Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		5.0
Audio		4.5
Extras		2.0
Overall		3.5

The Ring Blu-ray Movie Review

The circle of life and death.

Reviewed by Martin Liebman March 19, 2012

Have you heard about this videotape that kills you when you watch it?

Somewhere in The Ring lies symbolism for the rotting of the mind by way of watching far too much TV. In fact, it comes right at the beginning of the movie, talk between a couple of characters of brain cell loss and unhealthy waves and whatnot floating through the air. Oh for Heaven's sake. Does everything have to mean a death sentence anymore? The horror, the horror. If the mere act of watching TV isn't bad enough, try it while breathing poisoned air and consuming a coke float to chase down some fried chicken. That there's a recipe for disaster. Oh, don't forget brushing with fluoride-laced toothpaste before going to bed. Chances are that poor soul won't even wake up. Moral of the story: don't eat in front of the TV, or is it don't brush while eating? The silver lining of the whole thing is that The Ring wasn't made for TV, because everyone knows it's only TV signals that kill, not 35mm film -- the theaters get people with all that ooey-gooey butter on the popcorn. But death-by-television is the ok sort of death, the kind that comes slowly over time and that nobody ever really sees coming unless someone gets a 20" CRT smashed over his or her head, not the type that's nice enough to give victims seven days and a phone call to get their affairs in order. The Ring, or at least the material recorded onto the video cassette as seen in The Ring, is literally "Death-o-Vision." No, the tape doesn't jump off the heads and out of the Hi-Fi VHS to strangle victims, and no, it doesn't supernaturally cause the boob tube to fall on someone's mellon, but it sure does something that scares the heck of the people who watch it. Their noses bleed, their faces become all blurry-like in photographs, and they croak just as the phone call promises. That is unless they can solve the mystery behind the images on the tape or figure out another way to cheat the system, even if it comes at someone else's expense.

Big mistake.

There's a VHS tape out there, somewhere in the wild, with pretty amazing properties: it kills. Pop it in, sit back, and look at a nightmare come to life on video. A dark well, creepy-crawlies, and a strange smiling woman largely comprise the relatively short experience. Rumor -- fact -- says that after watching it, the phone will ring, a voice giving the viewer seven days to live. When the time is up, they die. Rachel (Naomi Watts) and her son Aidan (David Dorfman) are mourning the loss Aidan's cousin, Katie (Amber Tamblyn), herself a victim of the mysterious tape, but local doctors are puzzled by her passing. Aidan's drawing mysterious and disturbing pictures at school, but he's been drawing them since before his cousin's death. Does he know, does he sense, something beyond the realm of the living world? Rachel, a journalist, opens a personal investigation into the killings that leads her The Shelter Mountain Inn, the place where Katie watched the tape. Rachel gets her hands on it, watches it, receives the call, and finds herself with only seven days to solve the puzzle. She enlists the help of Aidan's father Noah (Martin Henderson) in the mystery, a mystery which will lead them down a dark path towards a terrible past and a no-win scenario if they are to survive past seven days.

The Ring doesn't work -- at all -- as straight Horror. It would be mislabeling to call it that, and it would be incorrect to watch it with the expectations of a straight Horror picture. No, The Ring is a Thriller-slash-Mystery with Horror overtones. No matter the hype, the billing, the creepy images, The Ring doesn't so much scare as it does captivate (and maybe kill) its audience. The outstanding premise guarantees a strong reaction, or at least makes the viewer critically think about the situation at hand. Who would watch the tape? Who would pay the movie theater for the privilege of watching a movie that shows a tape that kills anyone who watches it? How does one separate fact from fiction? How does one balance myth and even the realities of dead bodies tied to the tape with common sense? The attraction here is "do and die" in the form of something otherwise innocuous, not jumping off a cliff or playing Russian Roulette. The Ring effectively takes away the safety net of the mediums of television and film by making the mere act of watching a death sentence. Michael or Freddy or Jason might not be able to jump out of the TV, but this tape kills one way or the other. The movie works on premise alone, a good thing considering that much of the middle stretch seems rather convoluted, even if it does lead to a fascinating and tidy but frightening ending that speaks on the circle of life, in a way, as it doesn't revolve around a spinning globe or biological cycles but mechanically around two spools inside a video cassette.

Director Gore Verbinski's The Ring is the sort of movie that does more psychological damage than physical damage. It doesn't leave the audience in fear for its life -- all kidding aside and despite the premise -- but fearful for the lives of the characters and uncertain of just where the story is going, how it is going there, why, and what will come of reaching the destination. Verbinski keeps the focus on the smarter side of the ledger, largely eschewing Horror convention and building story to keep audiences on the edge of their seats rather than making use of artificial fear to keep them dug in tightly, recoiled up against the back of the chair. The killer video itself plays as a perfect mixture of randomly fascinating, ultra-creepy, and visually gross all at once. It's the kind of thing form which someone wouldn't look away even if it meant life or death. It's the most critical part of the movie, and it's the best, smartly tying into the plot while also playing well enough to work within the plot, even if it's not so much what's on the tape as who does what with it that ultimately matters. The performances are satisfying. Naomi Watts does the hybrid frightened and inquisitive thing very well. She becomes absorbed in the character who in turn becomes absorbed in the mystery. Watts manages to keep the character honest, playing it scared but not to the point of physical paralyzation. As the title suggests, the picture works well in a full-circle sort of way. It's not the stuff of nightmares, but it will crawl under the skin and settle in for about two hours worth of haunting imagery and a chilling finale that opens up a whole new can of worms for the audience to chew on when the lights come up.

The Ring Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The Ring looks marvelous on Blu-ray. It's one of the nicest recent catalogue titles out there. The image is naturally and consistently filmic. Light grain accentuates picture-perfect detailing. The image is naturally sharp and well defined. Facial and clothing textures are strong, and the image captures the intricacies of a wood floor and other manmade elements with precision and ease. The color palette is heavily influenced by a blue-green tint that gives the image an almost sickly appearance. Bright hues rarely get past the filter, the oddball blue peanut butter lid or blood-red water exceptions to the rule. Flesh tones, of course, are influenced by the tint but appear natural in the brightest of lighting conditions. Blacks are splendid, deep and true but never crushing out fine details. The only real trouble spot comes in the form of very infrequent pops which aren't present in enough quantity to justify a reduction in score. On the whole, however, this is an incredibly handsome, steady, and film-like presentation and a top-notch catalogue transfer.

The Ring Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The Ring encircles listeners with a high quality DTS-HD MA 5.1 lossless soundtrack. The track makes mostly seamless use of the entire soundstage. Phones ring off to the side with wonderful clarity and a true sense of space and pinpoint location. Gentle rain saturates the listening area. A train rumbles through the soundstage with fine clarity -- even considering the heavy, jumbled sound effect -- and a powerful low end. Music plays with a crispness and clarity across the entire range, whether heavier beats or the lightest, most delicate notes. Like the sound effects, music seems to float just so about the listening area, playing a critical part in seamlessly transporting the audience into the entire movie experience. The video tape plays with a strong and deep and but clear low end supporting both the visuals and the total heart-beating vibe. Dialogue is steady and accurate, remaining focused in the middle of the stage. This is a fine, high quality, nearly seamless presentation that suits the movie extraordinary well through its subtleties and heaviness alike.

The Ring Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

The Ring contains a handful of extras, including a short film and deleted scenes.

• Don't Watch This (480p, 15:26): A collection of footage excised from the final cut of the film.
• Rings (1080p, 16:42): A short film bridging the gap between The Ring and its sequel.
• Cast and Filmmaker Interviews (480p, 7:58): Actors Naomi Watts, Martin Henderson, Brian Cox and David Dorfman; Director Gore Verbinski; and Producer Walter Parkes discuss the story, the nuances of the performances, and the specifics of the characters.
• The Origin of Terror (480p, 4:00): Cast and crew share their favorite urban legends and discuss the plot of The Ring.
• The Ring Theatrical Trailer (1080p, 2:10).

The Ring Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

The Ring pulls away the safety net of cinema and throws its audience down a deep and dark hole that leads to a place the movies had never gone before, at least on U.S. shores. The very premise of a killer video is enough to at least give every potential viewer pause and wonder what if? The movie doesn't disappoint, even if the plot proves a little more convoluted than necessary. It clears up nicely at the end, an end that's one of the better, juicier, more thought-provoking finales in genre memory. The direction is steady, the performances fine, and the movie a prime example of the thinking man's Mystery/Thriller/Horror picture. Paramount's Blu-ray release of The Ring features outstanding video and audio. The disc also comes with a few extras. Highly recommended.