Get busy livin’ or get busy dyin’. Ironically enough, The Shawshank Redemption was far from livin’ when it was released in 1994, yet, that didn’t mean it was busy dyin’. The Shawshank Redemption may have had a slow crawl through the pipes before it gained the following it has now, but those that knew knew – and they made sure others did, too. Even still, it only peaked at #8 at the box office, only slowly accumulating the wide fanbase it has now. Really, only years after its initial release did people truly come around. And with that, we mark another anniversary, with The Shawshank Redemption celebrating its 30th this month.
As The Shawshank Redemption director Frank Darabont told The Daily Beast, the movie lives on in a way that the awards season couldn’t have predicted. “It hasn’t really gone away. Its initial release wasn’t that successful. In fact, I wouldn’t even call it a success. It was kind of a marginal failure in 1994 yet it became the most rented video of 1995. I think that was for a number of reasons, primarily because it was nominated for seven Academy Awards. We didn’t win a stinking award but it really piqued people’s interest.”
Instead, The Shawshank Redemption lost every one of its Oscars to everything from Forrest Gump (four of the seven) to Speed (Best Sound). And while 1994 is still one of the greatest years in movie history and every one of its losses was anticipated, The Shawshank Redemption remains one of the best of that year. In fact, it just narrowly lost to Pulp Fiction in a JoBlo.com poll of the greatest films of 1994 – so suck on that, Forrest Gump!
The legacy that The Shawshank Redemption has developed in the three decades since its release – no doubt in due part to TNT’s steady airings – is something that Darabont can’t help but notice. “It kind of put it in the same category as The Wizard of Oz or Casablanca. Not in terms of quality, but once you get played regularly on television, audiences can really discover it and that’s what happened to Shawshank. I’m delighted people love it so much.”
Where would you rank The Shawshank Redemption in the list of best films of 1994? Why do you think it endures 30 years on? Get busy commenting below!