in the early months of the last half of 1994 i went to see the shawshank redemption. being a big stephen king fan i was stoked, although a) it wan't horror (my fav) and b) i had never read the source material. it was playing earlier than it's wide release and i lined up for about an hour and half to get good seats at a premiere (for it's time) theatre. i didn't expect to be floored, blown away, flabbergasted by the film but that's exactly what i got. shawshank is near perfection. it's by far one of the greatest films of its year, if not decade. it tells the story of a wrongfully commited man (or is he) and his time in prison. it's about hope and friendship and life. it's amazing an it's got one hell of a good ending. the acting is top notch as is the directing, the camera work, the music, the editing, everything. so i saw this film and no one else did. it made no impact at the box office but now 22 years later a couple things have happened. 1) it's considered a cinematic classic 2) morgan freeman (most probably because of this role) is a living legend 3) everybody has seen it and everybody loves it it didn't get its due in theatres but on video, dvd and the home market shawshank has got the love it deserves. i have since seen it many times and it is just as entertaining and holds up just as well today as it did that first time i saw it. i have also since read the source novella and i tell you it's pretty much a word for word retelling of the source. bravo mr. darabont on making a prefect adaptation. bravo!! it's not an easy thing to do but darabont did it and it makes the film even better knowing how close to the source material this is. i'll never get tired of this film and i will never stop loving it. true cinematic magic this is and always will be! production design: 10 out of 10 cinematography: 9 out of 10 re-playability: 9 out of 10 originality: 10 out of 10 costumes: 10 out of 10 directing: 10 out of 10 editing: 9 out of 10 acting: 10 out of 10 music: 9 out of 10 script: 10 out of 10 96/100