and set up to create as little shadow as possible to "subconsciously alter the viewer's sense of perception and add a heightened sense of ambiguity." Colourist Dale E. Grahn served as the color timer on the film, working in a traditional photochemical colour timing process rather than a modern digital intermediate workflow.

Title

As with the original Japanese film Ring, the title of The Ring can be interpreted as referring to the telephone call which warns those who watched the cursed tape that they will die in seven days, as well as to the view of the ring of light seen from the bottom of the well where Samara was left to die.

Score

The Ring features an original score composed and arranged by Hans Zimmer (who later collaborated on Verbinski's other works). The soundtrack release did not coincide with the original 2002 theatrical run. It was released in 2005, accompanying The Rings 2005 sequel in an album that combined music from both the first and second film. The soundtrack contains a few themes associated with the characters, moods and locations, including multiple uses of the Dies irae theme. The score makes use of string instruments, pianos and synthesizers.

Release and reception

Marketing

To advertise The Ring, many promotional websites were formed featuring characters and places in the film. The video from the cursed videotape was played in late-night programming over the summer of 2002 without any reference to the film. Physical VHS copies were also randomly distributed outside of movie theaters by placing the tapes on the windshields of people's cars.

Box office

The Ring opened theatrically on October 18, 2002, in the United States, on 1,981 screens, and grossed $15 million during its opening weekend. leading DreamWorks to expand its release to 700 additional theaters. Worldwide, The Ring grossed a total of $249.3 million. Metacritic assigned the film a weighted average score of 57 out of 100 based on 36 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave The Ring an average grade of "B−" on an A+ to F scale.

On Ebert & Roeper, Richard Roeper gave it a "Thumbs Up" and said it was very gripping and scary despite some minor unanswered questions. Roger Ebert gave the film "Thumbs Down" and felt it was boring and "borderline ridiculous"; he also disliked the extended, detailed ending. Jeremy Conrad from IGN praised The Ring for its atmospheric set up and cinematography, and said that "there are disturbing images ... but the film doesn't really rely on gore to deliver the scares". Film Threats Jim Agnew called it dark, disturbing and original.

Despite the praise given to the direction, some criticized the lack of character development. Jonathan Rosenbaum from the Chicago Reader said that The Ring was "an utter waste of Watts ... perhaps because the script didn't bother to give her a character", whereas William Arnold from the Seattle Post-Intelligencer disagreed, saying that she projects intelligence, determination and resourcefulness. Several critics, like Miami Heralds Rene Rodriguez and USA Todays Claudia Puig, thought The Ring did not make sense despite its explanations.

Accolades

{| class=wikitable

|- style="background:#96c; text-align:center;"

!style="text-align:center;"|Year

!Award

!Category

!Nomination(s)

!Results

|-

|rowspan=2|2002

|rowspan=2|Saturn Awards

|colspan=2|Best Movie – Horror

|

|-

|Best Actress

|Naomi Watts

|

|-

|rowspan=3|2003

|rowspan=2|MTV Movie Awards

|colspan=2|Best Movie

|

|-

|Best Villain

|Daveigh Chase

|

|-

|Teen Choice Awards

|colspan=2|Best Movie – Horror

|

|}

Legacy

The success of The Ring paved the way for American remakes of several other Asian and Japanese horror films, including The Grudge (2004), Dark Water (2005), Pulse (2006), One Missed Call, Shutter, The Eye, Mirrors, The Echo (all in 2008), The Uninvited and Don't Look Up (both 2009), Apartment 1303 3D (2012), and 13 Sins (2014).

The Ring ranked number 20 on the cable channel Bravo's list of The 100 Scariest Movie Moments. Bloody Disgusting ranked it sixth in their list of the "Top 20 Horror Films of the Decade", with the article saying that "The Ring was not only the first American 'J-horror' remake out of the gate; it also still stands as the best".

Sequels

A sequel, titled The Ring Two, was released on March 18, 2005. A short film, titled Rings, was also released in 2005, and is set between The Ring and The Ring Two. A third installment, also titled Rings, was released on February 3, 2017.

See also

  • Chain letter
  • List of ghost films
  • List of Ring characters

Notes

References

  • Snowblood Apple's Ring Cycle article, an overview of all Ring films.