A journalist must investigate a mysterious videotape which seems to cause the death of anyone one week to the day after they view it.A journalist must investigate a mysterious videotape which seems to cause the death of anyone one week to the day after they view it.A journalist must investigate a mysterious videotape which seems to cause the death of anyone one week to the day after they view it.
- Awards
- 14 wins & 12 nominations
- Director
- Writers
- Ehren Kruger
- Kôji Suzuki
- Hiroshi Takahashi(1998 screenplay Ringu) (uncredited)
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThe "cursed" video is available as an easter egg on the DVD. Select look here and press down and your cursor will disappear. Press Enter. This has an interesting feature; your remote control is disabled. Once the "video" has started playing, you can't stop it, pause it, fast-forward it, or return to the menu. Unless you turn off the TV, you're forced to watch the whole thing. When it's over, the DVD returns to the menu, then you hear a phone ring twice before you're given control over your remote again.
- GoofsWhen Rachel is searching the Internet for information, the address in the browser points to a file stored on the desktop of a Windows 98 machine. C:\WIN98\Desktop\....etc...
- Quotes
Noah: I can't imagine being stuck down a well all alone like that. How long could you survive?
Rachel Keller: Seven days.
- Crazy creditsOn the DVD release, the Copyright Warning message is affected by 'interference' much like the intro.
- ConnectionsEdited into The Ring: Don't Watch This (2003)
- SoundtracksHey John
Written by Scott Leger, Nate Navarro, Eddie Willis, Steve Rude & Curtis Ryker
Performed by Wide Awake
Featured review
Visually intense creepfest--different purpose than the original
This film is the American take on the Japanese original and while it absorbs its source material intact, it twists around its formula a bit in order to make it fit its new surroundings. The story is the same: a journalist, after losing her niece to a mysterious circumstance, investigates and discovers a cursed videotape, which gives a viewer only seven days to live.
Like its predecessors, the film doesn't spend that much time on the supernatural elements, but focuses more on the mystery. However, The Ring features a lot more supernatural elements immediately and throughout the film than either previous version, perhaps to make more obvious and visceral the impending doom that faces our protagonist. Visually, The Ring has been injected with a shot of adrenaline, being less the brooding mystery of the original and more immediate and menacing. The color palette is colder than Ringu and the story is also more detached and focused on the ghostly mechanics than the human story, which leads the film to be more recognizably intimidating.
The story itself is a little more mysterious in that the backstory of our villain is rather thin and unexplained. Furthermore, the villain is clearly portrayed as senselessly malevolent; this weakens at least two significant scenes. The ending, I think, is more clever than the previous versions. I like that there is something to the relationship between the protagonist, Rachel, and her ally, Noah, but it still seems a little weak when compared to Ringu--where one line can effortlessly show the development in the relationship.
As far as a horror movie goes, The Ring is a blunt, but nonetheless creepy example. Losing some of the trappings of its predecessors helps simplify the story for faster flow and to create room for more visual creepiness, but also loses some of the complexity that helped the story have more depth. It's more of impressive frightfest than Ringu, but is a little weaker in story resonance. In the end, that makes The Ring just as effective overall: if you want more chills, catch this version. If you want more meat, catch Ringu. Decent entertainment. 7/10.
Like its predecessors, the film doesn't spend that much time on the supernatural elements, but focuses more on the mystery. However, The Ring features a lot more supernatural elements immediately and throughout the film than either previous version, perhaps to make more obvious and visceral the impending doom that faces our protagonist. Visually, The Ring has been injected with a shot of adrenaline, being less the brooding mystery of the original and more immediate and menacing. The color palette is colder than Ringu and the story is also more detached and focused on the ghostly mechanics than the human story, which leads the film to be more recognizably intimidating.
The story itself is a little more mysterious in that the backstory of our villain is rather thin and unexplained. Furthermore, the villain is clearly portrayed as senselessly malevolent; this weakens at least two significant scenes. The ending, I think, is more clever than the previous versions. I like that there is something to the relationship between the protagonist, Rachel, and her ally, Noah, but it still seems a little weak when compared to Ringu--where one line can effortlessly show the development in the relationship.
As far as a horror movie goes, The Ring is a blunt, but nonetheless creepy example. Losing some of the trappings of its predecessors helps simplify the story for faster flow and to create room for more visual creepiness, but also loses some of the complexity that helped the story have more depth. It's more of impressive frightfest than Ringu, but is a little weaker in story resonance. In the end, that makes The Ring just as effective overall: if you want more chills, catch this version. If you want more meat, catch Ringu. Decent entertainment. 7/10.
Helpful•5118
- refresh_daemon
- Feb 3, 2008
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Details
Box office
- Budget
- $48,000,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $129,128,133
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $15,015,393
- Oct 20, 2002
- Gross worldwide
- $249,348,933
- Runtime1 hour 55 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.85 : 1
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