Ring (film)

is a 1998 Japanese horror mystery film from director Hideo Nakata, adapted from a novel by Koji Suzuki of the same name. The film stars Nanako Matsushima, Hiroyuki Sanada, and Rikiya Otaka as a divorced family each cursed by a strange videotape. The film was later remade in Korea as The Ring Virus (1999), and in the United States as The Ring (2002).

All three films retain the basic premise of a cursed videotape that kills the viewer seven days after being watched (a plot device that was central to an earlier novel, "Rune" by Christopher Fowler in 1990). There are several differences between the book and film(s), however, including the main character being changed from male to female (Kazuyuki Asakawa becomes Reiko Asakawa), an omission of the more unsavory personality traits of Ryuji Takayama (Asakawa's companion), and a glossing over of the scientific explanation behind the cursed videotape in favor of a decidedly supernatural one.

There were two sequels shot in Japan: Rasen (also from 1998, aka Spiral) and Ring 2 (from 1999, and which was not based on Suzuki's works), as well as a prequel, Birthday (2000). Rasen made up for its predecessor in scientific detail, which was one of the reasons for its unpopularity. There was also a Korean remake (called Ring in Korea and The Ring Virus abroad) that was the first-ever joint filmmaking venture between Korea and Japan. A video game, known as Terror's Realm in the U.S., was also released in 2000 for the Dreamcast.

The Ring and Rasen (released in English as Ring and Spiral respectively) were best-selling novels by Koji Suzuki. Loop (which has yet to be adapted to the screen) comprises the third book in the series. It was later followed by a collection of short stories called Birthday, from which the story "Lemonheart" provided the basis for the aforementioned theatrical prequel.

The international success of the Japanese films launched a revival of horror filmmaking in Japan that resulted in such pictures as Kiyoshi Kurosawa's Pulse (from 2001, also called Kairo or Circuit), Takashi Shimizu's Ju-on (2000), Hideo Nakata's Dark Water (from 2002, aka Honogurai mizu no soko kara, also based on a short story by Suzuki), and Higuchinsky's Uzumaki (2000, aka Vortex, based on the Junji Ito horror manga of the same name).

Most of the Ring stories also appeared as manga novels.

Fans of the series are known as Ringworms.

Differences from the novel

The main character in the book is Asakawa Kazuyuki, as opposed to Asakawa Reiko in the movie.
In the book, the main character is friends with Ryuji. In the movie, the main character, Reiko, is Ryuji's divorced wife.
Different, as well as less images in the cursed video. The images in the novel are much more indiscreet than the movie's.
Sadako's mother Shizuko made the prediction of Mt. Mihara erupting. In the book Sadako does this.
Sadako was not killed by her father in the novel.
In the novel, Sadako is not shown coming out of a TV to kill those who have watched the tape (however they do have have horrifying feelings before they die), unlike in the movie. This plot device was created by scriptwriter Hiroshi Takahashi for the franchise and is now generally recognized as the defining scene of the franchise.

Trivia

The trailers released by Dreamworks for the American release of the film in 2003 incorrectly pronounce the film's title as "RING-yoo".

Is the highest grossing horror film in Japan with 15.9 billion yen.

External links

The Cursed Video
the ringworld - a fansite covering all aspects of the Ring series and movies.
the Ring AREA - Contains of the cursed videos of the Ring cycle and their scene-by-scene analyses, as well as lots of other useful information.
Snowblood Apple's Ring Cycle article - an overview of all Ring films.
Snuff Video - Japanese heart-stopping terror with the Ring series.

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Differences from the novel

Trivia

See also

External links