RING 0 : Birthday
(2000 film)
[Official British ‘Tartan
Asia Extreme’ DVD release]
Brand NEW and factory SEALED (within clear film 'shrink-wrap').
‘Ring 0’ is the prequel to ‘Ring’ – find out how it all started here...
Originally bought from a high street retailer, but never opened. Beware of fake DVDs.
Details
Aspect Ratio
: 16:9 - 1.78:1
Is Discontinued
By Manufacturer : Unknown
Rated :
Suitable for 15 years and over
Language :
Japanese
Package
Dimensions : 18.03 x 13.76 x 1.48 cm; 81.65 Grams
Manufacturer
reference : 5023965335425
Director :
Norio Tsuruta
Media Format
: PAL, Widescreen
Run time :
1 hour and 39 minutes
Release date
: 25 Feb. 2002
Actors :
Yukie Nakama, Kumiko Asô, Daisuke Ban, Chinami Furuya, Masami Hashimoto
Subtitles:
: English
Language :
Japanese (Dolby Digital 2.0)
Studio :
Tartan
Producers
: Shinji Ogawa, Masao Nagai
Writers :
Kôji Suzuki
Number of
discs : 1
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Customer
reviews: 4.4 out of 5 stars (73
ratings)
Description
The final
part of the Ring trilogy and a prequel to the original film. It's the 1950s and
Sadako, the evil spirit who wreaks havoc in the later stories, is here a young
woman and aspiring actress around whom strange things happen. Under suspicion
from her peers she eventually takes part in a paranormal demonstration in front
of the media. One by one the journalists present start to die as the fiancée of
one of the dead tries to unlock the mystery of the tape-recording of Sadako's
voice.
Additional Info (copied from rear of
case)
The video
curse which struck in the previous installments of Ring was not, it turns out,
the first incarnation of the fatal power possessed by Sadako. With a death toll
reaching back as far as the 1950s - when open-reel tape recorders were the
technological means by which the curse could manifest itself - the evil legacy
has been more widespread than anyone could have imagined. Finally, the secrets
surrounding the evolution of the curse are about to be revealed...
When a
reporter is struck down during a widely publicised demonstration of
parapsychological power by one Yananura Shizuko, unnatural events are put into
motion. One by one, every single journalist present at the event is struck
down, and as the 1960s draw to a close, the fiancé of the first man to die is
determined to find whoever, or whatever, is responsible and take her revenge.
The first
and final part of the Ring cycle, Ring 0 is a masterpiece of Japanese horror,
which sheds a new light over the chilling tale of an ancient, fatal curse. Find the answers you seek… if you dare!
BONUS
MATERIAL / EXTRAS / SPECIAL FEATURES
- Star and
Director Filmographies
- Scene
Selection
- Stills
Gallery
- Mark Wyatt
Film Notes
- Japanese ‘Ring’
Cycle Trailers
- Asia
Extreme Trailer Reel
Review(s)
Ring 0 is
the prequel to the successful Japanese ghost/horror movie Ring which has
already spun off a conventional follow-up (Ring 2) and inspired a host of Far
Eastern imitations, with a US remake in development. Opening with some tiny
scene-setting to remind you of the urban legend of the cursed videotape, the
film skips back to "30 years ago" and dramatises the
hitherto-only-hinted-at tale of how the witchlike Sadako ended up in a well
from which her melancholy, malign spirit spread her curse.
Strange
young woman Sadako (Yukie Nakama) leaves her island home to become an
apprentice in a theatre company, where her ambiguous psychic powers, several
deaths and an outbreak of madness complicate the production. Nakama is fine as
the spooky, Carrie-like heroine, as much a victim of her psychic abilities as
those who drop dead around her, and there are several creepy sequences: a first
night plagued by apparitions, a mob struck down one by one as they chase Sadako
through a wood, and the inevitable, foreshadowed waking-up-in-a-well climax.
The original
filmmakers have departed and the new team don't quite have the material to work
with, which means Ring 0 plays better to initiate newcomers but can't hope to
duplicate the stand-alone chills of Ring. Series fans will enjoy the filled-in
back-story, but others should be warned that the film takes a bewildering
amount of plot information for granted. - Kim Newman
4.0 out of 5
stars “How the girl got into the well...”
Reviewed in
Germany on 3 November 2019
Want a
little Carietta White (the main character from Stephen King’s book and the film Carrie)?
“Ring 0" is the Japanese horror prequel of the 1998 hit film “Ringu” by
Hideo Nakata, shot in 2000.
30 years
before the original horror film was set, the young Sadako Yamamura (Yukie
Nakama) is a pretty girl and member of an acting group. But some of the
ensemble have a creepy feeling about Sadako.
The girl seems mysterious, and since Sadako joined, a couple of fellow
actors have nightmares of a woman rising out of a well. Especially Aiko Hazuki
(Kaoru Okunuki), the first choice for the lead role, is jealous. The director
Yusaku Shigemoni (Takeshi Wakamatsu) increasingly criticises her scenes and
seems to have also turned an eye on the new girl. The sound director Hiroshi
Toyama (Seiichi Tanaba) has also lost his way due to Sadako too. This results
in the suffering of the costume designer Etsuko Tachihara (Kumiko Aso), who is
his girlfriend. Then Aiko dies suddenly. She is found with a pain-distorted
face. The director decides very quickly that the show has to go on and he gives
Sadako the lead role. Meanwhile, reporter Akiko Miyaji (Yoshiko Tanaka) is on
the trail of the disappeared daughter of Shizuko (Masako) and Takashi Yamamura
(Mahito Öba). Clairvoyant Shizuko is said to have killed a reporter while demonstrating
her magical powers. Apparently, the daughter inherited the gift of her mother.
In fact, she can locate Sadako. But she soon has the cruel suspicion that
Sadako has split into two beings...
“ Ring
0" is less creepy than the original “Ringu” - but still offers an
interesting background to the later events. The film was shot by Norio Zsuruta
- a director who is not an unknown in the horror genre. Other well-known horror
films by him are “Kakashi” (2001) and “Premonition” (2004). Sadako herself is
shown as a victim of her talent, of course this reminds of Brian de Palma's
classic “Carrie”. The girl who is somehow overwhelmed by her talent, which has
both positive and negative traits...
2 people
found this helpful
4.0 out of 5
stars “RING: BIRTHDAY!”
Reviewed in
France on 4 September 2016
Far from perfect,
nevertheless this film exudes its own atmosphere which very distant from the
other 2 films. It takes some of the best
aspects from the first 2 movies and including elements of the 3rd (Ring 2).
Set 30 years
before the events of Ring, the story of Sadako is told as a slice of life of
this girl, who is bearing the weight of being something of an outsider, but
desiring to fit in with all her heart.
This story is
primarily set in a theatre – and it is somewhat surprising to see Sadako looking
so beautiful and with aspirirations only to a happy life.
From the 4th
book of Susuki's saga “Ring 0" or “Ring: Origins”, is actually called
“Ring: Birthday” in its movie incarnation.
It is a very beautiful told story with one of the most successful a
finales, which really cranks up the scare-o-meter level!
I would not
spoil any more this film which is better to discover for yourself, and what we
saw (or not) in the previous films. If
you’re a fan of the films then it’d be a pity not to discover the origins and
its investigation (how the story unfolds).
PS: Recently
a 5th book by the same author came out.
Resuming the concept of the K7 for a different story, but as always
concerning Sadako and doc - I imagine his curse…
2 people
found this helpful
5.0 out of 5
stars “Let's complete the anthology...”
Reviewed in
Germany on 24 June 2003
Anyone who
has read my reviews of “Ring (The Original)” and "Ring 2" knows what
is coming now: pure enthusiasm! In “Ring 0", the Japanese filmmakers show
us the prehistory of “Ring (The Original)”. How did the daughter get pushed
into the well? Just like the other two films, you do without crude splatter
scenes and rely entirely on tension and subtle horror.
Are you
brave enough to do a ring movie night? “Ring 0", “Ring - The Original” and
“Ring 2" in one go? I don't think so! Anyone who has seen a maximum of 2
episodes will probably do without the third one for the evening. I've never
been so fond of watching a horror movie series. Cult viewing!!
12 people
found this helpful