly incredible growth spurts toward the end but manages to endure them without alienating the viewer.

The Shawshank Redemption

There's a painstaking exactness to "The Shawshank Redemption" that is both laudable and exhausting. The 19 years that the film's protagonist spends behind prison walls is a term shared by the audience. It's vivid and passes with the appropriate tedium and sudden bursts of horror that one imagines reflect the true nature of incarceration.

By Leonard Klady

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There’s a painstaking exactness to “The Shawshank Redemption ” that is both laudable and exhausting. The 19 years that the film’s protagonist spends behind prison walls is a term shared by the audience. It’s vivid, grueling and painful, and passes with the appropriate tedium and sudden bursts of horror that one imagines reflect the true nature of incarceration. Definitely a film requiring careful nurturing, “Shawshank” will need critical kudos and year-end honors to maintain slow but consistent box office.

Mostly one is drawn along by the fascinating portrait and the innate humanity of its inmate principals. But it’s a long, serious haul (albeit leavened by humor and the unexpected) that will put a crimp in the pic’s mainstream acceptance.

The saga begins in 1947, when bank vice president Andy Dufresne (Tim Robbins) goes on trial for the murder of his wife and her lover. Though he strenuously maintains his innocence, his dispassionate demeanor grates on the court. Circumstantial evidence proves enough to land him in Shawshank Prison with two concurrent life sentences.

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While it’s unquestionably Andy’s story, the chronicle is related in voiceover by “Red” (Morgan Freeman), a lifer who’s set himself up as someone who can get “things” from the outside. He marvels at the new man’s tenacity, knowing intrinsically that Andy is different and that he likes him, quirks and all.

While the film pays close attention to such requisite matters as sexual assault, staff brutality and the human capacity to survive, it has something quite different on its mind. It’s consumed by circumstance and life’s little ironies, which occur even in prison.

The turning point for Andy and his cronies is a bit of conversation captured during a work detail. A guard bemoans the fact that Uncle Sam will take a healthy bite of a recently deceased relative’s legacy. The ex-banker plucks up his courage and tells him how to keep the windfall. For a moment it’s like Androcles pulling the thorn from the lion’s paw.

Soon Andy is put to work in all manner of financial activity. He is Warden Norton’s (Bob Gunton) crown jewel and the source of both an enhanced public image for the man and a quietly acquired personal fortune. It’s not lost on the convicted murderer that he had to enter prison to learn dishonesty.

Gaining a more comfortable life behind bars proves a double-edged sword. The warden cannot afford to have Andy paroled. The man knows too much, and he is too valuable an asset. So, when the prospect of the truth rears its head, extreme measures come into play.

Ultimately, “The Shawshank Redemption” is about the dominance of real justice. That element of the narrative keeps themovie from descending into abject resignation.

Writer/director Frank Darabont adapts his source material with sly acuity. It’s a fiendishly clever construct in which seemingly oblique words or incidents prove to have fierce resonance. Darabont errs only when he digresses too long on a supporting character or embellishes a secondary story.

Central to the film’s success is a riveting, unfussy performance from Robbins. Precise, honest and seamless, it appears virtually uncalculated. It is the anchor keeping the piece from foundering.

Freeman has the showier role, allowing him a grace and dignity that come naturally. It’s a testament to his craft that the performance is never banal. Supporting work is uniformly strong, with Gunton and Clancy Brown, as a vicious guard, extremely credible in their villainy.

Tech credits are strong, with Roger Deakins’ images and Thomas Newman’s original score providing just the right balance between the somber and the absurd. Terence Marsh ‘s sets — on an actual prison location — capture the mustiness and permanence of the environment with aplomb.

A testament to the human spirit, the film is a rough diamond. Its languors are small quibbles in an otherwise estimable and haunting entertainment.

Production: A Columbia release of a Castle Rock Entertainment production. Produced by Niki Marvin. Executive producers, Liz Glotzer, David Lester. Directed by Frank Darabont. Screenplay, Darabont, based on the short novel by Stephen King.
Crew: Camera (Technicolor), Roger Deakins; editor, Richard Francis-Bruce; music, Thomas Newman; production design, Terence Marsh; art direction, Peter Smith; set decoration, Michael Sierton; costume design, Elizabeth McBride; sound (Dolby), Willie Burton; assistant director, John R. Woodward; casting, Deborah Aquila. Reviewed at AMC Century City, L.A., Aug. 24, 1994. (In Toronto Film Festival.) MPAA Rating: R. Running time: 142 min.
With: Andy Dufresne - Tim Robbins Ellis Boy "Red" Redding - Morgan Freeman Warden Samuel Norton - Bob Gunton Heywood - William Sadler Capt. Byron Hadley - Clancy Brown Tommy Williams - Gil Bellows Brooks Hatlen - James Whitmore Bogs Diamond - Mark Rolston D.A. - Jeffrey DeMunn

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The Shawshank Redemption

Where to Watch

Tim Robbins (Andy Dufresne) Morgan Freeman (Ellis Boyd 'Red' Redding) Bob Gunton (Warden Norton) William Sadler (Heywood) Clancy Brown (Captain Hadley) Gil Bellows (Tommy) Mark Rolston (Bogs Diamond) James Whitmore (Brooks Hatlen) Jeffrey DeMunn (1946 D.A.) Larry Brandenburg (Skeet)

Frank Darabont

Over the course of several years, two convicts form a friendship, seeking consolation and, eventually, redemption through basic compassion.

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The shawshank redemption, common sense media reviewers.

Gritty prison tale has positive messages, lots of profanity.

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

Hope, endurance, and unconditional friendship are

Andy never gives up hope. Red is loyal and practic

A man commits suicide by hanging. A man is shot an

Sex is portrayed obliquely at the beginning. Lots

Frequent profanity, including "f--k." Jokes about

A man is shown sitting in his car drinking whiskey

Positive Messages

Hope, endurance, and unconditional friendship are core themes of the film. Corruption, manipulation, and betrayal are also present, but they're shown to fail in the end. The problem of "institutionalization" is shown and discussed -- a prison inmate has spent so much time in prison, he has forgotten how to live outside the prison walls. Integrity and perseverance are major themes.

Positive Role Models

Andy never gives up hope. Red is loyal and practical. All the characters are flawed, but it's clear who the "good" and "bad" guys are, even though their positions might not suggest that from the start. Inmates work together, often illegally, to make life more bearable. The warden is corrupt and takes bribes, but it's shown in a negative light.

Violence & Scariness

A man commits suicide by hanging. A man is shot and killed by another man with a rifle. Prison rape, while not graphically shown, is very strongly implied, with references to oral and anal sex and the takeaway that one of the lead characters was raped repeatedly by other prisoners.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Violence & Scariness in your kid's entertainment guide.

Sex, Romance & Nudity

Sex is portrayed obliquely at the beginning. Lots of cheesecake photos of sex symbols from the 1950s and '60s decorate the prison walls.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Sex, Romance & Nudity in your kid's entertainment guide.

Frequent profanity, including "f--k." Jokes about rape. "Maggot d--k motherf---er." "Queer" is used pejoratively. "A--hole." "Son of a bitch." "Piss." "Horses--t." "Prick." "Fatass." "Ass." A euphemism for defecation.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Language in your kid's entertainment guide.

Drinking, Drugs & Smoking

A man is shown sitting in his car drinking whiskey from a flask before stumbling out to, presumably, murder his wife and her lover. Cigarette smoking. Inmates drink beer after Andy wins a bet with the captain of the prison guards.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Drinking, Drugs & Smoking in your kid's entertainment guide.

Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know that The Shawshank Redemption is an Oscar-nominated 1994 movie based on a Stephen King story about a man sent to a maximum security prison in Maine in the 1950s who shows the other inmates perseverance and provides a sense of hope and optimism in the bleakest of places and under the most difficult of circumstances. The gritty world of Shawshank Prison is populated with sadistic guards, a corrupt warden, and predatory fellow inmates. Prison rape, while not graphically shown, is very strongly implied, with references and body positions suggesting forced anal and oral sex. Guards beat and kill an inmate. A prisoner is shot and killed by a man with a rifle. There is also a scene in which a character crawls through 500 yards of a sewer pipe filled with excrement. There is also frequent profanity, including "f--k" and its variations. However, the film also shows inmates forming a loving community of friendship and support despite oppressive conditions and a sense of maintaining perseverance and hope in the darkest of hours. To stay in the loop on more movies like this, you can sign up for weekly Family Movie Night emails .

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Based on 43 parent reviews

The Overall Header On The Shawshank Redemption

Violence is present, what's the story.

In THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION, Andy Dufresne ( Tim Robbins ) is convicted for the murder of his wife and her lover and sent to prison. It's 1949, and Andy doesn't have the stuff for prison life. Andy befriends "Red" Redding ( Morgan Freeman ) and uses his past as a banker to get a job in the prison library. But things unravel. In doing the books for the warden, he learns that the prison boss is taking bribes, and Andy is to launder them. A lovable former inmate hangs himself when he gets to the outside but can't adjust after decades behind bars. The inmate whom Andy helps get his GED is shot by the guards to keep him quiet about information that might prove Andy is innocent of the murders and set him free. Andy spends two months in solitary. After he gets out, he seems depressed and Red worries he'll kill himself. The next day, Andy isn't dead, but he isn't there, either -- he's escaped. The rest is a perfect Stephen King happy ending, complete with comeuppance for the corrupt warden.

Is It Any Good?

This is a movie that stands the test of time and still resonates with viewers. Call this the Stand by Me of prison stories. Stephen King, who penned Stand by Me , also wrote the short story on which The Shawshank Redemption is based. Here we have all the things that made Stand by Me such a satisfying experience: loveable characters, writerly flourishes, one-dimensional evil antagonists, enduring friendships, poetic justice, and a happy ending. This one is far darker and far more violent than Stand by Me and so ought to be reserved only for older teens. The story is slow to develop, and younger kids and children sensitive to the suffering of others may find this world a difficult one to sit with for the film's duration.

Having said all that, the film is satisfying but cloying. Andy is the minister of the healing power of hope. He educates the inmates on the healing power of Mozart. He builds a library. He asks Red why he stopped playing the harmonica. When Red replies that it's no use in prison, Andy looks at him soulfully and replies that "here's where you need it the most." Despite the somewhat unbelievable friendship between a white, upper-class banker and an African-American man in 1949, it's a valuable lesson that may seem inspired to kids who haven't heard this story before.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

Families can talk about the ways oppressed people have kept their spirit historically -- for example, through spirituals created by slaves. How do Andy and Red handle prison differently in The Shawshank Redemption ? How would you handle such a bleak future? Why did Brooks feel more comfortable in prison than out of prison?

Why did Andy get Red a harmonica? What did that represent? Why did Red and Andy disagree on whether they should have hope for a better life? Did their class and race affect their approaches?

This movie attempts to show the life of inmates in a prison in 1950s Maine. While much has changed about prison life since that time, does the "institutionalization" discussed in the movie seem like it would be a problem today?

One of the most universal stories is the story of a "stranger coming to town." In other words, someone new to a place with long-established customs, rules, and traditions comes along and upends everything or at least changes or questions the ways in which things are done. How is this film an example of such a story? What are some other examples of movies, books, and plays in which a stranger comes to town?

How do the characters in The Shawshank Redemption demonstrate integrity and perseverance ? Why is this important character strengths ?

Movie Details

In theaters : January 1, 1994
On DVD or streaming : February 3, 2004
Cast : Bob Gunton , Morgan Freeman , Tim Robbins
Director : Frank Darabont
Inclusion Information : Black actors
Studio : Castle Rock Entertainment
Genre : Drama
Topics : Book Characters
Character Strengths : Integrity , Perseverance
Run time : 142 minutes
MPAA rating : R
MPAA explanation : violence, mature themes
Last updated : January 19, 2024

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FILM REVIEW

FILM REVIEW; Prison Tale by Stephen King Told Gently, Believe It or Not

By Janet Maslin

Sept. 23, 1994

There are standard ways to stage a prison film and standard ways to tell a story by Stephen King. But "The Shawshank Redemption," based on a King novella and set in the correctional institution of the title, succeeds in avoiding the familiar.

Without a single riot scene or horrific effect, it tells a slow, gentle story of camaraderie and growth, with an ending that abruptly finds poetic justice in what has come before. The writer and director, Frank Darabont, tells this tale with a surprising degree of loving care.

There are times when "The Shawshank Redemption" comes dangerously close to sounding one of those "triumph of the human spirit" notes. But most of it is eloquently restrained. Despite an excess of voice-over narration and inspirational music, Mr. Darabont's film has a genuine dignity that holds the interest. It is helped greatly by fine, circumspect performances from Morgan Freeman as a rueful lifer named Red and Tim Robbins as Andy, the new kid on the cellblock. The film spans nearly 20 years of friendship between these two.

When Andy is convicted of his wife's murder, the judge pronounces him "a particularly remorseless and icy man." He sustains that chill when he first arrives at Shawshank, remaining aloof from other inmates even when those inmates threaten him with physical harm. "I wish I could tell you that Andy fought the good fight," says Red, who knows Andy has been gang-raped by fellow prisoners, in one of the film's only halfway-brutal episodes. "I wish I could tell you that, but prison is no fairy-tale world."

Needless to say, the heroes of such stories usually do succeed in defending themselves, at least when Hollywood is telling the fairy tale. But "The Shawshank Redemption" has its own brand of iconoclasm, with Mr. Darabont's direction as quiet, purposeful and secretive as Andy is himself.

Eventually Andy begins to fit in, especially after he wows the guards with skills left over from his pre-prison banking career. From the first time he advises one guard to make a one-time-only tax-free gift to his wife, Andy gets a new lease on life as "a convicted murderer who provides sound financial planning."

Andy does special fiscal favors for the warden. ("You know, the funny thing is, on the outside I was an honest man, straight as an arrow," he says about this. "I had to come to prison to be a crook.") He also makes the occasional dramatic gesture, like commandeering the prison's loudspeaker and playing a Mozart aria for all his fellow inmates. The film has a tendency to wax romantic at such moments, but more often it sustains an intelligent reserve.

Mr. Freeman is so quietly impressive here that there's reason to wish Red's role had more range. As written, he spends his time observing Andy fondly and describing prison life. But Mr. Freeman's commanding presence makes him a much stronger figure than that. Mr. Freeman is especially moving when he suggests how dependent Red has become on the prison walls that give shape to his life. Even so, Red has kept his ruefulness. "Only guilty man in Shawshank," he jokes about himself.

Mr. Robbins has the trickier role of someone whose still waters run deep, but whose experience doesn't add up until an exposition-packed denouement. (The film's swift, enjoyably farfetched closing scenes are a sharp reminder of who is the author of this story, after all.) Andy's is the more subdued role, but Mr. Robbins plays it intensely, and he ages effectively from newcomer to father figure during the story. One of Andy's projects is improving the prison library, which once contained nothing but the equivalent of books by Stephen King.

To raise funds for this undertaking, Andy is steady and patient, writing weekly letters to state officials until he gets what he wants. Mr. Darabont, a screenwriter making an impressive directorial debut, works in much the same quietly persistent way. "The Shawshank Conspiracy" takes shape slowly and carefully, displaying an overall subtlety that's surprising in a movie of this genre. In the end, like Andy and Red, it gets to where it wanted to go.

"The Shawshank Redemption" is rated R (Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian). It includes profanity and occasional violence, including a scene that discreetly suggests homosexual rape.

THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION Written and directed by Frank Darabont, based on the novella "Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption," by Stephen King; director of photography, Roger Deakins; edited by Richard Francis-Bruce; music by Tom Newman; production designer, Terence Marsh; produced by Niki Marvin; released by Columbia Pictures. Running time: 142 minutes. This film is rated R. WITH: Morgan Freeman (Red), Tim Robbins (Andy), Gil Bellows (Tommy), Clancy Brown (Captain Hadley), Bob Gunton (Warden Norton), Mark Rolston (Bogs Diamond), William Sadler (Heywood) and James Whitmore (Brooks Hatlen).

The Shawshank Redemption Review

17 Feb 1994

143 minutes

Shawshank Redemption, The

This movie is based on a novella by Stephen King, but don't let that put you off. It's not a horror film, rather a thumpingly good ode to friendship, hope, wit, wiles and wisdom, brimming with crackling characters and topped with the most twisteroo of twists since The Crying Game. Found guilty of killing his unfaithful wife and her lover in a fit of passion, sullen accountant Andy Dufresne (Robbins, casting off his goofball image to display more layers than the proverbial onion) is shipped to the gothic wind-swept corridors of the Shawshank State Prison for life. It is here the movie gracefully unfolds. With a beautifully rounded script, writer/director Darabont conjures up a spellbinding personal odyssey stretching through the years from 1946 to 1967.

Dufresne, all the while protesting his innocence, slowly overcomes the hellfire tortures of the prison system - an unblinking range of beatings, rapings and abject humiliations - while managing to inspire his fellow inmates to lift their degraded horizons. Among them is Red (Freeman, in a matchless supporting role), the lifer who can, given time, provide virtually anything. And for reasons best known to himself, Dufresne requires 40s starlet Rita Hayworth, provisioned in poster form.

The mood swings rigorously through every emotion as the cranky, wiseguy and downright crazed array of criminals bare the brunt of the turbulent life within the doomy Shawshank catacomb. Then it gets really mean, gearing up for its injury-time shockers. Dufresne, a whiz with figures, is bullied into running the warden's (Gunton) petty accounting scams, giving him the chance to execute his and the film's final, greatest miracle.

If you're miserable enough to look for gripes then, yes, it does drift on too long and who needs prison buggery again? Yet the ending has such poetic completeness you're too busy contentedly chuckling to worry about sore behinds. This may have confounded American audiences - it flopped big-time on planet Yank - but a more divine movie experience you will not find this side of Oscardom. Spread the word.

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Classic Movie Review: ‘The Shawshank Redemption’ (1994)

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Shawshank Redemption, The (United States, 1994)

With a legion of titles like Pet Sematary, Firewalker, Sleepwalkers, Maximum Overdrive , and Children of the Corn , it's reasonable not to expect much from Stephen King-inspired motion pictures. Adaptations of the prolific author's work typically vary from mildly entertaining to virtually unwatchable. There are a few notable exceptions, however; two of which ( Stand by Me, Misery ) were crafted by widely-respected director Rob Reiner. While The Shawshank Redemption is not a Reiner movie per se, it is a production of Castle Rock Pictures (Reiner's film company), and ranks among the best filmed versions of any King stories to date. (This statement has not changed since I first wrote it in 1994.)

Spanning the years from 1947 through 1966, The Shawshank Redemption takes the "innocent man in prison" theme and bends it at a different angle. Instead of focusing on crusades for freedom, the movie ventures down a less-traveled road, concentrating on the personal cost of adapting to prison life and how some convicts, once they conform, lose the ability to survive beyond the barbed wire and iron bars. As one of the characters puts it: "These [prison] walls are funny. First you hate them, then you get used to them, then you start to depend on them."

Filmed on location in a disused Ohio prison, The Shawshank Redemption is set in a place of perpetual dreariness. What little color there is, is drab and lifeless (lots of grays and muted greens and blues), and there are times when the film is a shade away from black-and-white (give credit to cinematographer Roger Deakins, a longtime Cohen brothers collaborator). It's ironic, therefore, that the central messages are of hope, redemption, and salvation.

First time feature director Frank Darabont helms a fleet of impressive performances. Tim Robbins, as Andrew Dufresne, plays the wrongly convicted man with quiet dignity. Andy's ire is internal; he doesn't rant about his situation or the corruptness of the system that has imprisoned him. His unwillingness to surrender hope wins him the admiration of some and the contempt of others, and allows the audience to identify with him that much more strongly.

Ellis Boyd Redding (Morgan Freeman), or "Red" as his friends call him, is the self-proclaimed "Sears and Roebuck" of the Shawshank Prison (for a price, he can get just about anything from the outside). His is the narrative voice and, for once, the disembodied words aid, rather than intrude upon, the story. Serving a life sentence for murder, Red is a mixture of cynicism and sincerity - a man with a good soul who has done a vile deed. His friendship with Andy is one of The Shawshank Redemption 's highlights.

William Sadler (as a fellow prisoner), Clancy Brown (as a sadistic guard), and Bob Gunton (as the corrupt warden) all give fine supporting performances. Newcomer Gil Bellows, in a small but crucial role (that was originally intended for Brad Pitt), brings the poise of a veteran to his portrayal of Tommy Williams, Andy's protege.

Ultimately, the standout actor is the venerable James Whitmore, doing his finest work in years. Whitmore's Brooks is a brilliantly realized character, and the scenes with him attempting to cope with life outside of Shawshank represents one of the film's most moving - and effective - sequences.

Unfortunately, following a solid two hours of thought-provoking drama, the movie deflates like a punctured balloon during its overlong denouement. The too-predictable final twenty minutes move a little slowly, and writer/director Darabont exposes a distressing need to wrap up everything into a tidy little package.

"Salvation lies within," advises Warden Norton at one point. It is the presentation of this theme that makes The Shawshank Redemption unique. Prison movies often focus on the violence and hopelessness of a life behind bars. While this film includes those elements, it makes them peripheral. The Shawshank Redemption is all about hope and, because of that, watching it is both uplifting and cathartic.

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MOVIE REVIEW : ‘Shawshank’: Solid Portrayals but a Dubious Treatment

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Awash in a bad news culture where horrors compete for media attention, America’s appetite for feel-good movies is all but insatiable. How else to explain “The Shawshank Redemption,” a film that hides a warm and cuddly fantasy about prison life behind sleek brutality, so much the better to convince us that even inside those walls life can be grand?

Starring Tim Robbins and Morgan Freeman as two lifers who demonstrate the great things prison can do for you, “Shawshank’s” sentimentality is of a New Hollywood variety. Its message of hope and friendship comes premixed with a sizable dollop of unappetizing violence, intended to convince audiences that what they’re watching isn’t a big glob of cotton candy after all.

Adapted from a Stephen King novella, “Shawshank” also labors under its literary origins, with many of its situations feeling like thin doodles blown up to big-screen size. And its entire last section has the kind of serious plausibility problems that are only apparent when the written word takes physical form.

The film gets its name from a fictional prison that is supposedly Maine’s toughest. It is to Shawshank sometime in 1947 that bank vice president Andy Dufresne (Robbins) is sent to serve a double life sentence for the murders of his wife and her boyfriend.

In a brief prologue, we’ve seen Andy looking potentially murderous with a bottle and a gun in his hand, but he claims to be guilty only of confusion, not homicide. This strategy convinces no one, and Andy, a loner who strikes the judge as icy and remorseless, is convicted without a second thought.

Andy’s arrival at Shawshank is observed by Red Redding (Freeman), an impassive 20-year veteran of the place who lets on that “there must be a con like me in every prison in America. I’m the guy who can get it for you.”

The story of Andy’s time at the Big House is related by Red in an extensive voice-over that is one of the film’s strongest points. In fact anything Freeman touches is the better for it; his effortless screen presence lends “Shawshank” the closest thing to credibility it can manage.

The film’s periodic bouts of violence are probably also intended as a reality booster. For Shawshank is run by a harsh warden (Bob Gunton) who believes in discipline and a sadistic guard captain (Clancy Brown) who knows how to enforce it.

What this leads to is a series of off-putting violent episodes--one man beaten to death, Andy regularly pulverized by a psychotic homosexual (Mark Rolston) and his pals--that are unpleasant to endure while adding nothing to the film’s sense of truth.

That’s because writer-director Frank Darabont, in his theatrical feature debut, has envisioned the rest of the cons as a bunch of swell and softhearted guys who were probably put away for overzealous toenail clipping.

This blubbery Boys Club atmosphere is underlined by the nicknames of Red’s crew, guys like Skeet, Jigger and Snooze, who the audience is invited to view as harmless as Snow White’s dwarfs. The inappropriateness of having them in the same film with vicious attempted gang rapes seems not to have occurred to anyone with any influence.

Instead, “Shawshank” concentrates on an overly long, two-hour-and-22-minute parade of prison vignettes that show, among other things, how Andy uses his financial expertise to make himself indispensable to the warden and his lackeys. Some of these moments are effective, but even nice performances like James Whitmore’s as a veteran con lose something by being overly familiar.

Though Tim Robbins always seems to be playing a part, he is good at it, and it is nice to see the chaste though loving relationship between Andy and Red develop over 20 years. Paradoxically, it is “Shawshank’s” zealousness in trying to cast a rosy glow over the prison experience that makes us feel we’re doing harder time than the folks inside.

* MPAA rating: R, for language and prison violence. Times guidelines: The prison violence is noticeably harsh and brutal.

‘The Shawshank Redemption’

Tim Robbins: Andy Dufresne

Morgan Freeman: Red Redding

Bob Gunton: Warden Norton

William Sadler: Heywood

Clancy Brown: Captain Hadley

Gil Bellows: Tommy

A Castle Rock Entertainment production, released by ColumbiaPictures. Director Frank Darabont. Producer Niki Marvin. Executive producers Liz Glotzer, David Lester. Screenplay Frank Darabont, based on the novel by Stephen King. Cinematographer Roger Deakins. Editor Richard Francis-Bruce. Costumes Elizabeth McBride. Music Thomas Newman. Production design Terence Marsh. Art director Peter Smith. Set decorator Michael Sierton. Running time: 2 hours, 22 minutes.

* In general release throughout Southern California.

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The Shawshank Redemption Plot Summary

“The Shawshank Redemption” is a powerful drama that tells the story of Andy Dufresne (Tim Robbins), a banker who is sentenced to life in prison for the murder of his wife and her lover. The film is divided into three parts, each of which highlights a different aspect of Andy’s experiences in prison.

Act 1: The Arrival

The film opens with Andy’s arrival at Shawshank prison, where he is immediately subjected to the harsh realities of prison life. He is strip-searched, given a uniform, and assigned a cell in the overcrowded and noisy prison. From the start, we see the brutality and dehumanization of prison life, as the prisoners are subjected to constant abuse from the guards and each other.

As Andy begins to adjust to life in prison, we see him make connections with other prisoners, including Ellis “Red” Redding (Morgan Freeman), a long-time inmate and institutionalized “fixer” who knows how to get things. Through Red, Andy is able to obtain a rock hammer, which he uses to carve chess pieces out of stone. We see Andy’s intelligence and resourcefulness on display as he finds ways to make the best of his situation, despite the hardships and violence he must endure.

One of the most poignant moments in the first part of the film is when we see Andy emerge from solitary confinement, where he has been locked up for playing music over the prison’s loudspeakers. As he steps out into the sunlight, we see his face for the first time, and we can sense the relief and freedom that he feels. This moment underscores the brutality and dehumanization of the prison system, and serves as a powerful reminder of the humanity that still exists within the prisoners.

Act 2: The Escape

In the second act of the film, we see Andy become increasingly disillusioned with the prison system, particularly after he is falsely accused of a crime and subjected to more time in solitary confinement. It is at this point that he begins to hatch a plan to escape, enlisting the help of Red and other inmates.

Over the course of the second part of the film, we see Andy’s intelligence and resourcefulness on full display, as he begins to lay the groundwork for his escape. He begins by using his financial knowledge to help the prison guards with their taxes, gaining their trust and respect in the process. He also uses his talent for accounting to embezzle money from the prison, slowly amassing a small fortune that he will use to finance his escape.

As the plan begins to take shape, we see Andy’s determination and focus, as he works tirelessly to tunnel his way out of the prison. The escape plan takes months to execute, and is fraught with danger and uncertainty. However, Andy is undeterred, and uses his intelligence and cunning to stay one step ahead of the prison authorities.

One of the most memorable scenes in the second part of the film is when Andy finally emerges from the tunnel, climbing through a sewage pipe and emerging into the pouring rain. The scene is shot in slow motion, with Andy’s face illuminated by a flash of lightning, and we can sense the relief and exhilaration that he feels at finally achieving his goal.

Act 3: The Redemption

The third act of “The Shawshank Redemption” takes us into the lives of Andy Dufresne and Ellis “Red” Redding after they have been released from prison. Andy had escaped from Shawshank and was now living in Zihuatanejo, Mexico, where he had sent a letter to Red telling him about his escape and asking him to meet him there. Red, who had been released on parole, decides to follow Andy’s instructions and takes a bus to Mexico.

When Red arrives in Zihuatanejo, he finds Andy living in a small house near the beach. The two men greet each other warmly and begin to catch up on each other’s lives. They talk about the hardships they faced in prison and the importance of hope and friendship in getting through those difficult times.

The film’s final act explores the themes of redemption and the possibility of second chances. Andy and Red are able to find a new beginning outside of the prison system, free from the brutal and dehumanizing reality of life inside Shawshank. The scenes in Zihuatanejo are shot in warm, golden light, underscoring the idea of the possibility of a new beginning and a second chance at life.

“The Shawshank Redemption” is a 1994 American drama film directed by Frank Darabont and starring Tim Robbins and Morgan Freeman. The movie is based on a novella by Stephen King. “The Shawshank Redemption” has become a classic in American cinema and is often regarded as one of the greatest films ever made. And it is not hard to see why. The film has a captivating storyline, strong performances by its lead actors, and beautiful cinematography that immerses the audience into the world of the prison.

One of the key themes of the movie is the power of hope and the resilience of the human spirit. Andy’s ability to maintain his hope and to fight for his freedom, even in the face of overwhelming odds, is a testament to the human spirit’s ability to endure and overcome adversity. Another central theme is the importance of friendship and human connection, as exemplified by the bond between Andy and Red, which becomes a source of strength and support for both men throughout their time in prison.

The film’s screenplay, written by Darabont, is a masterclass in storytelling, following the classic three-act structure proposed by Syd Field. The movie has a clear setup, confrontation, and resolution, with each act advancing the plot and characters’ development. Additionally, the film’s editing, as discussed by David Bordwell, is precise, helping to build tension and create emotional impact through effective cutting.

Marcel Martin’s idea of character arc is also evident in the movie. Andy’s transformation from a broken and despondent prisoner to a hopeful and driven person with a plan to escape is a testament to the character’s growth throughout the film. The ending is a satisfying resolution that rewards the audience for investing in the characters’ journey.

Overall, “The Shawshank Redemption” is a cinematic masterpiece that delivers a poignant and emotional story that resonates with audiences. The film’s excellent use of cinematic language and adherence to storytelling principles makes it a must-watch for any movie lover.

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'Fans from all over the world': Shawshank Redemption turns 30 this summer in Mansfield

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Celebrities are expected to soon confirm whether they will be in Mansfield this summer for the 30th anniversary of The Shawshank Redemption .

Every member of the movie's cast and crew has been invited, according to Dan Smith, associate director of the Ohio State Reformatory, the iconic prison recognized worldwide as Shawshank State Penitentiary.

"Of course, we would love all the actors to be here," Smith said. "We'll start to release cast names by next week. It will be a continuing work in progress, because of scheduling — there are always conflicts they have."

The Shawshank Redemption 30th anniversary celebration will take place Aug. 9-11 at the movie's 15 filming sites throughout North Central Ohio, known as the The Shawshank Trail .

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Mansfield is home to the best movie ever made

Stephen King brought the story to life sometime in the 1970s with his novella "Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption," which was published in 1982 along with three others in the book "Different Seasons."

"Shawshank Redemption" was filmed over the summer of 1993 , then released in September 1994.

The Internet Movie Database still lists The Shawshank Redemption as the best movie ever made , ahead of "The Godfather" and "The Dark Knight."

Director Frank Darabont and nearly a dozen other cast and crew returned to Mansfield in the summer of 2019 to celebrate their picture's 25th birthday.

Darabont told an audience then that Castle Rock Entertainment had originally planned a very different cast and crew, which included Hollywood legends like Rob Reiner and Tom Cruise.

"It wouldn't have been this movie," Darabont said in Mansfield in 2019. "It wouldn't have been my movie."

'Something going on at all of the Shawshank Trail sites'

Those who returned to Mansfield in 2019 with their director included Bob Gunton (Warden Norton), Gil Bellows (Tommy) and Mark Rolston (Bogs Diamond).

There were also Scott Mann and Renee Blaine, who played the man and woman found having an affair at the start of the movie, as well as Claire Slemmer, a local woman who portrayed a bank teller.

Alfonso Freeman, Morgan Freeman's son, even visited Mansfield in 2019 to share how the movie helped him break into the acting community.

As a whole, the film's 25th anniversary attracted more than 19,000 people to Richland County, according to Jodie Snavely, special projects director for Destination Mansfield.

The goal is to exceed that number of guests this year, making the 30th anniversary even more memorable than the 25th.

"We've all partnered together and there will be something going on at all of the Shawshank Trail sites," Snavely said. "Malabar Farm will have wagon rides back to Pugh Cabin, where the opening scene was filmed, and of course the wood shop in Upper Sandusky will be open."

The complete list of Shawshank events that will take place this summer is still growing.

"There will be so many great things," Snavely said. "Fans from all over the world can come and enjoy the celebration weekend."

More: Filmmaker explores the paranormal at Mansfield Reformatory, site of 'Shawshank Redemption'

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This article originally appeared on Mansfield News Journal: Shawshank Redemption's 30th anniversary will be in Mansfield in August

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9 Mistakes That Made it Into The Shawshank Redemption

Even a near-perfect film like The Shawshank Redemption is bound to have a few flaws.

The Shawshank Redemption is in many people's top films of all time. The adaptation of the Stephen King story has garnered praise time and time again. It's one of those films that, when you catch it on cable television, you stop and watch it, or when you scroll past it on a streaming platform, you contemplate putting it on. It's a film with that kind of effect on people.

The Shawshank Redemption

The film tells the story of Andy Dufresne (Tim Robbins), as told by his inmate and friend Red (Morgan Freeman). The pair bond at Shawshank prison, as Andy is doing life for a crime he believes he didn't commit.

Many call The Shawshank Redemption a perfect film, holding a top spot on IMDb's rankings for some time. Oddly, it was overlooked upon its release in 1994 but gained traction as one of the greatest films ever made over the years. However, like many films, especially ones on a high pedestal, the Frank Darabont-directed movie has its flaws; some of them you have to have a keen eye for, others are right there in front of you.

9 Typos in the End Credits

End credits have to be a hard thing to do. Whoever has the job of producing the scrolling text of everyone who worked on the movie, whether it be the crew, office P.A., or someone from accounting who never stepped foot on set, God bless them. With a task like that, there is always a chance that there may be a typo here and there. Writing can be a hard job. Heck, there might even be a typo in this entry too.

No person who sits through the end credits of movies out of respect for all who worked on a film would even spot this one, but IMDB did. Apparently, when the credits reach the sound department as the beautiful closing shot of the beach fades to black, the title for Additional ADR Recordist is spelled "Aditional ADR Recordist.

8 Andy's Bible

The word "Redemption" is in the title of the film, so, of course, there were going to be a lot of religious undertones in terms of the protagonist having a redemptive tale about being able to survive prison. Andy's Bible is a standout prop throughout the film, and it is something that plays a pivotal part in his escape in the third act of the movie. However, there are some continuity issues with it.

Dirty and Clean

Maybe we're being too hard on the movie, as things get worn out over time, especially a book, but throughout the film, Andy's Bible seems brand new, and then in other scenes it has some wear and tear, then in a later scene it looks brand new again. These feel like small details that a prop master on set should be on top of.

The condition of the Bible even changes in one scene. When Andy's cell is being searched, it's a clean blue bible. When the Warden asks him about his favorite bible verse, it's dirty and older-looking.

Related: Here Are Some of the Greatest Prison Escapes in Movie History

7 JFK and the .44 Cent Stamp

Andy is given tasks from The Warden that end up burning the Warden in the film's climax after his escape. He's close to the paperwork that shows the corruption at the prison, and he uses it to his advantage when he makes his escape. However, there is another small detail that, when paying close attention, can catch your eye when Andy is dealing with mail.

JFK Continuity Error

The Shawshank Redemption takes place over the course of 19 years. He arrives at the prison in 1947 and escapes in the mid-1960s. Andy's first order of business is to send out some mail when he gets to a bank the morning after he escapes prison. On the .44 cent stamp is what looks like President John F. Kennedy.

We are not stamp experts, but based on IMDb's list of goofs in the film, JFK was never on that stamp. The stamps are also not perforated, meaning they are not real stamps.

6 Warden Norton's Hand

Warden Norton (Bob Gunton) is one of the more pivotal supporting roles in The Shawshank Redemption. He's the perfect bad guy and one of the more hated characters in movie history. However, in a pivotal scene after Andy's escape, there is a continuity error that shows up for a quick second in the film that is easy to spot.

Norton Points at Red

The day after Andy escaped, we have a scene that shows Warden Norton and his guards investigating the disappearance of Andy in his cell. The discovery of the hole in the wall that Andy crawled through is a shock to the Warden and his guards. They then call in Red ( Morgan Freeman) to interrogate him to see if he knew anything about Andy's escape. Red, being that he was very close with Andy, knows nothing of it.

In one shot, Norton points at Red with his left hand. Then, when the angle changes to a wider shot, Norton is pointing at Red with his right hand.

5 Red's Window on His Bus Ride to Freedom

Red, played by Morgan Freeman, is the storyteller behind The Shawshank Redemption . We get to know all that is happening through his narration and even his point of view. All the while, he too has a character arc that pays off big in the end. Red finally gets his freedom after years of his potential parole being rejected. The look on Red's face as he gets a taste of freedom is, in essence, the theme of the whole movie.

Red's Window on the Bus Has a Continuity Error

It's a beautiful moment in the film, as Red now tastes and feels freedom on the bus ride out of Shawshank. He has his arm out to dangle from the window. Every window on the bus is open. However, when cut to a different angle of the bus making its way down the road from afar, we see that the bus now has all the windows shut and nobody has their arms dangling out of them.

4 Brooks Walking Down the Aisle

Brooks, played by James Whitmore, is a perfect example of a smaller character in a movie that has a lasting impact. Brooks is an older man who has been locked up in prison for many years. His life outside the walls of Shawshank does not last long, as he struggles to cope with the outside world. He ends up killing himself tragically, leaving behind the famous word "Brooks Was Here" carved into the wall of his halfway house.

Brooks' Cart

In prison, Brooks was known as the man who delivered books and knick-knacks to the inmates. In one scene where he pushes his cart down the aisle and stops at Andy's cell to give him a hammer, he keeps going further down the aisle. The interesting thing is that Andy's cell was at the end of the aisle, and there was a wall there. Brooks could not have kept going forward; he would have needed to turn around.

3 The Warden's Suicide

As mentioned prior, Warden Norton, played brilliantly by character actor Bob Gunton, is one of the greatest villains of all time. A character that feels all too real that only Stephen King could craft in his head. After Andy Dufresne has escaped, Shawshank Prison and its warden are exposed for their wrongdoing, and Norton decides to shoot himself before the law can have their way with him.

The Bullet Hole

We never see Warden Norton shoot himself. We see him put the gun to his chin, and then we hear the gunfire, and his dead body is revealed to authorities. However, the bullet hole where he shot himself does not seem to line up with where the gun was. All of this appears in the original cut of the movie. Director Frank Darabont went back in and fine-tuned the scene ten years later, so that the continuity error was fixed.

2 Andy Never Ages

Tim Robbins' performance in The Shawshank Redemption as Andy Dufresne is a role he will always be known for. Dufresne is meticulous as he goes through his journey of nearly two decades behind bars for a murder he didn't commit. He's quiet, thoughtful, and refuses to fall into the culture of dehumanizing a person, something that prison can do to someone. There is something about Andy that goes over people's heads, though.

Everyone Gets Older

Andy Dufresne never ages. All the other characters who spend time at Shawshank show signs of physical change, even if its minor. The Warden is much older by the time he meets his demise, and Red's hair is much grayer when you reach the third act of the film. However, Andy keeps his looks very intact throughout what is a life sentence that he decides to cut short.

1 A Flashback Where the Dialogue Doesn't Match Up

Flashbacks that show a different point of view of an earlier event in the movie are a dime a dozen. They are meant to show you a plot twist or explain a character's big surprise they pull off. The Shawshank Redemption perfectly backtracks to show you Andy Dufresne's escape. It's the best part of the movie, but it still has its flaws.

The Scene Replays With Different Dialogue

When we go back step by step to see how Andy escaped Shawshank, a lot of scenes are replayed with Red's narration over them to show us how Andy pulled off what he did. Andy's shoes, and the bible he owned all played a big part in his escape.

Related: Tim Robbins Debunks Major Shawshank Redemption Plothole, 30 Years Later But rather than it just being the same scene replayed, we see re-shot scenes where the dialogue is different. Case in point: when Andy discusses the deposit with an office worker, the original line is "three deposits, sir," and in the scene later on, he says, "three deposits tonight." They could have just replayed the scene again.

10 Biggest Movies Missing From Rotten Tomatoes' Best Films Of All-Time

Shawshank Redemption, Forrest Gump, and Matrix were absent; iconic films that impacted audiences and were recognized at the Oscars.
Fight Club, Inception, and Seven were also notably missing; these exceptional films showcase deep stories and powerful performances.
Jurassic Park, Blade Runner, and 2001: A Space Odyssey lacked acknowledgment; timeless classics that revolutionized cinema and storytelling.

Rotten Tomatoes is a reliable resource for getting a consensus of how good or bad a film is, but there are some remarkable absences from their best of all-time list. Rotten Tomatoes is a community-driven site that gathers together reviews from across the web. Official entertainment journalists and critics have their reviews collected and added together, along with reviews from the public.

Together, these points of information help the site to create a percentage score for both the critics and the audience, with anything above 50% being categorized as 'Fresh,' and anything below marked 'Rotten. ' Across the site, countless films have been reviewed and scores added up, which have been used to make a list of the 300 best movies of all-time (via Rotten Tomatoes ). However, despite the comprehensive ranking and scales on the site, there are some glaring omissions of movies which are commonly held up as some of the best movies of all time.

IF's Rotten Tomatoes Score Has Critics & Audience's Divided Over John Krasinski Movie

John Krasinski's IF divides audiences and critics on Rotten Tomatoes, with critics deeming the film "Rotten" and audiences deeming it "Fresh."

The Shawshank Redemption

Released in 1994.

First on the list is one that is included on most lists, The Shashank Redemption . The film is adapted from a story by Stephen King, and directed by Frank Darabont , who also adapted the screenplay. The film features some outstanding talent with Tim Robbins and Morgan Freeman in major roles as two of the inmates at the Shawshank State Penitentiary.

The film was also nominated for a total of seven Oscars.

Admittedly, there are some very uncomfortable scenes featured in the movie, but these are featured in a way that makes them additive and essential for the film as a whole, and the movie is not meant to be a comfortable experience. The film was also nominated for a total of seven Oscars due to the wide array of things it did absolutely perfectly, from the adaptation, to the casting and beyond. It makes no sense for this film to not be included on the top 300 list at RT.

Director Frank Darabont

Release Date October 14, 1994

Cast Clancy Brown, Morgan Freeman, Bob Gunton, William Sadler, Tim Robbins

Runtime 142 minutes

The Shawshank Redemption: 10 Differences Between The Book & The Film

The Shawshank Redemption was actually a Stephen King book before it was a movie, and here are the big differences from page to screen.

Forrest Gump

A movie that offers up a very different tone, but arguably remains just as culturally effective and impactful, Forrest Gump is nowhere to be seen on the list. This film, directed by Robert Zemeckis, and starring Tom Hanks , tells a powerful story of a boy who grows up to be a man who, by most accounts, should not be special. However, through his persistence and determination, he is able to become someone that is incredibly important.

This film was not only nominated for 13 Oscars at the Academy Awards, but it won six of the categories where it was nominated. The film remains an incredible story of hope, and it features some of the most quotable lines of any film. Despite being released 30 years ago in 1994, the film remains iconic and popular to this day, just not on RT's list.

Director Robert Zemeckis

Release Date July 6, 1994

Cast Sally Field, Gary Sinise, Robin Wright, Mykelti Williamson, Tom Hanks

Rating PG-13

Released In 1999

David Fincher climbed to new heights because of his talents as a director during the 90s, and in 1999, he released one of his greatest contributions to cinema of all time. Fight Club is a movie which adapts the original novel by Chuck Palahniuk to great effect. The story follows Brad Pitt and Edward Norton as two men who live life in directly opposite ways. However, as Norton's character begins to lose faith in the system, he emulates Tyler Durden (Pitt) more and more.

The film features incredible twists and thought-provoking ideas from the start, with many people studying the film and gleaming their own meanings from the incredible story. The film also stars Helena Bonham Carter and Meat Loaf in supporting roles. The movie is a spectacular piece of film, which was nominated for an Oscar, and should be acknowledged along with other films that are frequently labeled the best of all time.

Director David Fincher

Release Date October 15, 1999

Cast Edward Norton, Jared Leto, Brad Pitt, Meat Loaf, Helena Bonham Carter

Runtime 139 minutes

Fight Club Ending Explained (In Detail)

Fight Club ends with one of cinema's most iconic twists, but even decades later, there's more to the somewhat ambiguous ending than meets the eye.

Released In 2010

Christopher Nolan is one of the most spectacular filmmakers currently working in Hollywood, and every film he makes appears to be an award magnet. However, one of his greatest masterpieces came in 2010, Inception, taking home four Oscar wins, and still failing to make it onto the top 300 list at RT. When also considering the incredible talent involved in the film, it boggles the mind almost as much as the film's mind-bending narrative how it could be excluded.

The story follows a group of people who have a particular set of skills for incepting ideas into the minds of others without them knowing. While Cillian Murphy serves as the mark in the film, Leonardo DiCaprio leads a team which includes Tom Hardy, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Elliot Page, and Michael Caine as the father-in-law to Cobb (DiCaprio). The talent here is overwhelming, not to mention the spectacular story and visuals , which all combine to make this one of the best films ever made.

Christopher Nolan's 2010 Sci-fi action film Inception follows a thief who enters the dreams of others to steal information and, after being caught, is given a chance to clean his slate by performing an untested concept - implanting an idea within another mind. An ensemble cast is brought together by former target Saito, who seeks to implant the idea of destroying his own company into his father's mind. In a complex labyrinth of dreams and untested theories at the forefront, survival is not guaranteed in this psychological heist where the stakes are high, and nothing is what it seems.

Director Christopher Nolan

Release Date July 16, 2010

Cast Ken Watanabe, Cillian Murphy, Elliot Page, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Marion Cotillard, Leonardo DiCaprio, Tom Hardy

Runtime 148 minutes

Surprisingly , The Matrix , the film which rang in the millennium in 1999 and introduced several new words into the common vernacular, is also missing from the list. The Wachowski's made their masterpiece and may well have been unaware of the cultural impact their movie would have. However, the rest of the world immediately saw the film's potential, and it has since been included on many of the most prominent best films of all time lists.

It also won four Oscars out of a possible four.

The movie stars Keanu Reeves , Hugo Weaving, Carrie-Anne Moss, and Laurence Fishburne among an incredible cast . It also won four Oscars out of a possible four. The film was groundbreaking when it first appeared, and in the world today, where AI is rapidly developing and the idea of simulations and virtual reality draws ever nearer, the movie remains extremely prescient. However, it was not featured in RT's top 300.

Director Lilly Wachowski, Lana Wachowski

Release Date March 30, 1999

Cast Gloria Foster, Hugo Weaving, Laurence Fishburne, Carrie-Anne Moss, Joe Pantoliano, Keanu Reeves

Runtime 136 minutes

10 Harsh Realities Of Rewatching The Matrix, 25 Years Later

The Matrix is rightly considered one of the most influential sci-fi action movies of all time, but some aspects of the film haven't held up.

Avengers: Infinity War

Reelased in 2018.

Perhaps the only film on this list that could arguably be excluded due to a recency bias, but regardless, the 2018 box office hit, Avengers: Infinity War , deserves a spot for the spectacular ending alone . The film may be a part of the MCU, which is bound to divide crowds who value or disavow comic book movies, but Infinity War changed the narrative for superhero movies. Joe and Anthony Russo did not give into the loud voices that suggest every hero movie should end with good triumphing over evil, and instead offered a bold and daring finale for their story.

Of course, this would only be topped by the second part and the concluding chapter of The Infinity Saga, as far as Thanos is concerned, in Endgame . Both movies amassed well over $2 billion, with Endgame claiming the number 1 spot as the highest earning film of all time briefly. These movies clearly made an impression on a significant percentage of the population on Earth, but remain absent from the RT list.

Director Anthony Russo, Joe Russo

Release Date April 27, 2018

Cast Josh Brolin, Evangeline Lilly, Paul Rudd, Jeremy Renner, Mark Ruffalo, Don Cheadle, Elizabeth Olsen, Sebastian Stan, Anthony Mackie, Paul Bettany, Samuel L. Jackson, Scarlett Johansson, Chadwick Boseman, Chris Hemsworth, Robert Downey Jr., Tom Holland, Chris Evans

Runtime 149 minutes

Released In 1995

Another incredible movie from David Fincher , Seven , this time bringing together Brad Pitt and Morgan Freeman as detectives on the tail of a religious murderer. The story is deep, compelling, and thrilling throughout, and it doesn't shy away from including uncomfortable and gruesome details. However, the film's greatest strength perhaps comes from the way it concludes, and the message that it leaves long after the screen fades to black.

Seven did not perform as well as some other films, only having received one nomination at the Academy Awards, but it did win over audiences. The film is frequently listed as one of the all-time greatest movies, but it is glaringly absent from RT's list. Despite this, it is still well worth watching for anyone who has yet to see it for the dark, deliciously complex story it reveals.

Release Date September 22, 1995

Cast Kevin Spacey, Morgan Freeman, Brad Pitt, Gwyneth Paltrow, John C. McGinley

Runtime 127 minutes

10 Good Brad Pitt Movies With Really Divided Rotten Tomatoes Scores

Brad Pitt has a lot of universally loved movies under his belt, but some of his best movies left critics and audiences on Rotten Tomatoes divided.

Jurassic Park

Released in 1993.

Jurassic Park may not be the first movie that springs to mind when considering the best movies of all time, but it is nonetheless a worthy entry when taken into consideration. Despite the film being aimed at families, it is a deep and dark narrative about the god complex of man, and the dangers that can come from running before they can walk. When people uncover a way to bring real dinosaurs back from extinction, growing them and giving them a place to roam, they fail to take the necessary precautions to protect the modern world from a former Apex Predator.

Directed by Steven Spielberg, the film became an instant classic and went on to inspire several sequels and a franchise. The original film was also the recipient of three Oscars, and it featured graphics that remain fairly believable to this day thanks to the use of machines, and practical effects in combination with CGI. The movie is a clear candidate for one of the all time best slots, or at least somewhere in the top 300, but it is nowhere to be seen.

Director Steven Spielberg

Release Date June 11, 1993

Cast Bob Peck, Martin Ferrero, Jeff Goldblum, Laura Dern, Richard Attenborough, Sam Neill

Blade Runner

Released in 1982.

From one visionary director to the next, the classic film, Blade Runner from 1982 is the next one that needs to be highlighted here. Ridley Scott, as a visionary sci-fi director , took the building blocks of a story by Philip K. Dick and adapted it into something similar, but much more suited to the big screen. Then, he cast Hollywood's favorite sly hero of the decade, Harrison Ford, to play the lead.

The film had everything right, and featured an outstanding script, twists and turns, and deep philosophical questions. While the film was only nominated for two Oscars, it remains one of the most widely celebrated and beloved films of the 80s, and the franchise it gave birth to continues to thrive to this day. Despite some disputes about how real the main protagonist may or may not be, the film really deserves to be considered for a top 300 space on RT's list.

Director Ridley Scott

Release Date June 25, 1982

Writers Roland Kibbee, David Webb Peoples, Hampton Fancher, Philip K. Dick

Cast Joe Turkel, Rutger Hauer, Edward James Olmos, M. Emmet Walsh, William Sanderson, Harrison Ford, Sean Young, Daryl Hannah

10 Harsh Realities Of Rewatching Blade Runner, 42 Years Later

Ridley Scott's Blade Runner is a hugely influential sci-fi masterpiece. But rewatching it today, 42 years after its release, it's not all roses.

2001: A Space Odyssey

Released in 1968.

Finally, another one of the most visionary directors of recent decades has also been snubbed by the RT list, considering the exclusion of his masterpiece, 2001: A Space Odyssey . The film, directed by Stanley Kubrick , was one of the most imaginative and visually stimulating pictures of all time when it came out in 1968, and it remains so to this day because of the creativity and style which pour out of every moment. The film won an Oscar, and continues to inspire and influence filmmakers to this day, with recent overt references in movies like Barbie in 2023.

The film was also one of the first to explore the idea of artificial intelligence developing sentience and turning on humans, in a time before computers were even available in a size that didn't require an entire room to function. Kubrick was a visionary, and his work spoke for itself, and accordingly, most lists of the best films feature this as one of the all-time greats. However, Rotten Tomatoes appears to have mysteriously left it out of the top 300.

Director Stanley Kubrick

Release Date April 2, 1968

Cast Margaret Tyzack, Leonard Rossiter, Daniel Richter, William Sylvester, Gary Lockwood, Keir Dullea

10 Biggest Movies Missing From Rotten Tomatoes' Best Films Of All-Time

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Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption Paperback – September 29, 2020

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Print length 128 pages
Language English
Publisher Scribner
Publication date September 29, 2020
Dimensions 5.5 x 0.4 x 8.38 inches
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Publisher ‏ : ‎ Scribner; First Edition (September 29, 2020)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 128 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1982155752
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1982155759
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 4.6 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.5 x 0.4 x 8.38 inches
#129 in TV, Movie & Game Tie-In Fiction
#1,140 in Literary Fiction (Books)
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About the author

Stephen king.

Stephen King is the author of more than fifty books, all of them worldwide bestsellers. His first crime thriller featuring Bill Hodges, MR MERCEDES, won the Edgar Award for best novel and was shortlisted for the CWA Gold Dagger Award. Both MR MERCEDES and END OF WATCH received the Goodreads Choice Award for the Best Mystery and Thriller of 2014 and 2016 respectively.

King co-wrote the bestselling novel Sleeping Beauties with his son Owen King, and many of King's books have been turned into celebrated films and television series including The Shawshank Redemption, Gerald's Game and It.

King was the recipient of America's prestigious 2014 National Medal of Arts and the 2003 National Book Foundation Medal for distinguished contribution to American Letters. In 2007 he also won the Grand Master Award from the Mystery Writers of America. He lives with his wife Tabitha King in Maine.

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IMDb Charts

Imdb top 250 movies.

Tim Robbins in The Shawshank Redemption (1994)

1. The Shawshank Redemption

2. The Godfather

Morgan Freeman, Gary Oldman, Christian Bale, Michael Caine, Aaron Eckhart, Heath Ledger, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Cillian Murphy, and Chin Han in The Dark Knight (2008)

3. The Dark Knight

Al Pacino in The Godfather Part II (1974)

4. The Godfather Part II

Henry Fonda, Martin Balsam, Jack Klugman, Lee J. Cobb, Ed Begley, Edward Binns, John Fiedler, E.G. Marshall, Joseph Sweeney, George Voskovec, Jack Warden, and Robert Webber in 12 Angry Men (1957)

5. 12 Angry Men

6. Schindler's List

Liv Tyler, Sean Astin, Elijah Wood, Viggo Mortensen, Ian McKellen, and Andy Serkis in The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)

7. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King

8. Pulp Fiction

Liv Tyler, Sean Astin, Sean Bean, Elijah Wood, Cate Blanchett, Viggo Mortensen, Ian McKellen, Orlando Bloom, Billy Boyd, Dominic Monaghan, and John Rhys-Davies in The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)

9. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring

10. The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

11. Forrest Gump

Liv Tyler, Sean Astin, Christopher Lee, Elijah Wood, Viggo Mortensen, Miranda Otto, Ian McKellen, Orlando Bloom, John Rhys-Davies, and Andy Serkis in The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002)

12. The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers

Brad Pitt and Edward Norton in Fight Club (1999)

13. Fight Club

Leonardo DiCaprio, Tom Berenger, Michael Caine, Lukas Haas, Marion Cotillard, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Tom Hardy, Elliot Page, Ken Watanabe, and Dileep Rao in Inception (2010)

14. Inception

Harrison Ford, Anthony Daniels, Carrie Fisher, Mark Hamill, James Earl Jones, David Prowse, Kenny Baker, and Peter Mayhew in Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980)

15. Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back

Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne, Joe Pantoliano, and Carrie-Anne Moss in The Matrix (1999)

16. The Matrix

Robert De Niro, Ray Liotta, and Joe Pesci in Goodfellas (1990)

17. Goodfellas

Jack Nicholson in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975)

18. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

Brad Pitt and Morgan Freeman in Se7en (1995)

20. Interstellar

James Stewart and Donna Reed in It's a Wonderful Life (1946)

21. It's a Wonderful Life

22. Seven Samurai

Jodie Foster in The Silence of the Lambs (1991)

23. The Silence of the Lambs

Tom Hanks, Matt Damon, Tom Sizemore, and Edward Burns in Saving Private Ryan (1998)

24. Saving Private Ryan

Inhabitants of Belo Vale Boa Morte and Cidade de Congonhas and Paige Ellens in City of God (2002)

25. City of God

Roberto Benigni, Nicoletta Braschi, and Giorgio Cantarini in Life Is Beautiful (1997)

26. Life Is Beautiful

Javier Bardem, Josh Brolin, Stellan Skarsgård, Rebecca Ferguson, Dave Bautista, Austin Butler, Timothée Chalamet, Zendaya, Florence Pugh, and Souheila Yacoub in Dune: Part Two (2024)

27. Dune: Part Two

28. The Green Mile

Arnold Schwarzenegger in Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)

29. Terminator 2: Judgment Day

Anthony Daniels, Carrie Fisher, Mark Hamill, James Earl Jones, David Prowse, and Kenny Baker in Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977)

30. Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope

Michael J. Fox in Back to the Future (1985)

31. Back to the Future

32. Spirited Away

33. The Pianist

Song Kang-ho, Jung Ik-han, Jung Hyun-jun, Lee Joo-hyung, Lee Ji-hye, Lee Sun-kyun, Cho Yeo-jeong, Park Myeong-hoon, Park Keun-rok, Jang Hye-jin, Choi Woo-sik, Park Seo-joon, Park So-dam, Lee Jeong-eun, and Jung Ji-so in Parasite (2019)

34. Parasite

Anthony Perkins, John Gavin, Janet Leigh, and Heather Dawn May in Psycho (1960)

36. Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse

37. Gladiator

Matthew Broderick in The Lion King (1994)

38. The Lion King

Leonardo DiCaprio, Jack Nicholson, and Matt Damon in The Departed (2006)

39. The Departed

Natalie Portman and Jean Reno in Léon: The Professional (1994)

40. Léon: The Professional

Edward Norton in American History X (1998)

41. American History X

42. Whiplash

Christian Bale, Hugh Jackman, and Scarlett Johansson in The Prestige (2006)

43. The Prestige

Corinne Orr, Ayano Shiraishi, Tsutomu Tatsumi, J. Robert Spencer, Emily Neves, and Adam Gibbs in Grave of the Fireflies (1988)

44. Grave of the Fireflies

45. Harakiri

Kevin Spacey, Stephen Baldwin, Gabriel Byrne, Benicio Del Toro, and Kevin Pollak in The Usual Suspects (1995)

46. The Usual Suspects

Ingrid Bergman, Humphrey Bogart, Peter Lorre, Claude Rains, Sydney Greenstreet, Paul Henreid, and Conrad Veidt in Casablanca (1942)

47. Casablanca

François Cluzet and Omar Sy in The Intouchables (2011)

48. The Intouchables

49. Cinema Paradiso

50. Modern Times

Grace Kelly, James Stewart, and Georgine Darcy in Rear Window (1954)

51. Rear Window

52. Once Upon a Time in the West

54. City Lights

Leonardo DiCaprio, Jamie Foxx, and Christoph Waltz in Django Unchained (2012)

55. Django Unchained

Marlon Brando and Martin Sheen in Apocalypse Now (1979)

56. Apocalypse Now

Guy Pearce and Carrie-Anne Moss in Memento (2000)

57. Memento

58. 12th Fail

60. Raiders of the Lost Ark

Martina Gedeck, Sebastian Koch, and Ulrich Mühe in The Lives of Others (2006)

61. The Lives of Others

William Holden, Nancy Olson, and Gloria Swanson in Sunset Boulevard (1950)

62. Sunset Boulevard

Don Cheadle, Robert Downey Jr., Josh Brolin, Vin Diesel, Paul Bettany, Bradley Cooper, Chris Evans, Sean Gunn, Scarlett Johansson, Elizabeth Olsen, Chris Pratt, Mark Ruffalo, Zoe Saldana, Benedict Wong, Terry Notary, Anthony Mackie, Chris Hemsworth, Dave Bautista, Benedict Cumberbatch, Chadwick Boseman, Sebastian Stan, Danai Gurira, Karen Gillan, Pom Klementieff, Letitia Wright, and Tom Holland in Avengers: Infinity War (2018)

63. Avengers: Infinity War

64. Paths of Glory

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018)

65. Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse

66. Witness for the Prosecution

67. The Shining

Charles Chaplin and Paulette Goddard in The Great Dictator (1940)

68. The Great Dictator

Sigourney Weaver and Carrie Henn in Aliens (1986)

70. Inglourious Basterds

Morgan Freeman, Gary Oldman, Christian Bale, Michael Caine, Matthew Modine, Anne Hathaway, Marion Cotillard, and Joseph Gordon-Levitt in The Dark Knight Rises (2012)

71. The Dark Knight Rises

Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964)

72. Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb

Alfonso Arau, Benjamin Bratt, Alanna Ubach, Gael García Bernal, Dyana Ortelli, Herbert Siguenza, and Anthony Gonzalez in Coco (2017)

74. American Beauty

76. Amadeus

Tom Hanks, R. Lee Ermey, Tim Allen, Annie Potts, John Ratzenberger, Wallace Shawn, Jim Varney, and Don Rickles in Toy Story (1995)

77. Toy Story

Don Cheadle, Robert Downey Jr., Josh Brolin, Bradley Cooper, Chris Evans, Sean Gunn, Scarlett Johansson, Brie Larson, Jeremy Renner, Paul Rudd, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Hemsworth, Danai Gurira, and Karen Gillan in Avengers: Endgame (2019)

78. Avengers: Endgame

79. Das Boot

80. Braveheart

Robin Williams and Matt Damon in Good Will Hunting (1997)

81. Good Will Hunting

82. Princess Mononoke

84. Your Name.

Toshirô Mifune, Kenjirô Ishiyama, Kyôko Kagawa, and Tatsuya Nakadai in High and Low (1963)

85. High and Low

Robert De Niro, James Woods, William Forsythe, Brian Bloom, Adrian Curran, James Hayden, Rusty Jacobs, and Scott Tiler in Once Upon a Time in America (1984)

86. Once Upon a Time in America

Sharman Joshi, Aamir Khan, and Madhavan in 3 Idiots (2009)

87. 3 Idiots

Gene Kelly, Debbie Reynolds, and Donald O'Connor in Singin' in the Rain (1952)

88. Singin' in the Rain

89. Capernaum

Aleksey Kravchenko in Come and See (1985)

90. Come and See

Jennifer Connelly in Requiem for a Dream (2000)

91. Requiem for a Dream

Tom Hanks, Joan Cusack, Tim Allen, John Ratzenberger, Wallace Shawn, Jodi Benson, Blake Clark, Estelle Harris, Jeff Pidgeon, Don Rickles, and Frank Welker in Toy Story 3 (2010)

92. Toy Story 3

Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Mark Hamill, James Earl Jones, Warwick Davis, David Prowse, Billy Dee Williams, Michael Carter, and Larry Ward in Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi (1983)

93. Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi

Jim Carrey and Kate Winslet in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)

94. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

95. The Hunt

96. 2001: A Space Odyssey

97. Oppenheimer

Steve Buscemi, Harvey Keitel, Michael Madsen, Tim Roth, and Chris Penn in Reservoir Dogs (1992)

98. Reservoir Dogs

100. Lawrence of Arabia

Jack Lemmon and Shirley MacLaine in The Apartment (1960)

101. The Apartment

Mélissa Désormeaux-Poulin in Incendies (2010)

102. Incendies

Cary Grant, Alfred Hitchcock, Eva Marie Saint, and Philip Ober in North by Northwest (1959)

103. North by Northwest

Orson Welles, Dorothy Comingore, and Ruth Warrick in Citizen Kane (1941)

104. Citizen Kane

106. Vertigo

107. Scarface

Edward G. Robinson, Barbara Stanwyck, and Fred MacMurray in Double Indemnity (1944)

108. Double Indemnity

109. Full Metal Jacket

110. Amélie

Robert De Niro, Val Kilmer, Al Pacino, Ted Levine, Wes Studi, Jerry Trimble, and Mykelti Williamson in Heat (1995)

112. A Clockwork Orange

Edward Asner, Bob Peterson, and Jordan Nagai in Up (2009)

114. To Kill a Mockingbird

Leila Hatami and Payman Maadi in A Separation (2011)

115. A Separation

Paul Newman and Robert Redford in The Sting (1973)

116. The Sting

Sean Connery, Harrison Ford, Denholm Elliott, Michael Byrne, Alison Doody, and John Rhys-Davies in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989)

117. Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade

118. Die Hard

119. Metropolis

Aamir Khan and Darsheel Safary in Like Stars on Earth (2007)

120. Like Stars on Earth

Brad Pitt, Benicio Del Toro, Dennis Farina, Vinnie Jones, Jason Statham, and Ade in Snatch (2000)

121. Snatch

122. Hamilton

Kim Basinger, Russell Crowe, Kevin Spacey, Danny DeVito, and Guy Pearce in L.A. Confidential (1997)

123. L.A. Confidential

George MacKay and Dean-Charles Chapman in 1917 (2019)

125. Bicycle Thieves

126. Taxi Driver

127. Downfall

128. Dangal

Clint Eastwood and Lee Van Cleef in For a Few Dollars More (1965)

129. For a Few Dollars More

130. Batman Begins

Leonardo DiCaprio and Jonah Hill in The Wolf of Wall Street (2013)

131. The Wolf of Wall Street

Marilyn Monroe, Tony Curtis, and Jack Lemmon in Some Like It Hot (1959)

132. Some Like It Hot

Viggo Mortensen and Mahershala Ali in Green Book (2018)

133. Green Book

Charles Chaplin and Jackie Coogan in The Kid (1921)

134. The Kid

Anthony Hopkins and Olivia Colman in The Father (2020)

135. The Father

Marlene Dietrich, Judy Garland, Burt Lancaster, Spencer Tracy, Montgomery Clift, Maximilian Schell, and Richard Widmark in Judgment at Nuremberg (1961)

136. Judgment at Nuremberg

137. The Truman Show

138. All About Eve

139. Top Gun: Maverick

Leonardo DiCaprio in Shutter Island (2010)

140. Shutter Island

Daniel Day-Lewis in There Will Be Blood (2007)

141. There Will Be Blood

Robert De Niro, Sharon Stone, and Joe Pesci in Casino (1995)

142. Casino

Jeff Goldblum, Richard Attenborough, Laura Dern, Sam Neill, Ariana Richards, BD Wong, Joseph Mazzello, Martin Ferrero, and Bob Peck in Jurassic Park (1993)

143. Jurassic Park

145. The Sixth Sense

146. Pan's Labyrinth

Clint Eastwood, Morgan Freeman, Gene Hackman, and Richard Harris in Unforgiven (1992)

147. Unforgiven

Javier Bardem and Josh Brolin in No Country for Old Men (2007)

148. No Country for Old Men

Russell Crowe in A Beautiful Mind (2001)

149. A Beautiful Mind

150. The Thing

151. Kill Bill: Vol. 1

Humphrey Bogart, Tim Holt, and Walter Huston in The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948)

152. The Treasure of the Sierra Madre

153. Yojimbo

John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Graham Chapman, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, Michael Palin, and Monty Python in Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975)

154. Monty Python and the Holy Grail

Richard Attenborough, Steve McQueen, and James Garner in The Great Escape (1963)

155. The Great Escape

Willem Dafoe, Albert Brooks, Ellen DeGeneres, and Brad Garrett in Finding Nemo (2003)

156. Finding Nemo

Jake Gyllenhaal and Hugh Jackman in Prisoners (2013)

157. Prisoners

158. Rashomon

Christian Bale, Jean Simmons, Chieko Baishô, and Takuya Kimura in Howl's Moving Castle (2004)

159. Howl's Moving Castle

160. The Elephant Man

Jack Nicholson and Faye Dunaway in Chinatown (1974)

161. Chinatown

Grace Kelly and Anthony Dawson in Dial M for Murder (1954)

162. Dial M for Murder

Clark Gable and Vivien Leigh in Gone with the Wind (1939)

163. Gone with the Wind

Natalie Portman and Hugo Weaving in V for Vendetta (2005)

164. V for Vendetta

Jason Flemyng, Dexter Fletcher, Vinnie Jones, Jason Statham, and Nick Moran in Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (1998)

165. Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels

Ricardo Darín and Soledad Villamil in The Secret in Their Eyes (2009)

166. The Secret in Their Eyes

Lewis Black, Bill Hader, Amy Poehler, Phyllis Smith, and Mindy Kaling in Inside Out (2015)

167. Inside Out

168. Raging Bull

Woody Harrelson, Frances McDormand, and Sam Rockwell in Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (2017)

169. Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

Ewan McGregor, Robert Carlyle, Jonny Lee Miller, Ewen Bremner, and Kelly Macdonald in Trainspotting (1996)

170. Trainspotting

Alec Guinness, William Holden, Jack Hawkins, Sessue Hayakawa, Geoffrey Horne, and Ann Sears in The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)

171. The Bridge on the River Kwai

Joan Cusack, Jason Schwartzman, Rashida Jones, Sergio Pablos, Will Sasso, J.K. Simmons, and Neda Margrethe Labba in Klaus (2019)

174. Spider-Man: No Way Home

Leonardo DiCaprio and Tom Hanks in Catch Me If You Can (2002)

175. Catch Me If You Can

Joel Edgerton and Tom Hardy in Warrior (2011)

176. Warrior

177. Gran Torino

Cheryl Chase, Dakota Fanning, Noriko Hidaka, Lisa Michelson, Chika Sakamoto, Hitoshi Takagi, Frank Welker, and Elle Fanning in My Neighbor Totoro (1988)

178. My Neighbor Totoro

Clint Eastwood, Morgan Freeman, and Hilary Swank in Million Dollar Baby (2004)

179. Million Dollar Baby

Rupert Grint, Daniel Radcliffe, and Emma Watson in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (2011)

180. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2

181. Children of Heaven

Chiwetel Ejiofor in 12 Years a Slave (2013)

182. 12 Years a Slave

Harrison Ford and Sean Young in Blade Runner (1982)

183. Blade Runner

Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy in Before Sunrise (1995)

184. Before Sunrise

185. Ben-Hur

186. Barry Lyndon

187. The Grand Budapest Hotel

188. Gone Girl

189. Hacksaw Ridge

190. The Gold Rush

191. Memories of Murder

Daniel Day-Lewis in In the Name of the Father (1993)

192. In the Name of the Father

Robin Williams in Dead Poets Society (1989)

193. Dead Poets Society

Charlize Theron and Tom Hardy in Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)

194. Mad Max: Fury Road

Rita Cortese, Ricardo Darín, Diego Gentile, Darío Grandinetti, Oscar Martínez, María Marull, Erica Rivas, Leonardo Sbaraglia, Mónica Villa, María Onetto, and Julieta Zylberberg in Wild Tales (2014)

195. Wild Tales

Robert De Niro and Christopher Walken in The Deer Hunter (1978)

196. The Deer Hunter

197. The General

Billy Crystal and John Goodman in Monsters, Inc. (2001)

198. Monsters, Inc.

Marlon Brando in On the Waterfront (1954)

199. On the Waterfront

200. Sherlock Jr.

Susan Backlinie and Bruce in Jaws (1975)

202. How to Train Your Dragon

203. The Third Man

204. The Wages of Fear

205. Mary and Max

206. Wild Strawberries

James Stewart, Jean Arthur, Claude Rains, Edward Arnold, Beulah Bondi, Guy Kibbee, Thomas Mitchell, and Eugene Pallette in Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939)

207. Mr. Smith Goes to Washington

Janeane Garofalo, Ian Holm, Peter O'Toole, Brian Dennehy, John Ratzenberger, James Remar, Will Arnett, Brad Garrett, Kathy Griffin, Brad Bird, Lindsey Collins, Walt Dohrn, Tony Fucile, Michael Giacchino, Bradford Lewis, Danny Mann, Teddy Newton, Patton Oswalt, Lou Romano, Peter Sohn, Jake Steinfeld, Stéphane Roux, Lori Richardson, Thomas Keller, Julius Callahan, Marco Boerries, Andrea Boerries, and Jack Bird in Ratatouille (2007)

208. Ratatouille

Christian Bale and Matt Damon in Ford v Ferrari (2019)

209. Ford v Ferrari

Setsuko Hara and Chishû Ryû in Tokyo Story (1953)

210. Tokyo Story

Julianne Moore and Jeff Bridges in The Big Lebowski (1998)

211. The Big Lebowski

Brie Larson and Jacob Tremblay in Room (2015)

213. The Seventh Seal

Sylvester Stallone and Talia Shire in Rocky (1976)

216. Spotlight

Don Cheadle, Nick Nolte, Joaquin Phoenix, Mosa Kaiser, Sophie Okonedo, Ofentse Modiselle, and Mathabo Pieterson in Hotel Rwanda (2004)

217. Hotel Rwanda

Arnold Schwarzenegger in The Terminator (1984)

218. The Terminator

Charlie Sheen, Willem Dafoe, John C. McGinley, and Kevin Eshelman in Platoon (1986)

219. Platoon

Maria Falconetti and Eugene Silvain in The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928)

220. The Passion of Joan of Arc

221. La haine

Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy in Before Sunset (2004)

222. Before Sunset

Dana Andrews, Myrna Loy, Fredric March, Virginia Mayo, and Teresa Wright in The Best Years of Our Lives (1946)

223. The Best Years of Our Lives

Johnny Depp, Geoffrey Rush, Orlando Bloom, and Keira Knightley in Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003)

224. Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl

225. The Exorcist

Daniel Brühl and Chris Hemsworth in Rush (2013)

227. Jai Bhim

228. Network

229. Stand by Me

Judy Garland, Ray Bolger, Jack Haley, Bert Lahr, and Frank Morgan in The Wizard of Oz (1939)

230. The Wizard of Oz

Samuel L. Jackson, Holly Hunter, Jason Lee, Craig T. Nelson, Brad Bird, Sarah Vowell, and Spencer Fox in The Incredibles (2004)

231. The Incredibles

Richard Gere in Hachi: A Dog's Tale (2009)

232. Hachi: A Dog's Tale

Kim Min-hee, Ha Jung-woo, Cho Jin-woong, and Kim Tae-ri in The Handmaiden (2016)

233. The Handmaiden

234. Into the Wild

Hümeyra, Fikret Kuskan, Çetin Tekindor, Özge Özberk, and Ege Tanman in My Father and My Son (2005)

235. My Father and My Son

Julie Andrews, Christopher Plummer, Charmian Carr, Angela Cartwright, Duane Chase, Nicholas Hammond, Kym Karath, Heather Menzies-Urich, and Debbie Turner in The Sound of Music (1965)

236. The Sound of Music

Fouzia El Kader, Brahim Hadjadj, and Jean Martin in The Battle of Algiers (1966)

237. The Battle of Algiers

Jack Benny and Carole Lombard in To Be or Not to Be (1942)

238. To Be or Not to Be

Henry Fonda, John Carradine, Jane Darwell, Dorris Bowdon, Frank Darien, and Russell Simpson in The Grapes of Wrath (1940)

239. The Grapes of Wrath

Bill Murray and Andie MacDowell in Groundhog Day (1993)

240. Groundhog Day

Emilio Echevarría, Gael García Bernal, and Goya Toledo in Amores Perros (2000)

241. Amores Perros

Jennifer Aniston, Harry Connick Jr., John Mahoney, Christopher McDonald, Vin Diesel, and Bob Bergen in The Iron Giant (1999)

242. The Iron Giant

Joan Fontaine and Laurence Olivier in Rebecca (1940)

243. Rebecca

244. Cool Hand Luke

Viola Davis, Bryce Dallas Howard, Octavia Spencer, and Emma Stone in The Help (2011)

245. The Help

Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert in It Happened One Night (1934)

246. It Happened One Night

Robin Williams, Jonathan Freeman, Gilbert Gottfried, Linda Larkin, Douglas Seale, Scott Weinger, and Frank Welker in Aladdin (1992)

247. Aladdin

Kevin Costner in Dances with Wolves (1990)

248. Dances with Wolves

Tabu, Ajay Devgn, Shriya Saran, Ishita Dutta, and Mrunal Jadhav in Drishyam (2015)

249. Drishyam

250. Andhadhun

The Top Rated Movie list only includes feature films.

Shorts, TV movies, and documentaries are not included
The list is ranked by a formula which includes the number of ratings each movie received from users, and value of ratings received from regular users
To be included on the list, a movie must receive ratings from at least 25000 users

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Top box office (us), most popular movies, top rated english movies, most popular tv shows, top 250 tv shows, lowest rated movies, most popular celebs.

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The Shawshank Redemption Movie Review (1994)
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COMMENTS

The Shawshank Redemption movie review (1994)
The movie is based on a story, Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption, by Stephen King, which is quite unlike most of King's work. The horror here is not of the supernatural kind, but of the sort that flows from the realization than 10, 20, 30 years of a man's life have unreeled in the same unchanging daily prison routine. Advertisement.
The Shawshank Redemption movie review (1994)
"The Shawshank Redemption" premiered at the Toronto Film Festival in September 1994, and opened a few weeks later. It got good reviews but did poor business (its $18 million original gross didn't cover costs; it took in only another $10 million after winning seven Oscar nominations, including best picture).
'The Shawshank Redemption' Review: 1994 Movie
On Sept. 23, 1994, after a premiere at the Toronto film fest, The Shawshank Redemption hit theaters nationwide. The Morgan Freeman and Tim Robbins film eventually nabbed seven Oscar nominations.
The Shawshank Redemption
The Shawshank Redemption is a 1994 American prison drama film written and ... Contemporary review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes gives the film an 89% ... "About everywhere you go, people say, ' The Shawshank Redemption—greatest movie I ever saw '" and that such praise "Just comes out of them". Robbins said, "I swear to God, all ...
The Shawshank Redemption
Watchlist. Andy Dufresne (Tim Robbins) is sentenced to two consecutive life terms in prison for the murders of his wife and her lover and is sentenced to a tough prison. However, only Andy knows ...
The Shawshank Redemption
In Theaters: Sep 1, 1994 Streaming: Aug 15, 2008 Columbia Pictures, Castle Rock Entertainment ... The Shawshank Redemption is both resigned and inspirational, grittily realistic and vaguely ...
The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
The Shawshank Redemption: Directed by Frank Darabont. With Tim Robbins, Morgan Freeman, Bob Gunton, William Sadler. Over the course of several years, two convicts form a friendship, seeking consolation and, eventually, redemption through basic compassion.
The Shawshank Redemption
MPAA Rating: R. Running time: 142 min. With: Andy Dufresne - Tim Robbins Ellis Boy "Red" Redding - Morgan Freeman Warden Samuel Norton - Bob Gunton Heywood - William Sadler Capt. Byron Hadley ...
The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
It is an adaptation of the Stephen King novella Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption. Starring Tim Robbins and Morgan Freeman, the film portrays the story of Andy Dufresne (Robbins), a banker who is sentenced to two life sentences at Shawshank State Prison for apparently murdering his wife and her lover. Andy finds it tough going but finds ...
The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
Film Movie Reviews The Shawshank Redemption — 1994. The Shawshank Redemption. 1994. 2h 22m. R. Drama. ... One of the big pop-culture narratives of 1994 was a manufactured rivalry between two ...
The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
At times poignant, joyful, and terrifying, Shawshank Redemption is an altogether brilliant movie and the debut of an equally brilliant director. 88. ReelViews James Berardinelli. ReelViews James Berardinelli. Whitmore's Brooks is a brilliantly-realized character, and the scenes with him attempting to cope with life outside of Shawshank ...
The Shawshank Redemption Movie Review
Parents need to know that The Shawshank Redemption is an Oscar-nominated 1994 movie based on a Stephen King story about a man sent to a maximum security prison in Maine in the 1950s who shows the other inmates perseverance and provides a sense of hope and optimism in the bleakest of places and under the most difficult of circumstances. The gritty world of Shawshank Prison is populated with ...
The Shawshank Redemption
The Shawshank Redemption. ... [27 Sept 1994] Read More By David Sterritt User Reviews User Reviews View All. User Score Universal Acclaim Based on 2,110 User Ratings. 9.0. 93% Positive 1958 Ratings ... Speaking of jail, "Shawshank"-the-movie seems to last about half a life sentence. The story, chiefly about the 20-year friendship between ...
FILM REVIEW; Prison Tale by Stephen King Told ...
The film has a tendency to wax romantic at such moments, but more often it sustains an intelligent reserve. Mr. Freeman is so quietly impressive here that there's reason to wish Red's role had ...
The Shawshank Redemption Review
16 Feb 1994. Running Time: 143 minutes. Certificate: 15. Original Title: Shawshank Redemption, The. This movie is based on a novella by Stephen King, but don't let that put you off. It's not a ...
Classic Movie Review: 'The Shawshank Redemption' (1994)
Number 2. Play it tonight. Shawshank (the title prison) is a monstrous compound that really takes the viewer back to the days before prison reformations. Fun fact, the film was shot in an idle ...
The Shawshank Redemption
Few other modern films capture the power of the human spirit more than The Shawshank Redemption. Directed by Frank Darabont, released originally in 1994, and starring Morgan Freeman as Ellis 'Boyd' Redding, Tim Robbins as Andy Dufresne; this film was not originally successful in movie theaters when it was released to the general public.
Shawshank Redemption, The
Shawshank Redemption, The (United States, 1994) A movie review by James Berardinelli. With a legion of titles like Pet Sematary, Firewalker, ... While The Shawshank Redemption is not a Reiner movie per se, it is a production of Castle Rock Pictures (Reiner's film company), and ranks among the best filmed versions of any King stories to date ...
MOVIE REVIEW : 'Shawshank': Solid Portrayals but a Dubious Treatment
It is to Shawshank sometime in 1947 that bank vice president Andy Dufresne (Robbins) is sent to serve a double life sentence for the murders of his wife and her boyfriend. In a brief prologue, we ...
The Shawshank Redemption (1994) Plot Summary & Movie Review
Review. "The Shawshank Redemption" is a 1994 American drama film directed by Frank Darabont and starring Tim Robbins and Morgan Freeman. The movie is based on a novella by Stephen King. "The Shawshank Redemption" has become a classic in American cinema and is often regarded as one of the greatest films ever made. And it is not hard to ...
the shawshank redemption (1994)
Summary. Andy Dufresne (Tim Robbins) is sentenced to two consecutive life terms in prison for the murders of his wife and her lover in the late 1940s. However, only Andy knows that he didn't ...
'Fans from all over the world': Shawshank Redemption turns 30 ...
"Shawshank Redemption" was filmed over the summer of 1993, then released in September 1994. The Internet Movie Database still lists The Shawshank Redemption as the best movie ever made, ahead of ...
9 Mistakes in The Shawshank Redemption
Many call The Shawshank Redemption a perfect film, holding a top spot on IMDb's rankings for some time. Oddly, it was overlooked upon its release in 1994 but gained traction as one of the greatest ...
The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
Synopsis. In 1947, Andy Dufresne ( Tim Robbins ), a banker in Maine, is convicted of murdering his wife and her lover, a golf pro. Since the state of Maine has no death penalty, he is given two consecutive life sentences and sent to the notoriously harsh Shawshank Prison. Andy keeps claiming his innocence, but his cold and calculating demeanor ...
10 Biggest Movies Missing From Rotten Tomatoes' Best Films Of All-Time
The Shawshank Redemption was actually a Stephen King book before it was a movie, and here are the big differences from page to screen. Forrest Gump Released In 1994
Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption Paperback
#1 New York Times bestselling author Stephen King's beloved novella, Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption —the basis for the Best Picture Academy Award-nominee The Shawshank Redemption —about an unjustly imprisoned convict who seeks a strangely satisfying revenge, is now available for the first time as a standalone book. A mesmerizing tale of unjust imprisonment and offbeat escape ...
Top 10 Highest-Rated Movies On IMDb In 2024| Business Connect
The Shawshank Redemption (1994) - IMDb Rating: 9.3: "The Shawshank Redemption" is a timeless masterpiece directed by Frank Darabont. Adapted from a Stephen King novella, the film follows the story of Andy Dufresne (Tim Robbins), a wrongly convicted banker, and his extraordinary journey through life within the confines of Shawshank State ...
IMDb Top 250 Movies
Release Calendar Top 250 Movies Most Popular Movies Browse Movies by Genre Top Box Office Showtimes & Tickets Movie News India Movie Spotlight. ... The Shawshank Redemption. 1994 2h 22m R. 9.3 (2.9M) Rate. 2. The Godfather. 1972 2h 55m R. 9.2 (2M) Rate. 3. The Dark Knight ... 1994 2h 34m R. 8.9 (2.2M) Rate. 9. The Lord of the Rings: The ...

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The Shawshank Redemption accounted for 151 hours of basic cable airtime in 2013

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FILM REVIEW; Prison Tale by Stephen King Told Gently, Believe It or Not