The Shawshank Redemption [Blu-ray]

Director: Frank Darabont Frank Darabont

Overview

In 1946, a banker named Andy Dufresne (Tim Robbins) is convicted of a double murder, even though he stubbornly proclaims his innocence. He's sentenced to a life term at the Shawshank State Prison in Maine, where another lifer, Ellis "Red" Redding (Morgan Freeman), picks him as the new recruit most likely to crack under the pressure. The ugly realities of prison life are quickly introduced to Andy: a corrupt warden (Bob Gunton), sadistic guards led by Capt. Byron Hadley (Clancy Brown), and inmates who are little better than animals, willing to use rape or beatings to insure their dominance. But Andy does not crack: he has the hope of the truly innocent, which (together with his smarts) allow him to prevail behind bars. He uses his banking skills to win favor with the warden and the guards, doing the books for Norton's illegal business schemes and keeping an eye on the investments of most of the prison staff. In exchange, he is able to improve the prison library and bring some dignity and respect back to many of the inmates, including Red. Based on a story by Stephen King, The Shawshank Redemption was the directorial debut of screenwriter Frank Darabont.

Product Details

Release Date:	11/16/2010
UPC:	0883929085156
Original Release:	1994
Rating:	R
Source:	Warner Home Video
Presentation:	[Wide Screen]
Sound:	[Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround]
Language:	English
Time:	2:22:00
Sales rank:	3,614

Special Features

Commentary by writer/director Frank Darabont; 2 Documentaries hope springs eternal: a look back at the Shawshank Redemption; Shawshank: the redeeming feature; The charlie rose show segment featuring darabont, Tim Robbins and Morgan Freeman; Comic spoof The Sharktank redemption; Stills and collectibles galleries; Theatrical trailer

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Tim Robbins	Andy Dufresne
Morgan Freeman	Ellis Boyd 'Red' Redding,Fresh Fish Con
Bob Gunton	Warden Norton,Actor
William Sadler	Heywood
Clancy Brown	Captain Hadley
Gil Bellows	Tommy Williams
James Whitmore	Brooks Hatlen
Mark Rolston	Bogs Diamond
Larry Brandenburg	Skeet
Neil Giuntoli	Jigger
Brian Libby	Floyd
David Proval	Snooze
Joseph Ragno	Ernie
Jude Ciccolella	Guard Mert
Paul McCrane	Guard Trout
Renee Blaine	Andy Dufresne's Wife
Scott Mann	Glenn Quentin
John Horton	1946 Judge
Gordon C. Greene	1947 Parole Hearings Man,1947 Parole Hearings Man
V.J. Foster	Hungry Fish Con,Hungry Fish Con
John E. Summers	New Fish Guard,Pete
Mack Miles	Tyrell
Alan R. Kessler	Laundry Bob
Morgan Lund	Laundry Truck Driver
Cornell Wallace	Laundry Leonard
Gary Lee Davis	Rooster
Ned Bellamy	Guard Youngblood
Joseph Pecoraro	Projectionist,Projectionist
Harold E. Cope Jr.	Hole Guard
Brian Delate	Guard Dekins
Don R. McManus	Guard Wiley,Guard Wiley
Donald E. Zinn	Moresby Batter,Moresby Batter
Dorothy Silver	1954 Landlady
Robert Haley	1954 Food-Way Manager
Dana Snyder	1954 Food-Way Woman
John D. Craig	1957 Parole Hearings Man
Ken Magee	Ned Grimes
Eugene C. DePasquale	Mail Caller
Bill Bolender	Elmo Blatch
Ron Newell	Elderly Hole Guard
John R. Woodward	Bullhorn Tower Guard
Chuck Brauchler	Man Missing Guard
Dion Anderson	Head Bull Haig
Claire Slemmer	Bank Teller
James Kisicki	Bank Manager
Rohn Thomas	Bugle Editor
Charlie Kearns	1966 DA
Rob Reider	Duty Guard
Brian Brophy	1967 Parole Hearings Man
Paul Kennedy	1967 Food-Way Manager
Jeffrey DeMunn	1946 D.A.
Frank Medrano	Fat Ass
Bob Gunten	Actor
James Whitmore Jr	Actor
Julie Lichter	Actor
Deborah Aquila	Actor
Stephen King	Actor
Frank Darabont	Actor
Steve Eastin	Actor
Joe Ragno	Ernie
Thomas Newman	Composer

Technical Credits

Frank Darabont

Stephen King

Frank Darabont	Director,Screenwriter
Deborah Aquila	Casting
Liz Glotzer	Executive Producer,Producer
David Lester	Executive Producer,Executive Producer,Producer
Niki Marvin	Producer,Director
Stephen King	Screenwriter
Melissa Taylor	Special Effects
Petra Bach	Sound Effects
Kevin Bartnof	Sound Effects
David Behle	Sound Effects
Bruce Bell	Sound Effects
Mike Boudry	Sound Effects
Bob Williams	Special Effects
Robert Litt	Sound/Sound Designer
Willie Burton	Sound/Sound Designer
Michael Herbick	Sound/Sound Designer
Elliot Tyson	Sound/Sound Designer

Editorial Reviews

Released in 1994 to mixed reviews, this engrossing adaptation of a Stephen King novella impressed moviegoers with its painstaking exactitude, stylish direction, and memorable performances. It went on to earn seven Academy Award nominations and become a giant hit on home video, finding a huge and appreciative audience. It begins in 1947, when bank vice president Andy Dufresne (Tim Robbins) is convicted on circumstantial evidence for the murder of his wife and her lover. Sentenced to life imprisonment in Shawshank Prison, he endures with a quiet tenacity that wins him the respect of both hardened prisoners -- like "Red" (Morgan Freeman) -- and the duplicitous warden (Bob Gunton), who puts the new fish to work on his personal financial matters. Director Frank Darabont allows audiences to experience the tedium of prison. Life in Shawshank is not just tedious, though; it's also grueling and painful, punctuated by bursts of brutality and horror that wear down prisoners sentenced to long terms. And it unfolds, according to Darabont, in a manner in which seemingly oblique words or incidents prove later on to have special resonance. Despite the grim subject matter and two-and-a-half-hour length, The Shawshank Redemption is both engaging and ultimately uplifting. Much credit for this goes to Robbins and Freeman, each of whom displays qualities that make his character especially vivid and memorable. It's a rewarding motion picture that's guaranteed to linger in one's memory.

Barnes & Noble - Ed Hulse

Adapted from a Stephen King novella, The Shawshank Redemption takes a prison drama and twists it into a fascinating existential treatise on how to approach the business of day-to-day life in the face of a desperately Sisyphian reality. As the film's signature line suggests, "Get busy livin' or get busy dyin'." Filmed on location in an Ohio prison, the film occasionally lapses into familiar formulas and well-known stereotypes of the prison-drama genre, but overcomes them due in no small part to a pair of transcendent performances by Morgan Freeman and Tim Robbins. Director Frank Darabont and cinematographer Roger Deakins (a Coen brothers collaborator) recreate the drudgery and hopelessness of prison life in both the look and the details of dreary rituals of daily life. Spanning twenty years in the lives of its protagonists, Darabont's screenplay and direction allow us the luxury of getting to know these men -- hardened criminals, with little hope for the future -- through a series of quietly captivating scenes that slowly build atmosphere and tension without sacrificing characterization and thematic integrity. A critical success but a box office failure when it was first released, the film was nominated for seven Oscars, but won nary a one. Only when Shawshank was released on video and began running repeatedly on cable did it steadily garner full-fledged public reverence.

All Movie Guide - Dan Jardine