Rate The Shawshank Redemption (1994)

10/10 for me. I loved the film before i knew of IMDB and was pleasantly surprised to see it topped the 250

9/10.

Dreadful name but good movie. 9/10

There's a reason why it's been such an honored film since it came out.

I think it's wonderful and it's a (somewhat rare) situation where the narration added a lot to the movie.

Morgan Freeman had so much personality in this movie that it just wouldn't have been the same without him.

10/10

Only cause it's made more money than me.

Ditto.

Because this was an excellent movie that was generally overlooked by so many people when it was released. Most movie titles attempt to find a name which will draw the attention of movie goers to try to get them interested in the film being released. 
The name Shawshank alone was strange and unknown to the majority and this is why it did not initially receive the recognition it truly deserved. I simply believe that had more thought been given to it's title then it would have stood out better.

Thanks, Chalk2, I can see where you are coming from. For me, being a Stephen King fan, I had read the original novella "Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption" when it first came out, so the name had been familiar to me when the film was released.

I felt the same way about the film JOHN CARTER. If Disney had kept the full title, JOHN CARTER OF MARS, I think the film would have been much more successful. I only had rudimentary knowledge of the character and books, prior to seeing that film, but I found it very enjoyable and didn't think it warranted the harsh reviews it received.