Originally Posted by
MintCat
The Shawshank Redemption - Don't get me wrong... I like it, but #1 movie on imdb??
It gets high ratings for a few reasons. One, it's a very, VERY, good movie adaptation of a book, which I will almost never say. And it's a good story too, so that's a plus. Book's by Stephen King if you're wondering.
Two, from a cinematography standpoint, it's fucking brilliant. You could literally spend hours dissecting the entire film's camera angles, shots, character placement, lighting, transitions, etc. etc. to see the hidden message each shot is trying to convey. The acting is great, not superb, but definitely A-game material. Just from a technical standpoint, it's a great film.
Three, Morgan Fucking Freeman as the main character and the narrator. End of story.
Of course, I can understand it not being everybody's cup of tea. The adaptation is much longer than the book. Like most of Stephen King's non-horror stories, it requires a bit more time to flesh out and set the mood necessary through film than it could through words. But it's fucking brilliant. It's probably one of my favorite films of all time. Same director also made The Green Mile, and that film is probably even more fucking brilliant. Same problems with length though.