Starring:	Tim Robbins	137min
	Morgan Freeman
		1994
Screenplay:	Frank Darabont	Drama
Director:	Frank Darabont	Colour

Region	2	Studio:	VCI
Format	Double Sided, Singke Layer	Subtitles	None
Aspect ratio	16:9 or 4:3
Anamorphic	Yes
Soundtracks	Dolby Digital 2.0	Extra Features	Interviews with cast & crew
			Sub-plots
Case type	Amaray		Theatrical Trailer
			Music & animated menu
			Biographies

The DVD * * * *

The Movie * * * * *

The DVD When this disc was originally released, VCI found themselves the first target of the UK DVD buying public's wrath. Fancy releasing such a classic - in pan and scan only! Well, they took the criticism to heart and have spent months sourcing a widescreen print to include on the disc. And here is it, now proudly dual sided, along with Hellraiser - all other future releases are to be widescreen only (where possible). Whoo - as Homer Simpson would say - hooo. The irony of all this is that The Shawshank Redemption was filmed in the "open matte" 35mm format - in other words, the widescreen version actually has the top and bottom of the picture chopped off! Despite this, the decision is not as daft as it first appears. Firstly, this framing is what the movie going public saw in 1994. Secondly, those with widescreen TVs can enjoy this at top quality, with a third more resolution than by zooming out the fullscreen version. In short, this is the best of both worlds - choose your version depending on the shape of your set, and stop your wingeing. The new transfer is, it has to be said, not the absolute finest word in DVD quality. But that said, most of the anomalies are to do with "blocky" backgrounds - all the movement within the frame looks squeaky clean. In practice, if you spend the entire film staring at the out of focus walls, you'll be ever so frustrated. If, on the other hand, you decide to watch the movie instead, you won't notice or care. The funnies are never actually distracting, the sparkle in Andy Dufresne's eyes is perfection, and Roger Deakins atmospheric cinematography is otherwise well rendered. And speaking of atmosphere, the sound (although only normal surround, not 5.1) is absolutely cracking. The feet on metal corridors behind you, the THUMP of the lights out and the echo of Mozart around the compound is superb, added to the STUPENDOUS score by Thomas Newman. How he escaped getting an Oscar I'll never understand. But hey, that goes for the whole movie, losing out to Forrest Gump. A damn fine move, but... oh well. The film is 2 minutes over DVD's "maximum" 2 1/4 hours as it is, but side one also manages to cram in a trailer, a nice little featurette and biogs, as per the original release. One silly - but actually rather important - criticism; the first shot in the video montage laid under menu would ruin the entire film for someone who hasn't seen the movie! A word to VCI - please think about not giving the entire plot away during the menus! That aside, they (and the other special features) are excellent, and the company should be justly proud in leading the way in this area over here. One unique feature to VCI releases are the "sub plots", which follow through one element of the story from beginning to end. Nice, but why on earth would anyone want to sit through all the attacks by "the Sisters" in one go?! What else would I have liked? A running commentary, the shooting script, a music only mix, an hour long feature... basically, I can't ever get enough of this film, probably my personal absolute favourite of the nineties. But there is only so much you can fit on even a mighty dual sided DVD with widescreen and fullscreen versions. If you do love the film and want more, I recommend the Newmarket Press' Shooting Script (ISBN 1-55704-246-2), complete with director's notes, and introduction by Stephen King. It comes to this. If you want to show off your DVD picture, buy Batman and Robin. If you want an excellent all round package of a masterpiece - spend some time in Shawshank. Almost top marks to VCI - and I mean this - for really trying.