... Then a death occurs that Rachel suspects may have links to the videotape and Samara, the girl who instigated the previous spate of deaths. When Aiden appears to have been taken over by an evil spirit, Rachel is convinced that Samara is back on their track. Can she and Aiden keep Samara at ... Read review
The terror continues as Naomi Watts reprises her role as investigative reporter Rachel ... more
Keller in The Ring Two, the heart-pounding suspense thriller that's even scarier and more intense than the first.To escape their haunting memories, Rachel and her so...
The terror continues as Naomi Watts reprises her role as investigative reporter Rachel ... more
Keller in The Ring Two, the heart-pounding suspense thriller that's even scarier and more intense than the first.To escape their haunting memories, Rachel and her son start a new life in a small Oregon town. But when evidence at a local crime scene reveals a mysterious unmarked videotape, Rachel realises that the vengeful Samara is back and more determined than ever to continue her relentless cycle of terror. In a desperate, life-or-death battle, Rachel must confront Samara once again to save herself and her son.
Advantages: Reasonable thriller Disadvantages: Plot loses its way and becomes a bit dull
...suspects may have links to the videotape and Samara, the girl who instigated the previous spate of deaths. When Aiden appears to have been taken over by an evil spirit, Rachel is convinced that Samara is back on their track. Can she and Aiden keep Samara at a distance or are they doomed to die as so many others already have?
I have enjoyed watching Japanese horror for some time now; the recent spate of Hollywood films based on Japanese ... ...the same way. On the whole, though, I have not been impressed by Hollywood remakes and prefer to stick to the originals. However, I did enjoy remake of The Ring, although it wasn't without its faults, and based on that, thought it was worth looking up the second one.
Naomi Watts reappears as Rachel Keller. I am always in two minds about Watts as an actress. I generally think she's quite bland, but I thought her performance in Painted ... more
A few months after narrowly escaping death by videotape, Rachel Keller and her son, Aiden, are settling down in a new town where Rachel has a job as a crime reporter. Then a death occurs that Rachel suspects may have links to the videotape and Samara, the girl who instigated the previous spate of deaths. When Aiden appears to have been taken over by an evil spirit, Rachel is convinced that Samara is back on their track. Can she and Aiden keep Samara at a distance or are they doomed to die as so many others already have?
I have enjoyed watching Japanese horror for some time now; the recent spate of Hollywood films based on Japanese horror clearly proves a lot of other people feel much the same way. On the whole, though, I have not been impressed by Hollywood remakes and prefer to stick to the originals. However, I did enjoy remake of The Ring, although it wasn't without its faults, and based on that, thought it was worth looking up the second one.
Naomi Watts reappears as Rachel Keller. I am always in two minds about Watts as an actress. I generally think she's quite bland, but I thought her performance in Painted Veil more than made up for it. As Rachel, she is not quite bland - I found her extremely irritating on occasion - but I certainly didn't think she was all that brilliant. I'm not quite sure why I found her irritating - at least some of the time it was because I felt her behaviour wasn't very convincing, but that could have been more to do with the director than her acting. I haven't completely written her off as an actress, but I must admit I wouldn't go out of my way to see any of her other work after this.
David Dorfman, who played Aiden in the original remake, returns in this one. This is quite a difficult role for such a young actor, so it is perhaps not a surprise that at times I found him really unrealistic and, like his mother, incredibly annoying. The part of the film that I most liked was when he was practically catatonic. I am perhaps being unfair, but there are plenty of child actors out there that I think could have done a much better job.
Sissy Spacek appears for a few short minutes as Samara's mother. In a mental institution, she is clearly not supposed to look very well; actually the make-up department did such a good job that I didn't recognise her. Samara appears in two guises; one footage from the original film, played by Daveigh Chase, the other played by Kelly Stables. To be honest though, it could have been anyone - she appears with her black hair all over her face and has no recognisable features. That shouldn't be a problem, but I would have preferred to have a figure to identify with - as it was, she was just a thing that I found hard to either hate or feel sorry for.
I think that most people who watch The Ring Two will have already seen the first film. It is not exactly vital that you have, but I think it really helps. This second film is very much a sequel that presumes you at least vaguely know the story of Samara and the videotape; if you don't, you will probably work it out eventually - if you manage to stay interested. Unlike the first one, which had several layers to it, The Ring Two has very little depth to it, and I found that once it had been proved that Samara was back, I wasn't all that bothered about what happened next. In fact, had Rachel and Aiden pegged it, I would have been quite happy. That is not the sign of a good film.
Another annoying aspect to the film was a child abuse storyline that took over, rather than ran parallel to, the main story. Whereas I could understand why it developed, I didn't think it was at all necessary to the main plot and it just ended up being annoying padding. By the time the ending came, I breathed a sigh of relief because I was really getting bored and wanted it to end.
The film isn't all bad. There are some truly scary moments and some great special effects. I particularly liked the scene where Rachel and Aiden are set upon by killer deer - it was really unexpected and frightening. Shame they couldn't have finished them off really. Other scenes are less believable. The effects were clearly added afterwards, which may sound obvious, but other horror films have been made to much greater effect. In this one, I really noticed the fakeness, not helped by Naomi Watts' and David Dorfman's wooden acting. There is a rating of 15, which is not particularly high for a horror, but I think this is fair enough, because it is more the suspense and the possibility of what might happen that is scary rather than what is actually shown.
If you really liked the first film and want some closure, then it is probably worth watching The Ring Two. If you haven't seen the first one, or didn't like it, don't bother with this one. It is a rather disappointing sequel and although not completely dire, it certainly could have been done so much better. There was so much promise there. Not recommended.
The DVD is available from play.com for £4.99, but I'm sure it will be available from Ebay for much less.
Advantages: Some jumpy moments Disadvantages: Extremely dull
is down to the script but I just found his performance on a whole to be very disappointing? again!
I wouldn?t recommend this film to anyone, it?s incredibly slow, has no real plot whatsoever, is very contrived and basically just a complete mess of a film. Even when I thought I had found something redeemable it fell flat. There?s just nothing good about this film at all, apart from the fact that it?s over and I don?t ever have to watch it again!
The DVD is currently available from play.com for £2.99, I wouldn?t even pay that to watch it again.
The special features include:
Deleted and alternative scenes
'Rings' short film
'The Haunting Of The RingTwo' featurette
'HBO First Look: The Making Of The RingTwo' featurette
'Samara: From Eye To Icon' featurette
'Imagination In Focus' featurette ...
Great_reviewer07 01.07.2009
· Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of The Ring Two (DVD)
Advantages: The best 'shoot out' since Heat! Disadvantages: The year we have to wait for the final part!!
for 2 years of their lives.
The making of The Two Towers got me hooked. So I got my sister to get me The Fellowship of the Ring on DVD and the rest is history!
I was not sure how the second part of this amazing story would start considering it starts in the middle of the story, but it works. I also wasn't sure that sitting in a cinema for 3 hours would be a good idea, especially after seeing Die Another Day. I've recently had heart surgery and sitting in one place for so long is a challenge!!!
So, like a sensible girl, I took my painkillers and beta blockers before going into the film, and I can honestly say they were the best 3 hours I have had in ages!! You are dragged back into the story straight away - I think the dream sequence worked as a very short review of the last film.
There was more humour in this story than ...
Advantages: Even Better Than The First! Disadvantages: A little bit samey
*** The RingTwo ***
o This is rated a 15. It has some disturbing scenes.
o Dreamworks Home Entertainment.
o Runs for about 1 hour and 45 minutes
o DVD extras run for about 46 minutes
Stars: Naomi Watts
If you're a big horror fan, you will love this one. I do advise you to watch The Ring before you watch The RingTwo, it will give you a good background to start off on.
This is a horror story about a an investigative reporter who tries to escape some haunting memories from The Ring (one).
Basically, Rachel Keller (the reporter) made a copy of a video tape with some friends, years before. It looks as though more copies have been made of the tape. If you watch the tape, it is almost certain that you're going to die, and it's not going to be a nice way either. The content of the tape is some ...
Rings Short Film, Imagination In Focus, Samara From Eye To Icon, The Haunting Of The Ring 2, HBO First Look The Making Of Ring 2, Deleted And Alternate Scenes
Aspect Ratio
1.85 Anamorphic Wide Screen
Sound
Dolby Digital 5.1
Dubbing Sound
Dolby Digital 5.1 English
DVD Description
In this horror sequel from Japanese master Hideo Nakata, the curse of the videotape returns. Rachel Keller (Naomi Watts) and her son Aiden (David Dorfman) move from Seattle after their first terrible run-in with the tortured evil spirit Samara, relocating to Oregon. Attempting to make a fresh start, Rachel takes a job as a crime reporter at the local newspaper, instantly establishing a pluckily competitive friendship with colleague Max Rourke (Simon Baker). But when it turns out Samara (Kelly Stables) has followed their trail, taking out innocent teens along the way with her old videotape tricks, Rachel dives right back into the mystery. But Samara gets to her son Aiden first. And as a budding photographer in his own right, with a nifty digital camera that he takes everywhere, Aiden quickly finds his own way to harness the relentless ghost. This time, along with the familiar video imagery and spooky clues from the first film, there is a lot of flooding going on. Water pours from television sets, doorways, and especially bathtubs. In addition, there are special effects involving some undead deer who, like Samara, seem to want respite for their wrongful deaths. Sissy Spacek makes a cameo as a religious mental patient in a creepy institution. But it is Watts who steals the show as the fearless uber-mom who digs through the cobwebbed basement of a haunted house, plunges to the bottom of a slimy well, and dances with death in an attempt to stop the perpetual cycle.
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