Ringu

This film was produced by and originally shown on Fuji TV in Japan. Nevertheless, expect a bit of nudity (five scenes in all) and an attempted rape.

For a TV movie, this is surprisingly well filmed. People who are familiar with the 1998 theatrical film will follow the plot just fine. It's essentially the same, with some minor differences (Sadako's back story is different and the reporter is a male, for example).

I live in Japan, and this is the first "Ring" movie that most of my Japanese friends saw. Many of them claim it is scarier than the theatrical remake, but I cannot concur. The warped photos, videotape, ending, and generally eerie feel of the Japanese theatrical version make it far superior.

This is the original version of Ring, which played as a TV movie in the mid 90's. It compares reasonably closely to the film adaption but also includes elements of Ring 0. It is seemingly the most faithful to the original novel (yeah, there was a book that led to this franchise!). Oddly, given the success of the theatrical movies, it has never been released on home video since 1996. Given the subject matter, perhaps this is strangely apt...

Its an all round good movie, that should definitely be of interest of those who like the later films. It does explain more and Sadako is more humanised, like she was in Ring 0. Sensibly, this was reigned back for the first movie adaption, ensuring that there was much more mystery to proceedings. Also, the method of Sadako's revenge hasn't quite been perfected in this one and is a bit different here. Still, this is a fascinating early entry in the J-horror sub-genre and makes for a fine addition to this series.

The first film adaptation of the Ring... years before Hideo Nakata's Ring. For a TV adaptation, it has a very successful atmosphere, although it sticks closer to the novel than Hideo Nakata. The presentation of the cursed video turned out pretty well, an attempt was made to present this scene 1:1 from the book, which was also great.

This is an earlier TV version of the seminal Japanese film "Ringu", which was later remade in both America and in Korea and spawned plenty of sequels in all three countries. It is basically the same story as the later "Ringu" film except the female reporter and her child has been replaced by a childless male reporter, and his partner is now a middle-aged college professor, who takes time out from banging his nubile female students to help his younger friend deal with the cursed videotape. This is not as good as "Ringu" or the first American reboot "The Ring", but it is an entertaining enough film that only recently became available with "fansub" English subtitles.

The only thing new this really brings to the table is some "pink" (sex) elements that the later films didn't have. Besides, the lecherous professor, you have one young couple who die while having graphic sex (a scene that includes a surprising flash of not entirely pixillated female pubic hair--I expect the Japanese censors hung the editor upside down and beat him on the soles of his feet). The nude/sex scenes don't really add to the movie, but they don't really distract from it either. I did find some of them hilariously exploitative, like the first scene where the protagonist's ill-fated niece, who here is a lone teenage girl rather than a pair of them, runs into the bathroom for some reason only to drop dead in the shower, which then turns on for no other apparent motive than to get her t-shirt wet and display her breasts. (This is obviously a little more low-rent affair than the later Hideo Nakata film. . .). The biggest changes in the film meanwhile are to the evil "Sadako" character who, instead of being a child, in this movie is a sexy and oft-naked young woman (once again, for obvious exploitation reasons).

Still, as a fan of both "Ring"-type movies and Japanese "pinku eiga", I couldn't very well pass this up. It's pretty much what I expected overall.

After having watched some YouTube videos on the Ringu movies and having watched the original "trilogy" (if one can call it that) I realized that Ringu from 1998 was not the beginning, but rather a book which was turned into a made for TV movie in 1995 - later released for home video - Ring Kanzenban.

Ring Kanzenban is available on YouTube in all its glory!

This movie is amazing! The way to describe it is somewhere in between an episode of the X Files and an FMV video game like Phantasmagoria.

The music is amazing, as well are the camera angles and cheesy "movie effects". The practical effects are so much fun to watch.

The story follows the book and therefore the Ringu movie concept. Some of the characters are swapped and there's no child involved (other than that the main character's wife - Asakawa - is pregnant).

If you've seen Ringu or the American remake the Ring you know what this is all about and I don't need to explain it.

Ring Kanzenban is, however, the movie with most sex and boobs. There's tons, already from the start, and even one of the plot points of the movie involves sex.

The acting from the two main actors is great, but I really don't want to spoil anything.

Just watch this movie for what it is. A TV version of Ringu made before Ringu. Kind of like the made for TV Titanic in 1996 before the epic Titanic in 1997 - long forgotten, standing in the shadow of franchise juggernaut.

I will say that this movie is definitely better and tons more charming than any of the post-American movies, like Sadako vs Kayako.

Maybe I was just in a good mood watching this, but I think it's wonderful for what it is and recommend it for Ring enthusiasts. It's definitely not the movie to start with, but rather come back to after having watched the original trilogy.