Blu-ray Movie Reviews

A prominent banker unjustly convicted of murder spends many years in the Shawshank prison. He is befriended by a convict who knows the ropes and helps him to cope with the frightening realities of prison life.

The Shawshank Redemption is arguably the best Stephen King adaptation to ever appear on the big screen. His books are always hit or miss and only a handful have every impressed me on screen. Films like The Shining,The Green Mile, and Misery come to mind. But Shawshank was such a phenomenal story, production and journey leaving me utterly mesmerized and touched on an emotional level that the other films I mentioned never quite achieved.

Most prison films deal more with the horrors that await prisoners. While this film does address those realities, in frightening form at times, it also deals with the humanistic side of hope and institutionalism. I don’t really want to give away much here, but if you haven’t seen this film it is definitely one to own.

Warner delivers an excellent HD presentation for this classic. I loved the photography of this film and this Blu-ray presentation makes the most of it. Black levels are solid and the shadow detail in the dimly lit prison is excellent. The image has a very dimensional quality and depth of image is strong throughout. Fine object detail is exceptional in close ups but longer shots have more of a film look that is a bit softer than some of the razor sharp digital images we see today. Colors are very natural and never overdriven and the image just has a very classy look to it. A solid video presentation.

Bravo to Warner on providing a Dolby TrueHD 5.1 mix for this one. While this isn’t the most aggressive sound design I’ve always loved the film’s score and sense of ambiance. This is especially true in the prison at night where faint nuance is a big part of the experience. The dialogue sounds dead on in tonal balance and timbre and the imaging is solid throughout.

Warner delivers this one in a digi-book package that includes an introduction to the film, cast and crew bios and some trivia. Each page has nicely done images from the film and of the principal players. The disc includes a feature commentary with the director and two great documentaries on the film’s production and impact. There are also interviews with the cast and crew, a funny animated spoof and the trailer.

This is an absolute film gem and one of my favorite films. It is amazing still that this was based on a short story by horror legend Stephen King. Warner has done an outstanding job with the A/V presentation making this an easy recommendation.