19 reviews
I shall be honest about this. I liked it, it was the best short movie I ever saw, as far as i am concerned. In a matter of fact, I liked this one way better than the true sequel. It's very thrilling, to watch how a teen slowly grows insane while being in the presence of Samara Morgan. It's very realistic, just like how I would see it happen in real life. It's far more realistic than The Ring. i mean, if I'd been Rachel, I would have freaked out the first day or something. Screw 'finding out what mystery lies behind the tape'. I'd lose my mind!
Sometimes I actually screamed and crushed my friend's arm. So a big bravo.
Sometimes I actually screamed and crushed my friend's arm. So a big bravo.
- jentlke_in_black
- May 28, 2006
- Permalink
Rings is the bridge between The Ring and The Ring 2. In the six months between the 2 films the copy of the infamous videotape made by Rachel has multiplied many times (still no explanation as to how people know they're going to die) and it's become such an urban legend that there is a website devoted to it.
Jake, the unfortunate high school kid at the start of The Ring 2, has watched the videotape in order to save the life of one of his so-called friends, thus taking on board the responsibility of making someone else watch it in 7 days or die by Samara's fright.
Initially Jake is intrigued and is offered a glimpse into the bizarre world of post-videotape viewing that we only saw thru Rachel's eyes in the first. Nothing is explained in any greater detail but the paranormal universe Jake falls into is fleshed-out more and is highly spooky. The short even manages to outdo The Ring 2 by giving us a couple of frights. I don't care how ridiculous the movies are, the image of Samara climbing out the well will ALWAYS be spooky.
Anyone who has seen The Ring 2 will already know what becomes of Jake and his would-be girlfriend Emily (the one he forces to watch the tape) but if you're a fan of the films then this is essential viewing. If you've yet to see The Ring 2 then it's the perfect introduction.
Jake, the unfortunate high school kid at the start of The Ring 2, has watched the videotape in order to save the life of one of his so-called friends, thus taking on board the responsibility of making someone else watch it in 7 days or die by Samara's fright.
Initially Jake is intrigued and is offered a glimpse into the bizarre world of post-videotape viewing that we only saw thru Rachel's eyes in the first. Nothing is explained in any greater detail but the paranormal universe Jake falls into is fleshed-out more and is highly spooky. The short even manages to outdo The Ring 2 by giving us a couple of frights. I don't care how ridiculous the movies are, the image of Samara climbing out the well will ALWAYS be spooky.
Anyone who has seen The Ring 2 will already know what becomes of Jake and his would-be girlfriend Emily (the one he forces to watch the tape) but if you're a fan of the films then this is essential viewing. If you've yet to see The Ring 2 then it's the perfect introduction.
- CuriosityKilledShawn
- Apr 9, 2005
- Permalink
I saw this on YouTube and i thought it was a fan film, i was surprise it was an official release as a bonus o the sequel to explain the opening of the film.
The idea was way better than the movies plot, it was simple and much more intense besides who's not creep-ed out by Aida anyway and we are supposed to care for him and he is more scary than Samara.
Its sad ideas like this don't get the attention they deserve and the movie ends up by with a movie that probably was directed or written by a monkey, i recommend it to all fans of the Ring i wish they would fit Naomi Wattsin this some how, as a short film is great the premise is close to its end, check it out.
The idea was way better than the movies plot, it was simple and much more intense besides who's not creep-ed out by Aida anyway and we are supposed to care for him and he is more scary than Samara.
Its sad ideas like this don't get the attention they deserve and the movie ends up by with a movie that probably was directed or written by a monkey, i recommend it to all fans of the Ring i wish they would fit Naomi Wattsin this some how, as a short film is great the premise is close to its end, check it out.
- DogFilmCritic
- Jan 20, 2016
- Permalink
After purchasing the collector's edition for The Ring, one of my all-time favorite films, I immediately popped in the bonus disc to check out the new features. I was treated to a bunch of cool new supplements including lots of cast interviews, trailers and much more. But the real main attraction of the disc was a short film entitled "Rings", which serves as a prelude to The Ring Two. I saved the best feature for last and eventually hit the play button.
"Rings" features Ryan Merriman as Jake, a high-schooler who becomes obsessed with the videotape and its strange new following. It seems as if the infamous videotape has become a cult following, with many people watching it, seeing how long they can stand to live after watching it and then finally passing it on to the next person, who does the same. They post their experiences online at a public website. People believe that it is a window that shows us either heaven or hell, and that the experience should be cherished and not feared. However, once Jake is introduced to the tape by one of these cults, he starts to unravel as he sees strange things and experiences horrors that no one should ever have to bear. The cult that supposedly had his back and his "tail" (meaning the person who he passes the tape on to) turn their backs on him, wanting to finally have a perspective on what happens on day seven. Also appearing in this short is Emily Van Camp, who plays Jake's classmate Emily. Both Merriman and Van Camp are featured in the upcoming sequel.
This short does a great job of linking the two "Ring" films together. It is shot in a different style that works very well for it, making it both creepy and visually appealing. The script is well-done as is the direction by Jonathan Liebsman. The acting is fine as well. And just in case you were curious, Samara does make an appearance here. And just because this film is short doesn't mean it isn't scary. There are several creepy moments that echo the first film and many jump scares as well. The atmosphere also adds to the intensity.
Overall, "Rings" is an excellent short film. It makes me anticipate the sequel even more than I once was, and was surprisingly very well-made. It was interesting, entertaining and scary as hell. Plus it ends with a cliffhanger that makes waiting for the sequel even more unbearable.
This new DVD set is a must-buy for fans of the first film, as well as those who are anticipating the sequel. Get it now before the sequel comes out. You won't be disappointed.
8/10 (A-)
"Rings" features Ryan Merriman as Jake, a high-schooler who becomes obsessed with the videotape and its strange new following. It seems as if the infamous videotape has become a cult following, with many people watching it, seeing how long they can stand to live after watching it and then finally passing it on to the next person, who does the same. They post their experiences online at a public website. People believe that it is a window that shows us either heaven or hell, and that the experience should be cherished and not feared. However, once Jake is introduced to the tape by one of these cults, he starts to unravel as he sees strange things and experiences horrors that no one should ever have to bear. The cult that supposedly had his back and his "tail" (meaning the person who he passes the tape on to) turn their backs on him, wanting to finally have a perspective on what happens on day seven. Also appearing in this short is Emily Van Camp, who plays Jake's classmate Emily. Both Merriman and Van Camp are featured in the upcoming sequel.
This short does a great job of linking the two "Ring" films together. It is shot in a different style that works very well for it, making it both creepy and visually appealing. The script is well-done as is the direction by Jonathan Liebsman. The acting is fine as well. And just in case you were curious, Samara does make an appearance here. And just because this film is short doesn't mean it isn't scary. There are several creepy moments that echo the first film and many jump scares as well. The atmosphere also adds to the intensity.
Overall, "Rings" is an excellent short film. It makes me anticipate the sequel even more than I once was, and was surprisingly very well-made. It was interesting, entertaining and scary as hell. Plus it ends with a cliffhanger that makes waiting for the sequel even more unbearable.
This new DVD set is a must-buy for fans of the first film, as well as those who are anticipating the sequel. Get it now before the sequel comes out. You won't be disappointed.
8/10 (A-)
- Movienut88
- Mar 11, 2005
- Permalink
- bensonmum2
- Dec 20, 2005
- Permalink
- lost-in-limbo
- Jun 17, 2006
- Permalink
This is a 15-minute long film that serves as a sort of prequel to The Ring Two (2005) and which chronologically follows the events of The Ring (2002). It begins with Jake on day 7 of "having the Ring curse". He's on the phone with someone and he's scared, but he's being advised to "record everything he sees". Then we move to a flashback showing Jake's story--from his initial involvement with "The Ring" up to the opening point of the film and slightly beyond.
As a bridge to The Ring Two, Rings only really links to the beginning of its feature-length sibling. That's bad news for The Ring Two, because this is a much better film. It has a more interesting story, the "background premise" is much more interesting, the effects have more impact, and the cinematography is much better.
Just for anyone not familiar with the gist of "The Ring Curse" (it's a prerequisite for "getting" this film; I'd advise skipping this paragraph if you haven't seen The Ring yet), the basic idea of the series is that there is a creepy piece of short, mysterious video (usually on a videotape, but not always) that some people were watching, initially by accident. After the video, which featured a strange little girl with long, straight, black hair hanging over her face like Cousin It from "The Addams Family" (1964), finished playing, the viewer would get a call telling them that they only have seven days. If they didn't get someone else to watch the tape in that time period, they would die at the end of the seven-day period, almost to the minute of their watching the Ring video.
The background idea in Rings, which was suggested by the last few pages of Kôji Suzuki's Ring novel, is that subsequent to the events shown in The Ring, knowledge of the curse, as well as copies of the videotape, have burgeoned into a bizarre kind of underground subculture. Groups of people watch each other's tapes, especially for new members, to ensure that they can have a "Ring Experience". Internet sites and support groups have blossomed.
People have figured out that while under the Ring curse, one sees bizarre things that others do not see, whether they're "windows on another (level of) reality" or merely hallucinations. As the days go by, the visions become more intense. Part of the attraction to the subculture is seeing how far one can go before showing someone else the tape and ridding oneself of the curse. It's basically a combination of acid tripping and being a daredevil--taking increasingly chancy risks with one's life, all in the knowledge that one will be safe in the end, as long as one does not push it too far.
This is an excellent idea. It's a pity they didn't continue the story as the bulk of The Ring Two. However watching Rings first will at least give The Ring Two more depth for you, because otherwise the opening scenes of The Ring Two, which are a continuation, will seem far more unrelated/disconnected.
Rings has an amazing visual sense. The cinematography, by Lukas Ettlin, who also shot 2004's American remake of Ju-On: The Grudge in conjunction with Hideo Yamamoto, is fantastic throughout, although if you have an aversion to "MTV-styled cinematography" you might not appreciate it as much. Director and co-writer Jonathan Liebesman has Ettlin employ a lot of different filmstocks, different kinds of cameras and methods (handhelds, steadicams, cinema vérité, tracking shots, etc.), and different processing techniques. The shifting visual styles constantly "cycle", or "ring", if you like, for the length of the film.
Although Ring Two also had fine, bizarre events and effects, Rings tends to trump its big sister in that regard, as well, especially since Liebesman packs as much or more into 15-minutes than the two hours of its successor. The overall feel here is much more surrealistic and horrific. To me, that seems to be what a Ring film should aim for.
The bottom line is that if you're a Ring/Ringu fan, you shouldn't miss this short. It's fun to imagine an ideal world where Rings is stretched to full length as the "real sequel" and The Ring Two is a shorter footnote. The bad news is how Rings was made available to us--packaged with a re-release, exactly the same as the earlier release, of the first film. I'm sure most Ring/Ringu fans already owned The Ring on DVD. I did, and I had to buy it again to get a copy of Rings. But, we can just pass on our second copy of the Ring DVD to someone who hasn't seen it, thus ensuring we get past what is otherwise a seven-year expiration date on our lives.
As a bridge to The Ring Two, Rings only really links to the beginning of its feature-length sibling. That's bad news for The Ring Two, because this is a much better film. It has a more interesting story, the "background premise" is much more interesting, the effects have more impact, and the cinematography is much better.
Just for anyone not familiar with the gist of "The Ring Curse" (it's a prerequisite for "getting" this film; I'd advise skipping this paragraph if you haven't seen The Ring yet), the basic idea of the series is that there is a creepy piece of short, mysterious video (usually on a videotape, but not always) that some people were watching, initially by accident. After the video, which featured a strange little girl with long, straight, black hair hanging over her face like Cousin It from "The Addams Family" (1964), finished playing, the viewer would get a call telling them that they only have seven days. If they didn't get someone else to watch the tape in that time period, they would die at the end of the seven-day period, almost to the minute of their watching the Ring video.
The background idea in Rings, which was suggested by the last few pages of Kôji Suzuki's Ring novel, is that subsequent to the events shown in The Ring, knowledge of the curse, as well as copies of the videotape, have burgeoned into a bizarre kind of underground subculture. Groups of people watch each other's tapes, especially for new members, to ensure that they can have a "Ring Experience". Internet sites and support groups have blossomed.
People have figured out that while under the Ring curse, one sees bizarre things that others do not see, whether they're "windows on another (level of) reality" or merely hallucinations. As the days go by, the visions become more intense. Part of the attraction to the subculture is seeing how far one can go before showing someone else the tape and ridding oneself of the curse. It's basically a combination of acid tripping and being a daredevil--taking increasingly chancy risks with one's life, all in the knowledge that one will be safe in the end, as long as one does not push it too far.
This is an excellent idea. It's a pity they didn't continue the story as the bulk of The Ring Two. However watching Rings first will at least give The Ring Two more depth for you, because otherwise the opening scenes of The Ring Two, which are a continuation, will seem far more unrelated/disconnected.
Rings has an amazing visual sense. The cinematography, by Lukas Ettlin, who also shot 2004's American remake of Ju-On: The Grudge in conjunction with Hideo Yamamoto, is fantastic throughout, although if you have an aversion to "MTV-styled cinematography" you might not appreciate it as much. Director and co-writer Jonathan Liebesman has Ettlin employ a lot of different filmstocks, different kinds of cameras and methods (handhelds, steadicams, cinema vérité, tracking shots, etc.), and different processing techniques. The shifting visual styles constantly "cycle", or "ring", if you like, for the length of the film.
Although Ring Two also had fine, bizarre events and effects, Rings tends to trump its big sister in that regard, as well, especially since Liebesman packs as much or more into 15-minutes than the two hours of its successor. The overall feel here is much more surrealistic and horrific. To me, that seems to be what a Ring film should aim for.
The bottom line is that if you're a Ring/Ringu fan, you shouldn't miss this short. It's fun to imagine an ideal world where Rings is stretched to full length as the "real sequel" and The Ring Two is a shorter footnote. The bad news is how Rings was made available to us--packaged with a re-release, exactly the same as the earlier release, of the first film. I'm sure most Ring/Ringu fans already owned The Ring on DVD. I did, and I had to buy it again to get a copy of Rings. But, we can just pass on our second copy of the Ring DVD to someone who hasn't seen it, thus ensuring we get past what is otherwise a seven-year expiration date on our lives.
- BrandtSponseller
- Apr 25, 2005
- Permalink
Seriously this SHOULD have been made into the feature length sequel the only reason I'm giving it a 7 instead of an 8 is because you have to tune into The Ring Two to see what happens to Jake and that movie sucks.
- samtko-04675
- Sep 10, 2019
- Permalink
This is best described as a prologue for The Ring Two(and it is located on the DVD of it), and it relies on the viewer already knowing the concept as explained in the first(American remake) movie. It sets up the sequel, and scares the crap out of us, all in less than twenty minutes(!). Seriously, apart from the fact that this does use stuff that has already been gone into in the franchise, it manages to deliver exposition, give us characters to sympathize with and shoot us full of a healthy dose of fear. The pace is fast, but never too much so, and the frightening parts are still heavily based on build-up, mood and atmosphere(and frankly, no gore, none, and it works beautifully). All of the acting performances are solid. The editing and cinematography are energetic and creative, and there is really no point in this where it slows down, and yet it doesn't feel rushed. Sound and music are perfect, absolutely spot-on. The idea here is very well-thought out, and they get excellent moments out of it. This is immensely effective, and if you have the opportunity to watch it, and you have the knowledge required beforehand. I recommend it to anyone who is into psychological horror. 10/10
- TBJCSKCNRRQTreviews
- Jul 13, 2009
- Permalink
- boy_in_red
- Aug 24, 2006
- Permalink
I had to force myself to watch this until the end. I found the first half pretty mediocre. It didn't stick to any ring rules and it definitely was not scary and the characters i didn't develop any feelings for them at all.
The second half was Boring. I had to force myself to not get distracted by the paint drying on my walls because watching that was more interesting than this movie. The priest fight was boring too. Yawn.
The ONLY good thing about the movie was the end.
The second half was Boring. I had to force myself to not get distracted by the paint drying on my walls because watching that was more interesting than this movie. The priest fight was boring too. Yawn.
The ONLY good thing about the movie was the end.
Apart from being miles above the pedestrian, even ridiculous "Ring 2" (by much-hyped and overrated Japanese director Nakata) in terms of style, wit, and execution, this savvy, snappy little short introduces a whole new set of ideas to the Ring "myth" that could've given Nakata's clinker the shot of fresh blood it so desperately needed - mainly, the intriguing concept of the tape as a sort of "psycho virus" you have to pass on within 7 days in order to save your own life. This premise - which opens up all kinds of possibilities and suggests a whole bunch of analogies - could have been the basis for a terrific sequel. It's a shame and a pity the producers opted for the easy way out instead. What did they do to Ehren Kruger to make him drop this for the absurd piece of drivel that became "Ring 2"? Hollywood works in mysterious ways, indeed.
My perspective as a Fanboy: I'm so outrageous that this a**hole tried to involve my sweet and precious Emily VanCamp into Samara's curse. Now I'm really glad that he's dead.
It's no surprise that Samara started a cult that adhere by teenagers. She's the ultimate trend setter.
FYI, this 17 minutes short is slightly better than the whole 110 minutes of The Ring Two.
It's no surprise that Samara started a cult that adhere by teenagers. She's the ultimate trend setter.
FYI, this 17 minutes short is slightly better than the whole 110 minutes of The Ring Two.
- ashfordofficial
- Nov 27, 2021
- Permalink
I am very confused, I do not understand why the studio didn't release this with the film? Okay I understand that to start the film out with a 16 minuet opening like this would have been boring in the theater, it would have dragged the opening on a bit, but that's what editing is for! they could have re-edited this opening, cut it down to maybe 8-10mins. When I first saw Ring 2 in the theater I was unclear about the opening, "why was he so desperate for this girl to see the tape?" why this? why that? and I wasn't alone. It didn't hurt Ring 2 but it could have opened it with a more awe inspiring or knock over the head start then there was. You watch Rings and then watch Ring 2, it makes the opening a lot more intense!! and you feel more for the girl and the guy, your in there with them both. Without Rings your not. I am very glade they did include Rings on the Ring 2 DVD, just wish they could have inserted it along with the film. I also heard they did show this opening in a few limited theaters before Ring 2, so if they do that why couldn't they have inserted it into the film? Well before you watch Ring 2 on DVD make sure you first watch Rings!!!
- friggyhoppinpot
- Aug 29, 2005
- Permalink
- Meven_Stoffat
- Sep 15, 2006
- Permalink
This is WAY better than the cheesy sequal. The ideas are use well in this short movie and this what could be the real sequal like it depends like it's not a movie if it's 16 minutes long. At least the story is good and the acting is convincing too. Also this is not boring like that cheesy sequal and have something to keep you watching this movie. This is my review on Rings (2005), better than the cheesy sequal but not as good as the first one.
- randyfromscream
- Jan 1, 2018
- Permalink
- Horst_In_Translation
- Oct 21, 2015
- Permalink
So this is a 15 minute short but whilst watching it, it felt so long at least 45 minutes. None of the characters are interesting, felt kind of pointless until I watched the Ring Two afterwards. This short essentially sets up the events of the intro of Ring Two, if you didn't want this before it would just feel like a throw away.
Being a short I understand there isn't much, you can do with developing the characters, just wish there was a bit more meat to it.
Being a short I understand there isn't much, you can do with developing the characters, just wish there was a bit more meat to it.
- ashecatlin
- Oct 25, 2020
- Permalink