The Ring Two (2005)

6 months after the incidents involving the lethal videotape, new clues prove that there is a new evil lurking in the darkness.

Director:

Hideo Nakata

Writers:

Ehren Kruger, Kôji Suzuki (novel) (as Koji Suzuki)

Stars:

Naomi Watts, David Dorfman, Sissy Spacek

2 wins & 11 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Naomi Watts	...	Rachel
Simon Baker	...	Max Rourke
David Dorfman	...	Aidan
Elizabeth Perkins	...	Dr. Emma Temple
Gary Cole	...	Martin Savide
Sissy Spacek	...	Evelyn
Ryan Merriman	...	Jake
Emily VanCamp	...	Emily
Kelly Overton	...	Betsy
James Lesure	...	Doctor
Daveigh Chase	...	Samara (archive footage)
Kelly Stables	...	Evil Samara
Cooper Thornton	...	Father of Emily
Marilyn McIntyre	...	Mother of Emily
Jesse Burch	...	Male Reporter

Storyline

A high school student named Jake tries to make his girlfriend Emily watch a cursed tape. But then Jake finds out that Emily covered her eyes and didn't watch the tape, and then Jake is killed by Samara Morgan (from the first The Ring movie). Rachel Keller learns of Jake's death and finds his twisted body in the back of an ambulance. Rachel then realizes she once again has to save her son Aidan from Samara the evil ghost child.

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Plot Keywords:

close up of eye | close up of eyes | close up of mouth | female protagonist | supernatural horror | 

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Taglines:

It begins again

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Genres:

Horror | Mystery

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for violence/terror, disturbing images, thematic elements and some language

Details

Official Sites:

DreamWorks [United States] UIP [Brazil]

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

18 March 2005 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Ring 2

Filming Locations:

Chinook, Washington, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$50,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$35,065,237, 20 March 2005, Wide Release

Gross USA:

$76,231,249

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$161,451,538

Company Credits

Production Co:

DreamWorks, BenderSpink, Parkes+MacDonald Image Nation

Technical Specs

Runtime:

110 min 128 min (unrated)

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Hans Zimmer was unable to score the film due to scheduling conflicts with Batman Begins (2005), and the short post-production schedule. Henning Lohner and Martin Tillman, who had worked with Zimmer on The Ring (2002), were hired to compose the score.

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Goofs

After the bathroom scene in which a huge amount of water falls from the ceiling, Max removes a dry towel from the towel rack and places it around the boy's shoulders.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Emily: Ever seen a shooting star?
Jake: Sure. You?
Emily: You know what you're supposed to do, right?
Jake: What do you mean, make a wish?
Emily: If you saw one right now, what would you wish for?
Jake: Well, that's a secret.

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Crazy Credits

Similar to the previous movie, there are no opening credits besides the Dreamworks logo.

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Alternate Versions

There are two slightly different versions of the Region 1 widescreen unrated DVD. One has rougher sound and poorer video quality during the additional scenes, with a few unfinished effects (the viewfinder on Aiden's camera). Some of the music cues are different as well. It also has a different version of the "bobbing for apples" scene, in which Aiden has a vision of his own head underwater. The only apparent difference in packaging is that this version does NOT have the letters "FR" after the catalog number (which is, in both versions, 94433).

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Connections

References Little Nicky (2000)

User Reviews

Fear comes...maybe half circle.

The Ring was my favourite film of 2002, the best horror film I'd seen in ages, and I subsequently saw and enjoyed (with the exception of Ring 0 - What the hell was that?) all the Japanese films as well.

So when I heard that the director of the original films was set to do the second "remake", it was suitably excited. Imagine what he could do with a bigger budget and better technology? It is however, not even close to the first, and such improvements don't surface (same CGI, C-list Hallmark Channel cast). It does manage to keep you nervous throughout, but the proper scares are too infrequent and it appears to take itself too seriously. This is all too evident when the creepiest kid in cinema is admitted to hospital and The Ring 2 turns into a child abuse drama for around twenty minutes, leaving you wondering when it'll pick up a bit again.

It's also the kind of film that demands that you re-watch the first one before you go to see it; the opening makes no sense unless you've seen "Rings" on the Collectors Edition DVD, and there's a ton of stuff that may have easily been forgotten if you saw the film three years ago.

It's alright; it's a horror sequel-remake thing, so you don't expect too much and you wont be disappointed, but you can't help but think it could have been done a bit better.