Something that Has Always Bothered Me about "Shawshenk"

[Rand Paul]

At least he used the right unit of measure, sorta. Lightning bolts put out terawatts of energy.

A parsec is a unit of distance, not time.

Did you not get catch the horrible mispronounciation? That's because the writers had never actually heard the term spoken, only written on page. Could you imagine Neil deGrasse Tyson mispronouncing such basic scientific terminology?

 

[DanL53]

Imagine all the things that Andy could have crawled out of.

Can you identify?
Black Hole
Peanut Butter Machine?
Toilet Bowl
Rosie O'Donnell's rear

If you can, then you can properly complain about the tube that Andy emerged from.

 

[who r u]

i am not a waste water/sewer expert but as far as i know the amount of gas in a pipe is not constant. so basically you could go into the sewers without ventilation 99 times and live and the 100th time die because of gas. so the fact that someone went in to the sewers and came out alive shouldnt be a huge shock.

 

[waterboy4582]

Why was raw sewage running into the ditch anyway. It was more than likely black water.

 

[Foxclone]

It's "ShawshAnk".

It's a movie so I let that part slide. Honestly, I thought the worst part about the crawling through the drain part was the blatant foreshadowing in the scene just prior. Andy is talking to Red "Talking crazy" as Red later put it, talking about getting out of Shawshank and Red replies with "Aww Andy, thems just shitty pipe dreams"

They could have been a bit more subtle there. Still one of my top 5 all time favorite movies, though.

 

[hawksurprize]

i am not a waste water/sewer expert but as far as i know the amount of gas in a pipe is not constant. so basically you could go into the sewers without ventilation 99 times and live and the 100th time die because of gas. so the fact that someone went in to the sewers and came out alive shouldnt be a huge shock.

You are correct sir.

 

[KitingHigh]

Did you not get catch the horrible mispronounciation? That's because the writers had never actually heard the term spoken, only written on page. Could you imagine Neil deGrasse Tyson mispronouncing such basic scientific terminology?

According to the dictionary, both pronunciations are acceptable. Plus it sounds cooler the way he says it.

 

[hooper56]

I clearly am in the minority in my judgment. It is indeed well-acted and well-written. I would not have panned it, or anything close, when I was reviewing movies. Would have given it high marks, for sure. But I wouldn't have assigned it the almost folklore status that many of its fans seem to have.

I also have heard others talk about the message of hope. That isn't the message I got at all. Not even close. I got a message about perseverance in the face of injustice, and a message about the power of a strong will and sense of self, a refusal to accept defeat. All admirable messages, but nothing there about hope.

I agree and if anything the movie argues against hope. One of the pivotal lines in the screenplay urges you to "get busy livin' or get busy dyin'". In other words, don't sit there hoping. Do something.

 

[INXS83]

When Andy crawls through his tunnel, and breaks in to the sewer pipe (that he then crawls through to freedom), water bursts up from the hole he makes in the pipe.

But, being a sewer pipe, its contents would not be under pressure.

Why did the water burst up?

It gave the impression that sewage was under pressure and when he broke through the casing, it spewed up. I'd call it taking creative license for dramatic effect.

The real problem I had with that scene was that the pipe he crawled out never got smaller as it got to outlet into the creek. That never happens in real life. There was also no varmint grate at the end of the pipe to keep critters from entering the pipe. This also do not happen in real life.

 

[KitingHigh]

LOL

No. Just no.

giga·watt

\ˈji-gə-ˌwät, ˈgi-\noun
:a unit of power equal to one billion watts
First Use: circa 1962

http://i.word.com/idictionary/gigawatt

 

[CJBauer]

They make a passing joke about that in the movie. When Andy and Red first meet Andy asks why they call him Red. Red jokes by saying maybe it's because he is Irish.

Or it could be his last name was Redding...