Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #13837 in DVD
• Released on: 2001-03-19
• Rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
• Number of discs: 1
• Formats: Anamorphic, PAL, Widescreen
• Original language: Japanese
• Subtitled in: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 91 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
A major box office hit in the Far East, Hideo Nakada's Ring is a subtly creepy Japanese ghost story with an urban legend theme, based on a series of popular teen-appeal novels by Susuki Koji. Far less showy than even the restrained chills of The Blair Witch Project or The Sixth Sense, Ring has nevertheless become a mainstream blockbuster and has already been followed by Ring 2 and the prequel Ring 0. A Hollywood remake is in the works.

Investigating the inexplicable, near-simultaneous deaths of her young niece and three teenage friends, reporter Asakawa (Nanako Matsushima) learns of a story about a supernaturally cursed video-tape circulating among school kids. As soon as anyone has watched the tape, allegedly recorded by mistake from a dead TV channel, the telephone rings and the viewer has exactly a week to live. Those doomed are invisibly marked, but their images are distorted if photographed. Inevitably, Asakawa gets hold of the tape and watches it. The enigmatic collage of images include a coy woman combing her hair in a mirror, an old newspaper headline about a volcanic eruption, a hooded figure ranting, people crawling and a rural well. When the phone rings (a memorably exaggerated effect), Asakawa is convinced that the curse is active and calls in her scientist ex-husband Ryuji (Hiroyuki Sanada) to help. He watches a copy of the video a day after Asakawa is exposed and willingly submits himself to the curse. Even more urgency is added to their quest when their young son is unwittingly duped, apparently by the mystery woman from the tape, into watching the video too, joining the queue for a supernatural death.

On the DVD: For a film made in the digital era, the letterboxed (16:9) print is in mediocre state, with a noticeable amount of scratching, though the Dolby Digital soundtrack is superb, making this a film that's as scary to listen to as it is to watch (the squeamish might find themselves covering their ears rather than their eyes in some scenes). Otherwise, there are trailers for the first two Ring films and Audition, 10 stills, filmographies for the principals, a review by Mark Kermode, blurb-like extracts from other reviews and the ominous option of playing Sadako's video after a solemn disavowal of responsibility from the distributors! --Kim Newman

Video Description
DVD Special Features: UK Exclusive Trailer
Mark Kermode Film Review
Interactive Menus
Stills Gallery
Star and Director Filmographies
Ring 2 Trailer

Language: Japanese Dolby Digital
Subtitles: English
Video Aspect Ratio: Anamorphic Widescreen

Synopsis
Exactly one week after staying at a remote cabin, a group of Japanese teenagers all meet sudden inexplicable deaths. A cousin of one of the victims, reporter Reiko Asakawa (Nanako Matsushima), begins an investigation that leads to the discovery of a videotape containing hauntingly bizarre footage. Upon viewing the tape, Reiko receives a phone call stating that she, too, will die in one week. As the clock ticks away, Reiko enlists the help of her estranged husband, Ryuji (Hiroyuki Sanada), who possesses limited psychic abilities. Together they attempt to discover the meaning behind the cryptic film and break the supernatural curse.
Hideo Nakata's RING, based on a novel by Koji Suzuki, was such a hit in Japan that it spawned both a sequel and prequel, along with a huge cult following. Like a horrific version of an X-FILES episode, the dark, moody film makes the most out of the mysterious and the unknown. As any viewer will admit, the surreal, death-inducing video presented within the movie is extremely effective. And as RING's tension builds, so does its sense of mounting doom. One of the creepiest motion pictures ever made, RING culminates in an unbelievably chilling finale. Do not watch this film alone...and make sure the phone ringer is off.

Customer Reviews

An all time classic.
Ring is a classic horror film that has influenced many horror films, east and west, since. It also stars Hiroyuki Sanada, an excellent actor who you can see in Last Samurai and Sunshine. For this reason alone you should buy it. I'm not going to review the film because no doubt you've already gathered that it's essential. Instead I'll tell you about the disc. The features are not worth talking about so let's skip that. The picture and sound quality is very poor. Honestly the picture is ridiculouse and just lazy. One of Japans highest grossing films surely deserves better than this. The sound, despite what the box says is not 5.1 and a bit unrefined. These are unfortunate issues with this release but I still think it's worth buying. It's worth noting that the trilogy box set has a remastered version of the first film that, while not perfect, is apparently better quality. You may want to consider that.

Materpiece (Did this happen to anyone else?)
I first watched the ring, not really knowing what it was. I just recognized the Japanese language and thought 'Hey a Japanese mystery or something.'. This was a little before Synopsis with the 'i' button on Sky Digital, so I had no way of figuring out what Ring was all about.

This for me, made the whole experience bucket loads more terrifying. I could barely watch at times. The psychological fear the director and cast sew is ultimately superior to the 'oogie boogie coming to getchya and stab/strangle/hook you' of floundering western horror. Sadly the idiots who remade this classic failed to notice that. They also messed up the subplot and pre-narrative timeline by moving it to america.

A masterpiece, unlike the version shat out by us Western morons. Get it.

watch it, WATCH IT
For any true fan of the genre this should be in their collection ahead of the remakes, why? Its the best, that is why. This is so much more scary than the overhyped and over changed remake I mean what is with those distorted death expressions...no face can distort like that.. Buy this and buy Ring 2, Ring 0:Birthday and that is all the advise I can give.