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The Ring (Widescreen)
Stars:
Naomi Watts, Martin Henderson, and Brian Cox
Writer:
Ehren Kruger
Based
On The Novel “The Ring” By: Koji Suzuki
Director:
Gore Verbinski
Feature
length: 1 hour and 55 minutes
Extras:
Short Film and Trailers
Languages:
English DTS Digital 5.1 Theatrical Surround Sound, Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround
Sound, and Dolby Surround Sound as well as French Language Dolby Digital 5.1
Surround Sound
Subtitles:
English Captions and French and Spanish Language Subtitles
Packaging:
Keep Case
Chapter
Stops: 23
Sound:
DTS Digital 5.1 Theatrical Surround Sound, Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound, and
Dolby Surround Sound
Year
of Theatrical Release: 2002/DVD Release: 2003
Theatrical
Distributor: DreamWorks Pictures
Home
Video Distributor: DreamWorks Home Entertainment
MPAA
Rating: PG-13
Reviewer:
Mark A. Rivera
“The
Ring” is an American remake of the Japanese horror film “Ringu,” which was
adapted from the novel “The Ring” by Koji Suzuki. If you have seen
“Ringu” then you already have an idea about what to expect because “The
Ring” follows all of the plot points of “Ringu” and more or less expands a
bit upon the action to create more disturbing images that are nothing short of
creepy. “The Ring” will leave viewers with more questions than it answers
with a story that is basically a well constructed urban legend that depicts a
videotape with strange images that look like they were left over dailies from a
few hellish music videos and then after the tape plays itself out the viewer
gets a mysterious phone call informing them they have seven days to live. Sure
enough the viewer bites the dust and this compels a journalist to investigate
the story after her niece succumbs to an untimely death. The anti gets higher
when her creepy son sees the tape thus motivating her to seek out the root of
this phenomenon and hopefully find salvation.
The
ultimate resolution does piece together elements in the mystery nicely, but as
noted above, the film opens up a lot more questions and a very surreal surprise.
I am surprised this film got a PG-13 rating because while the film is not
overtly violent or sexual, it nevertheless presents nightmarish images enough to
keep kids and some adults awake at night.
DreamWorks
is releasing “The Ring” on DVD in conjunction with the American DVD debut of
“Ringu.” “The Ring” is being released in both anamorphic widescreen and
panned and scanned versions sold separately. The widescreen image presents the
film with an aspect ratio of (1.85:1) and the image is appropriately subdued and
murky with no hints of color bleeding or compression grain. The English DTS
Digital 5.1 Theatrical Surround Soundtrack has a slight edge over the English
Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Soundtrack, but otherwise both soundtracks should
sufficiently creep out viewers with home theater sound systems. An English Dolby
Surround Soundtrack and a French Language Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Soundtrack
is also included along with English Captions for the hearing impaired and French
and Spanish Language Subtitles encoded on to the dual layered DVD as options.
There
are not many extra features included on the DVD. First there is an abridged
hodgepodge of scenes from “The Ring” mixed in with what might be some
deleted and or extended footage in the companion short by Gore Verbinski
“Don’t Watch This” (15:29), which is presented in a widescreen (1.85:1)
aspect ratio with English Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound and optional English
Captions for the hearing impaired and French and Spanish Language Subtitles.
There is also an Easter egg containing the video as seen in the film (2:05) with
English Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound and presented in a (1.33:1) aspect
ratio. It is easy to find. Just scroll down the right side of the choices on the
main menu and when the cursor disappears, press enter on your remote. Once you
start this Easter egg, you cannot pause, fast forward, or stop it from running,
but you can eject it if you don’t want to see it.
Home
video trailers for “Ringu” (: 26) and “8 Mile” (: 34) are included along
with an anamorphic (1.85:1) widescreen trailer for “Catch Me If You Can”
with a full 5.1 Surround Soundtrack and the same Caption and Subtitle options
found on the DVD for the feature. The
menus are fully animated with animated transitions to full motion scene
selections and all are just as creepy as this film and easy to navigate.
“The
Ring: Widescreen” will debut on DVD-Video day and date with “Ringu” on
Tuesday, March 4, 2003 from DreamWorks Home Entertainment.
©
Copyright 2003 By Mark A. Rivera
All Rights Reserved.
Buy This DVD Now By Clicking On The Text Link Below!
The Ring (Widescreen)