The Ring Two (Unrated Widescreen Edition)
by Hideo Nakata
List Price:
Our Price: $2.75
You Save: $7.23 (72%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $0.01 (click here)
Category: DVD
See more DVD details
Buy this DVD movie at online store in your country
Canada
Canada
DVD details
Actor: David Dorfman, Elizabeth Perkins, Naomi Watts, Simon Baker, Sissy SpacekDirector: Hideo Nakata
Brand: Paramount
Producer: Chris Bender
Producer: Doug Davison
Producer: J.C. Spink
Producer: Laurie MacDonald
Writer: Ehren Kruger
Writer: Hiroshi Takahashi
Writer: Kôji Suzuki
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Subtitled); French (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); English (Original Language); French (Dubbed)
Format: AC-3, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.85:1
Running Time: 110 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2005-08-23
Audience Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Studio: Dreamworks / Universal Studios
DVD Reviews of The Ring Two (Unrated Widescreen Edition)
DVD Review: Rule #1 in making a sequel should be not to change the rules as much as "The Ring Two" does
Summary: 3 Stars
Believe it or not, here are the three lines from other things that came to my mind while I watched "The Ring Two":
1. "Usul no longer needs the weirding module."
2. "Badges? Badges? We don't need no stinkin' badges."
3. "Roast beef on rye hold the mayo."
I understand the economic motivations for having a sequel to "The Ring" (the remake of the Japanese theatrical film "Ringu," which was based on a Japanese television movie of the same name, which was originally a novel by Kôji Suzuki), but there are some narrative problems. I mean, Rachel (Naomi Watts) solved all of the clues. Does "the ring" in question now become something totally different or are we now looking at it from above at night with a bright light coming from the bottom of the well? You laugh, but this one does end up going through the Looking Glass so there is a reversal of sorts. The opening sequence of the film confirms that the video tape and its attendant rules are operating just fine, once you take into account playing a video tape is not the same as watching a videotape. But then we get to the point where Samara (Kelly Stables) shows up when there is no videotape around. At this point I said to myself, "Usul no longer needs the wirding module" (the line is from the David Lynch theatrical version of "Dune," when Paul Mau'd dib is able to do serious damage by just speaking instead of having his voice amplified by a module, so I guess I should have been thinking, "Samar no longer needs the video tape," but clearly I am not wired that way).
Now, there is no way on earth that Rachel or her son Aidan (David Dorfman) are going any where near a video tape or even a VCR, which is going to make it quite difficult for Rachel to be exposed to the jumbled collection of visual images that constitute the clues in the movies in this series. No problem. They are in Aidan's head so that when Mom touches him, she gets them too. Now I am thinking: "Video tape? Video tape? Samara don't need no stinkin' video tape?" only it comes out as the famous the line from "Treasure of the Sierra Madre" because I am clearly wired that way.
However, this raises an interesting question. Why are new images necessary? I mean, I understand that there have to be new images because Rachel solved all of the old ones, just like Samara has to have new powers because otherwise we would just be repeating ourselves here. So what we end up with is pretty much an addendum to the original mystery, more of a postscript than a whole new mystery. This is when I am thinking "Roast beef on rye hold the mayo," which is the punch line to a "Saturday Night Live" skit where they did a take off on "Citizen Kane." We are told that after Charles Foster Kane said his final word "Rosebud," he also said "Henri" and then "hold the mayo." It is not until the sign from the deli goes in the fire that we understand he was ordering lunch not remembering his sled. Anyway, the idea that you could just tack on something to what already existed, and end up with rather tacky results, is identified in my warped little mind with that skit. So it popped up in my mind too as I watched this one, when what they want me to be thinking about should be "The Ring" (or even "Ringu") rather than all these other films.
Successful horror movies often involve sequels where the rules get changed. Sometimes that works, as is the case with "The Bride of Frankenstein" and "Aliens," and sometimes it fails, as it does most miserably in "A Nightmare On Elm Street Part 2: Freddy's Revenge." "The Ring Two" ends up in the middle ground between those extremes, pretty much in the same ballpark as "Final Destination 2." By the time we get a dozen deer involved in the revised rules of the game you have to be thinking anything goes and that screenwriter Ehren Kruger (who has written "Scream 3," "The Skeleton Key," "The Brothers Grimm" along with "The Ring"), can do anything he wants and get away with it because he has absolute power (Yes, I am now trying to avoid quoting the scene from "E.T."). But that really takes the fun out of it as well because rewriting the rules is not fair. Horror movies get to have their own internal logic and while things can getting really weird in that respect it can still work as long as you do not turn things upside down.
"The Ring Two" ends up doing that and it is a fatal flaw. Ultimately I will argue that the mistake was not in making a sequel, but in deciding that Rachel and Aidan had to be back in it. The opening sequence lays out the start of something that could have worked in a different direction from the original, but like "Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2," which came up with a valid different direction as a new premise, "The Ring Two" fails to take advantage of an interesting situation. Kids are out there watching the tape and trying to get others to watch a copy to save themselves the way Rachel saved Aidan. In other words, basically expanding the bonus short "Rings" is what they should have done. Granted, maybe they could not make as much money without Watts being around to give the production credibility, but I bet they would have made a better horror movie.
Plus, I am curious as to what happens if you watch the tape twice and what if you smash the television screen and what if you watch it on a really small television like the TV/VCR combo in my kitchen instead of the big one in the living room? There was plenty of room in the existing rules to play with to much better effect than what we end up here, which I think that the bonus feature "Rings" amply proves, although I will admit that I did like the final bit with the flip on what Rachel had told her son about his nightmares. Just not enough to round up on this one.
Description of The Ring Two (Unrated Widescreen Edition)
Six months after the frightening rampage by samara & the cursed videotape that left so much death & terror in its wake rachel & her son start a new life in a small oregon town. But when evidence at a local crime scene includes a mysterious unmarked videotape rachel realizes the nightmare hasnt ended. Studio: Paramount Home Video Release Date: 05/01/2007 Starring: Naomi Watts David Dorfman Rating: UrBestsellers in DVD
![The Story of Jeremiah [VHS] Image](/images/noimg.gif)
The Story of Jeremiah [VHS]Vision Video; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Wresting With God [VHS]by Vision Video
Vision Video; Published: 1990-10-01; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Price in other shops:
Study Bible Video with Workbook [VHS]Spring Arbor Distributors; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $7.95
Price in other shops:
Tempo:Childrens TV Favourites Video [VHS]HarperCollins Audio; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $9.17
Price in other shops:
Tempo.Herbs:Parseley'Sb/ Party Video [VHS]HarperCollins Audio; VHS Tape; VHS Video
![Strike the Original Match [VHS] Image](/images/Strike-the-Original-Match-VHS-0001374079-X.jpg)
Strike the Original Match [VHS]New Liberty Films; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Price in other shops:
![Medjugorje The Miracles and the Message [VHS] Image](/images/Medjugorje-The-Miracles-and-the-Message-VHS-0001373293-X.jpg)
Medjugorje The Miracles and the Message [VHS]JPN Film Production; Release date: 1995-12-15; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $29.99
Mayo Clinic Echocardiography Review Course for Boards and Recertification DVD 2008by Mayo
DVD
Price in other shops:
Pediatric Diagnostic Imaging DVD: Single Userby Oakstone
DVD
Price in other shops:
Cost Accounting [VHS]by Charles T. Horngren, George Foster, Srikant M. Datar, Howard Teall
Pearson Canada, Toronto; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Similar DVDs, VHS Video, Audio CDs
The Blair Witch ProjectLions Gate; Release date: 1999-10-22; DVD
Best price: $0.98
Price in other shops:
Paranormal Activity 2Paramount; Release date: 2011-02-08; DVD
Best price: $3.95
Price in other shops:
The UninvitedParamount; Release date: 2009-04-28; DVD
Best price: $5.62
Price in other shops:
Shutter (Widescreen Unrated Edition)TWENTIETH CENTURY FOX HOME ENT; Release date: 2008-07-15; Published: 2008-07-01; DVD
Best price: $3.62
Price in other shops:
Dead Silence (Unrated Widescreen Edition)NBC Universal; Release date: 2007-06-26; Published: 2007-06-01; DVD
Best price: $4.97
Price in other shops:
OrphanWarner Brothers; Release date: 2009-10-27; DVD
Best price: $2.87
Price in other shops:
The Grudge 3SMITH,SHAWNEE; Release date: 2009-05-12; Published: 2009-05-01; DVD
Best price: $4.94
Price in other shops:
The Grudge 2 (Unrated Director's Cut)SONY PICTURES HOME ENT; Release date: 2007-02-06; DVD
Best price: $1.50
Price in other shops:
The GrudgeGELLAR,SARAH MICHEL; Release date: 2005-02-01; Published: 2005-02-01; DVD
Best price: $1.10
Price in other shops:
The Ring (Widescreen Edition)Paramount; Release date: 2003-03-04; Published: 2003-03-01; DVD
Best price: $4.51
Price in other shops: