Simply the best

Rating: 10/10 (18 January 2008)

What can you say that others haven't said about this film? (I notice there are 200 pages of comments). I'll try this: It is, quite simply, the best movie ever made. I have never seen a list of best films that didn't include it, and don't expect to until I'm very old.
You can't go far wrong with great actors in a great story; add in great direction and great cinematography, and you have a classic. For me to say that a movie is better than 'Casablanca' is quite something, but this is it. There aren't many films that have had their titles changed either, but down the years this one has simply become known as "Shawshank".
Just a final note to mention James Whitmore, often overlooked in all the praise that has been heaped on the other leads. How he didn't win a gong for his portrayal of the prison librarian I will never know. Yet another inexplicable miss by the Academy.