Product Description

2-DVD Special Edition. Miracles happen in unexpected places, even on death row at Cold Mountain Penitentiary. There, John Coffey, a prisoner with supernatural powers, brings a sense of spirit and humanity to his guards and fellow inmates. Tom Hanks leads a stellar cast in this emotional, uplifting story of guards and captives; husbands and wives; prisoners and a remarkable mouse named Mr. Jingles; and, on another level, of a moviemaker and his source. Frank Darabont returns after his 1994 directorial debut The Shawshank Redemption to adapt another Stephen King tale into a crowd-pleasing entertainment nominated for four Academy Awards, including Best Picture.

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Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #46015 in DVD
• Brand: Warner Brothers
• Released on: 2009-12-01
• Rating: R (Restricted)
• Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Formats: Anamorphic, Color, Dolby, Subtitled, Widescreen
• Original language: English
• Dimensions: .20 pounds
• Running time: 188 minutes

Features

• Condition: New
• Format: Blu-ray
• Anamorphic; Color; Dolby; Subtitled; Widescreen

Amazon.com
"The book was better" has been the complaint of many a reader since the invention of movies. Frank Darabont's second adaptation of a Stephen King prison drama (The Shawshank Redemption was the first) is a very faithful adaptation of King's serial novel. In the middle of the Depression, Paul Edgecomb (Tom Hanks) runs death row at Cold Mountain Penitentiary. Into this dreary world walks a mammoth prisoner, John Coffey (Michael Duncan) who, very slowly, reveals a special gift that will change the men working and dying (in the electric chair, masterfully and grippingly staged) on the mile . As with King's book, Darabont takes plenty of time to show us Edgecomb's world before delving into John Coffey's mystery. With Darabont's superior storytelling abilities, his touch for perfect casting, and a leisurely 188-minute running time, his movie brings to life nearly every character and scene from the novel. Darabont even improves the novel's two endings, creating a more emotionally satisfying experience. The running time may try patience, but those who want a story, as opposed to quick-fix entertainment, will be rewarded by this finely tailored tale. --Doug Thomas

On the DVD

Listen to our interview with Frank Darabont.

Anyone who has seen this Oscar-nominated film knows Frank Darabont likes to t-a-k-e h-i-s t-i-m-e. He certainly does the same in filling all three hours of his commentary track which he recorded over several sessions. Darabont has studied other DVDs and purposely does not repeat tidbits covered in the excellent new 90-minute documentary on author Stephen King and the making of the film. Other solid segments are two deleted scenes, a never-used teaser trailer, and Michael Duncan Clarke's screen test. The highlight is two remarkable tests of Tom Hanks in old-age makeup. Both are very credible, but it was decided to use another actor. The outcome is a DVD that puts the "special" back into the special edition. --Doug Thomas

From The New Yorker
Is there such a thing as commercial pedantry? If there is, this movie embodies it. Frank Darabont's adaptation of Stephen King's 1996 serial novel is a three-hour-and-eight-minute religious allegory about a black convict (Michael Clarke Duncan), a white prison guard (Tom Hanks), and a mouse. The convict is meant to be Jesus Christ, and the mouse, which gets crushed and then reborn, is meant to represent survival-or perhaps Life Itself. Darabont lays out his meagre death-row story with lethal thoroughness, and the miracles arrive on schedule. The movie blinds itself with the grandiosity of its illusions. On the one hand, it preaches love; on the other, it tries to excite the audience with the convulsed body and flaming head of a man strapped into an electric chair. By the end, the sanctimonious hypocrisy is all but unbearable. -David Denby
Copyright © 2006 The New Yorker