The Ring (Movie Review)

trailers + wallpapers

Finally, a horror film that is not a comedy and doesn't feel like a mantle of déjà vu bits.

I can't remember when it was the last time I watched such a solid horror movie. In the 1980s, one could expect John Carpenter to save the genre, with his regular deliveries of imaginative flicks, but that didn't even last up to the late 1990s, when works like Vampires were really more fun than anything else.

The Ring (TR2002) is supposedly based on Suzuki Koji's literary trilogy, but it could have been based on Clive Barker's Candyman... since the true grounds here are urban legends. While Candyman was all about saying "candyman" five times in a row, in a front of a mirror; TR2002 is all about watching a certain VHS videotape. In both cases, the one who dares doing it, will die.

Koji's legend has far greater creative potential than Barker's, since death won't happen in the next couple of a minutes: it will take exactly one week, and you'll be warned by phone. The "ring" is the phone's ring, not Frodo's gear.

Dreamworks SKG did a superb job, joining director Gore Verbinski (finally working on something that relates to his name :), after "The Mexican"), and script writer Eheren Kruger, which you might remember from "Scream 3".

In fact, Kruger's touch is too obvious during the first minutes, when two girl friends are alone, one telling the other that she dared to watch the infamous videotape, and both laughing at it, until the phone rang. Not original... but that is just until when the consequences happen - then this movie really kicks in!

Rachel Keller, played by Naomi Watts, is TR2002's main character. She is a journalist who goes investigate the strange death of three friends and starts unfolding the VHS legend and its roots. Accidentally, her young son and her ex-husband get dragged into action...

"The Ring" is really solid and fresh. It is a very high quality horror movie, with absolutely remarkable scenes: I will hardly forget the horse chapter and the closing minutes, the same way I doubt I will ever forget John Carpenter's Thing first attack, or the chainsaw's first blood in "The Night of the Living Dead".

Strongly recommended!

This review is for Dreamworks' 2002 version of Koji's fiction, for which the DVD is still NOT available from european shops. However, you can order it from amazon.com.

TR2002 is also not the first movie based on Koji's work. Japanese directors like Hideo Nakata and Norio Tsuruta were the first doing it, and their movies are still quite respected: Nakata filmed "The Ring 1" (TR1) and "The Ring 2" (TR2), both in 1998, while Tsuruta did his version in 2000 (TR2000). These three movies are only available via amazon.co.uk...

Curiously, many people end up discovering one "The Ring" thanks to Tolkien's "Lord of the Rings"...

Below, you'll amazon links for all these titles.

The Ring (Dreamworks' 2002 version):

widescreen, for american costumers: http://www.amazon.com (19.96 USD) [direct link to item]

full screen, for american costumers: http://www.amazon.com (20.24 USD) [direct link to item]

not available from european amazons [last checked 2003-04-04].

The Ring (Norio Tsuruta 2000 version):

for european costumers: http://www.amazon.co.uk (15.99£ ~ 23.24€*) [direct link to item]

not available from american amazons [last checked 2003-04-04].

The Ring 1 (Hideo Nakata 1998):

for european costumers: http://www.amazon.co.uk (15.99£ ~ 23.24€*) [direct link to item]

not available from american amazons [last checked 2003-04-04].

The Ring 2 (Hideo Nakata 1998):

for european costumers: http://www.amazon.co.uk (15.99£ ~ 23.24€*) [direct link to item]

not available from american amazons [last checked 2003-04-04].

The Lord of the Rings - The Fellowship of the Ring (Platinum Series Extended Edition):

for american costumers: http://www.amazon.com (29.99 USD) [direct link to item]

check below for the equivalent euro product...

The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (Extended Version), 4 Disc Set:

for european costumers: http://www.amazon.co.uk (33.74£ ~ 49.00€*) [direct link to item]

Here are some "The Ring" related goodies: four 1024x768 wallpapers (512 KB each), a trailer (4.8 MB WMV file) and a small documentary on Urban Legends (9 MB RM file).

In order to save these files to your hard disk, *right*-click the links and choose "save as" to wherever you want them. To watch them, you'll need Windows Media Player (usually already installed on your system, but also available here) and Realmedia Player (freely available here).

Wallpapers: #1; #2; #3; #4 (512 KB, 1024x768 JPG files, Zipped)

Videos: Trailer (4.8 MB WMV file); Documentary (9 MB RM file).