This high-rent horror-thriller begins with a chilling five minutes that sets your imagination running wild with fear before going into a steady decline thanks to its many huge plot holes. Naomi Watts (Mulholland Dr.) plays an investigative reporter looking into an urban legend of a videotape that kills everyone who watches it after seven days; naturally, she sees the eerie tape herself and now must piece together what it means before the grim reaper comes calling. Watts' character is too foolish to garner much sympathy (she leaves a copy of the tape where her son can find it and watch it) and her investigation is sloppy and insultingly easy to second-guess. Worse, even though The Ring slides by on forbidding atmosphere for an hour or so, it's never genuinely scary after that opening scene and ultimately serves up a stupid twist ending that leaves two characters in an alleged dilemma that would be simple to circumvent. Very optional. [Note: DVD extras include a 15-minute short film by Gore Verbinski (labeled “Don't Watch This”), a “Look Here” trailer for the Japanese film Ringu (the low-budget, creepy inspiration for The Ring, also available from DreamWorks), and an Easter Egg that provides the two-minute “nightmarish videotape” that the film's characters watched. Bottom line: a surprisingly paltry extras package for such a big hit at the box office.] (R. Blackwelder)[DVD Review--March 22, 2005--DreamWorks, 2 discs, 115 min., R, $26.99--Making its second appearance on DVD, The Ring: Collector's Edition contains the same version of the original movie (with the same extras), as well as a bonus disc tying in the with the sequel. Bonus DVD extras include “Rings,” an exclusive short film connecting the two movies (17 min.), cast and filmmaker interviews (8 min.), “The Origin of Terror” featurette on the history of urban legends (4 min.), three “cursed” video segments (from Ringu, The Ring, and The Ring Two), and trailers. Bottom line: given that most of the new extras are likely to appear on the eventual DVD release of The Ring 2, it seems pointless to buy this edition with its bonus half-hour disc if you already own The Ring.]
The Ring
DreamWorks, 115 min., PG-13, VHS: $22.99, DVD: $26.99, Mar. 4 Volume 18, Issue 2
The Ring
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