The Shawshank Redemption (1994)

All Critics (62) | Top Critics (14) | Fresh (62) | Rotten (6) | DVD (36)

Simply marvelous entertainment.

January 16, 2013 Full Review

Gene Siskel

Chicago Tribune

Top Critic

Freeman, who is simply a great actor, a man who has never struck a false note in his career, both narrates this tale and anchors it with his authoritative playing.

June 15, 2011 Full Review

Richard Schickel

TIME Magazine

Top Critic

A testament to the human spirit...

June 28, 2007 Full Review | Comments (2)

Leonard Klady

Variety

Top Critic

A passing reference to 'The Count of Monte Cristo' offers a partial clue to what makes this movie compelling.

June 28, 2007 Full Review | Comment (1)

Jonathan Rosenbaum

Chicago Reader

Top Critic

...a throwback to the kind of serious, literate drama Hollywood used to make.

June 24, 2006 Full Review | Comments (2)

Derek Adams

Time Out

Top Critic

It's a simple story elegantly, cleverly told, not to mention expertly acted.

September 24, 2004 Full Review

Boston Globe

Top Critic

Powerful, poignant, thought-provoking and finally irresistibly uplifting.

June 15, 2011 Full Review

Film4

If you don't love Shawshank, chances are you're beyond redemption.

June 15, 2011 Full Review

Ian Nathan

Empire Magazine

Spiritually moving old-fashioned prison pic.

March 16, 2011 Full Review

Dennis Schwartz

Ozus' World Movie Reviews

Gritty but comforting story of friendship.

December 18, 2010 Full Review

Heather Boerner

Common Sense Media

I love this film. It's a story about hope and dreams and one whose emotional impact is as great as the Pacific Ocean is blue.

February 27, 2009 Full Review | Comment (1)

Louise Keller

Urban Cinefile

Darabont explores the range of human kindness and cruelty as he lovingly and patiently sculpts his large cast of characters against magnificent scenery.

November 20, 2008 Full Review | Comment (1)

Hollywood.com

If you give it a chance, it can become one of your favorite films, and the Blu-ray edition with its improved picture and sound makes that all the easier. (Blu-ray Edition)

November 19, 2008 Full Review | Comments (2)

John J. Puccio

Movie Metropolis

...itself a testament to overcoming odds. It is sentimental and stereotyped, yet we are able not only to suspend our disbelief but to root for it all the way.

November 19, 2008 Full Review | Comment (1)

John J. Puccio

Movie Metropolis

...has certainly earned its reputation as one of the most effective prison movies in cinematic history...

July 30, 2008 Full Review | Comment (1)

David Nusair

Reel Film Reviews

It's an old-school melodrama at heart, sturdy and forthright and upstanding, but without a whisper of complexity or wit.

September 23, 2007 Full Review | Comments (2)

Rob Gonsalves

eFilmCritic.com

A 'life-affirming' tale about life imprisonment, The Shawshank Redemption is the kind of old-fashioned entertainment that is easily overvalued in an era of diminishing expectations.

June 28, 2007 Full Review

TV Guide's Movie Guide

I have not read Stephen King's novella (his first non-horror), but some of the movie's deficiencies, such as the old-fashioned morality tale and portentous messge about camarderie and redemption--must have been in the source material.

January 13, 2007 Full Review | Comments (4)

Emanuel Levy

EmanuelLevy.Com

An amazing movie. Easily one of the best movies made during the 90s and definitely one of the top 'prison' movies of all-time. Pretty much everything about this movie works and works extremely well!

June 24, 2006 Full Review | Comments (2)

JoBlo

JoBlo's Movie Emporium

An unhurried, engulfing prison drama.

March 10, 2006 Full Review | Comments (3)

Phil Villarreal

Arizona Daily Star

Why are these men in jail?

February 9, 2006 Full Review | Comments (166)

Jake Euker

F5 (Wichita, KS)

• 1. Capt. Byron Hadley: I'm not gonna count to three, I'm not even gonna count to one. You will shut the fuck up or I'll sing you a lullaby!
  – Submitted by Matthew D (54 days ago)
• 1. Andy Dufresne: All right. But you should know that sudden serious brain injury causes the victim to bite down hard. In fact, I hear the bite reflex is so strong they have to pry the victims jaws open with a crowbar.
  2. Bogs Diamond: Where do you get this shit?
  3. Andy Dufresne: I read it. You know how to read, you ignorant fuck?
  – Submitted by Eli T (56 days ago)
• 1. Andy Dufresne: Remember Red, hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies.
  – Submitted by Eli T (56 days ago)
• 1. Ellis Boy "Red" Redding: Young Punk. Mr. "Rock and Roll." Cocky as hell. We liked him immediately.
  – Submitted by Ann A (3 months ago)
• 1. Andy Dufresne: You know, the funny thing is, on the outside I was an honest man, straight as an arrow. I had to come to prison to be a crook.
  – Submitted by Ann A (3 months ago)
• 1. Ellis Boy "Red" Redding: I tell you, those voices soared. Higher and farther than anyone in a gray place dares to dream.
  – Submitted by Ann A (3 months ago)