| Trends can start anywhere in the world,
but in America, we like to believer that we've invented everything.
But, sometimes it is impossible to deny that an outside influence is at
work, such as the impression that the Asian cinema has had on Hollywood in
the last decade. Still, when
The Ring became a hit last fall, few realized that this was a remake
of a very popular Japanese film, which was only available on import (or
bootleg) DVD. Now, Dreamworks Home Entertainment has seen fit to
release the original film, Ringu, on DVD in the U.S.
Ringu presents the idea of an urban legend
which states that those who watch a certain videotape will receive a phone
call informing them that they are going to die in seven days. And,
according to the rumor, when that week has passed, they do die.
Reporter Reiko Asakawa (Nanako Matsushima) is investigating this rumor
when her niece dies under mysterious circumstances. At the wake,
Reiko overhears some of the teenaged mourners discussing a cursed
videotape. Reiko investigates and learns that her niece had recently
taken a trip with her friends to a resort. Reiko visits the resort
and finds the mysterious videotape. Now fearful that she herself
will die, Reiko recruits her ex-husband Ryuji Takayama (Hiroyuki Sanada)
to help her discover the origin of the mysterious tape before it claims
another life. In doing so, they uncover a decades old mystery
involving psychic powers and murder.
At this point, with
The Ring having become such a smash hit, the only way to review
Ringu is to compare the two films (something which has already
been hotly debated in this website's forums). For my money,
Ringu is still the better film. (Although I have to agree
with the theory that most people like the version that they saw first.)
The two films tell basically the same story, and at times are identical.
But, compare the running times --
The Ring is 19 minutes longer, and to me, that says it all. That
film stops to explain every detail (and still doesn't make sense at
times), while Ringu leaves some questions unanswered, and
doesn't pause to dwell on everything. (Of course, those of you
who've seen Ringu 2 know that many of those questions are
resolved in that film.)
Instead of spending its time beating the viewer over the
head with plot, Ringu and director Hideo Nakata are more
concerned with creating an atmosphere and mood, and they succeed in making
one of the creepiest films in years. For this point, I cite what may
be the most important part of both films, the cursed video itself.
In
The Ring, the video tries way too hard to be "creepy", with images of
insects and such. The video in Ringu is much more
subtle, showing a series of seemingly random images that disturb us, but
we don't know why. That's the power of this film. The idea of
the cursed video is inherently silly, but the movie still has the power to
scare us with its atmosphere and creepy visuals. Speaking of creepy,
I also think that the conclusion of Ringu is more powerful.
I am not only talking about the infamous finale (which truly freaked me
out when I first saw it!), but the coda as well, which is far more
sinister and ghastly than the watered-down U.S. version. With its
simple, yet frightening story, Ringu is the perfect example
of a subtle, yet terrifying film. |
|
letterboxed the film at 1.85:1. For this review, I did a
side-by-side comparison between this new disc and the Tartan PAL
release, both of which have their pros and cons. The major
difference is that the print used for the Tartan release showed some
damage, whereas there are no major defects to be seen on this new
transfer. The Dreamworks disc offers an image which is free from
the haloes which plagued the Tartan release, and the image on the
Dreamworks disc is quite sharp and clear. Yet, the picture is
more vibrant on the Tartan disc, with the colors having more depth and
life to them. In comparison, the Dreamworks disc appears a bit
stale. Those comparisons aside, as this is the only release that
will be available to most consumers, the transfer looks good, despite
some minor flaws.
