Not a bad remake but not near as good as the original.

Rating: Null/10 (3 October 2002)

The Ring is an American remake of the Japanese 'classic' Ring (no "the") that was one of the highest box-office draws ever in that country when it was released in 1998. It was widely referred to as "the Japanese Blair Witch" even though it had nothing to do content-wise with that film. This comparison was due to the deliberate 'novice' appearance of the film and it's surprising success with the movie-going populace.
The film concerns a bootleg poor-quality video tape that is being circulated hand-to-hand amongst teenagers as a thrill game. The story goes that anyone who views the tape will die exactly seven days later. To give you ANY more of the plot would be an enormous disservice. This film is most potent when viewed without knowing any more than that.
First off, let me state that the original version is FAR better than this remake. If you wish to see Ring and can get a hold of the region 3 import DVD and don't mind watching a film with subtitles, see the original. The original is not only better than the American remake but it is ten times as creepy and disturbing and fifty times as scary.
That is not to say the American remake is a bad film. It's not. If I had not previously seen the original I would likely be raving over the American version. It has some clever plot rewrites that actually improve upon the original (and unfortunately a few deletions that equally detract from it). The cinematography is excellent and quite enthralling in it's 'non-Hollywood' presentation. The lack of opening credits and poor sound quality at the beginning are a masterful addition by the production team (you won't "get it" until after you have seen the film). The film's antagonist is GREATLY watered down (no pun intended) from the original but still remains quite terrifying. I never will understand why Hollywood feels the need to 'tone down' foreign remakes for American releases. It really won't sell more tickets since more people would likely go see a scarier better movie.
The actors and actresses are largely unknowns (with a few familiar faces) but they all turn in outstanding performances. Some of the non-traditional storytelling elements are truly inspired. Unfortunately I cannot reveal them without giving away parts of the story, but they are very well-done and very clever in the way they are presented.
No blood. No nudity. No profanity. Just some very disturbing imagery and a truly scary story. I would not recommend this film for pre-teens, but anyone older will likely enjoy it (or at least be scared and somewhat disturbed). It's sad that this film is not getting more of a marketing push. Even though it's a remake, it's FAR better than any of Hollywood's recent pre-packaged aimed-at-teenagers supposed-to-be-scary efforts. It also is gambling on it's ability to attract audiences by word-of-mouth. Don't be fooled into believing that a poor box-office showing on opening weekend is any indication of a film's quality (go rent "Zero Effect" for another good example).
If you like horror films, this movie should be on your 'must-see' list. It's a fairly faithful re-make of the film that the recent Feardotcom plagiarized for most of it's ideas. This version of the film is a great treat for casual horror fans and people looking for a good fright film who would never see the original under normal circumstances. True horror afficionados should really seek out the original. The Ring is a great film, but the original Ring (and to a great extent it's sequel, Ring 2) is a genre landmark and should not be missed by scary movie fans.