great cinematography!

Rating: 7/10 (31 July 2016)

One can't be involved with IMDb without hearing, seeing, reading such a lot about this "epic". It has been top of the ratings since forever, and the user-reviews are superlatives-on-steroids! But can I really have rated 40 or 50 or more that are 8, 9 or 10? Yep! ie - Braveheart, "Legends of the Fall".
I saw the trailers, and wasn't really impressed - just another US jail pic? So I read some reviews, and saw other clips. Eventually, the local DVD shop had it on a super special, 3 disc set AND the complete script in a book, all for just $5! gosh, the book would have cost that much for the paper? So I doubt if Castle Rock, or Columbia or anyone involved in making it, got a single cent?
So I started with disc 3, boring pseudo-interviews with the main actors. Didn't learn much there, and the "behind the scenes" clip was only 9 minutes and not very informative, so, to disc 2 and eventually watched the actual film. By now I'm a bit overloaded with superlatives. But then thought about the tiny flaws, ie, Robbins as the main character Andy. Insipid, unconvincing? maybe, doesn't come across as either an innocent inmate, nor as a super clever. Norton the warden looks and sounds more like a small-town bank manager and acts like a modern big city corrupt banker? Hadley, the awful captain of the guard looks more like a "upwardly mobile professional"?The other inmates are forgettable (except Brooks, the OLD guy). The "get busy living or get busy dying" scene confuses me, that is what I call a "sillyism". It means whatever you want it to mean.
I note that there is almost zero female participation? Well, it's a jail story of course, not much room for skirts. On my rating system, I gave it a 1 out 2 for the story, 1.5 out of 2 for the character definitions, 1.5 out 2 for the acting (Freeman is great of course), 2 for the filming, I kept noticing the colours and contrasts even in the dull setting, and only 1 more for the directing and production. 0 for special scenes! then 1 more for the dvds!
disc 1 also has a commentary by Frank Darabont, which didn't really add much. But he does comment on the question of how the poster got put back up after the escape! "Get over it, it's movie" True. His chapter in the booklet told everything, including why various scenes had not been shot "mutatis mutandis" (look it up!)