One of the Greatest, Most Powerful, Uplifting, and Wonderful Pieces of Cinema Ever Conceived

Rating: 10/10 (8 July 2007)

This is in my opinion, tied with Goodfellas for the greatest ever made. Masterfully conceived and directed by Frank Darabont, a powerfully adapted story from Stephen King's short story, amazing acting, and one of the best musical scores ever written made this movie one of the handful of masterpieces that will never die. Along with Goodfellas losing Best Picture, choosing Forest Gump(a great movie) over the Shawshank Redemption was the biggest mistake they ever made. The movie that makes many references to redemption and hope is like Jesus himself. The film did poorly in the box office but has enjoyed one of the greatest afterlives in the history of cinema.
Plot: The story is taken from Stephen King's short story "Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption" and Frank Darabont made one of the only movies better than the source material. Masterfully crafted to start with a depressing image of everything the film goes to make one of the most uplifting, happy, and powerful endings in the history of film.
Acting: Narrating is Morgan Freeman who gives an Oscar-Worthy performance as Red a lifer for murder in The Shawshank State Prison. Tim Robbins likewise gives a powerful performance as the sympathetic Andy Dufresne a lifer for murder as well. Playing the cold and ruthless Mr. Norton the Warden is Bob Gunton who creates one of the greatest villains I've ever seen on screen.
Quality: This film is one of the greatest ever. One of the things that really made this film was probably one of the best, most uplifting and powerful musical scores I've ever heard which also deserved an Oscar. The camera work was also fantastic opening with a sky-view of the prison.
This is one of the few movies where if you don't see the genius of it I will have to question if you really seen the entire film or any of the film. This is along with Goodfellas the greatest movies ever. There are only a handful of masterpieces in history and this is one of them. Even less is the amount of films that will never die and will always stand the test of time. This is one of them. This is a film that you should just buy.
11/10