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10 comments
25 comments
Rank This Matchup or Comment/Reply Below
on 7/6/2009
That's a pretty good match up, but for me Shawshank wins out. No Country is probably only my 3rd favorite Coen brothers movie.
For me Shawshank will win against all most every movie.
on 7/7/2009
Look it is my number one movie. Shawshank has yet to lose for me after over 32,0000 rankings. No Country however is the laziest attempt at filmmaking I think I have seen since Alone in the Dark.
on 8/28/2009
Really? Laziest? Because it sure takes a lot of effort to achieve some of the craftsmanship on display, there. I'm thinking about the first chase scene in the desert, where the delicate changes in lighting as the sun rises is in perfect continuity with a white-knuckle action sequence. I had a couple of qualms with the film, as well, but I felt very manipulated by SHAWSHANK, and I never felt the kind of affection for it so many people seem to have. It's got to be NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN, no question about it.
on 4/15/2011
No Country For Old Men is a stunning film! The Coen Brothers just make it look easy. However, Shawshank is special. A film that resonates like few others.
on 8/14/2011
100% agree with JRM, shawshank is special, country is great but shawshank is something else, my fave film of all time!
on 12/11/2011
shawshank
on 12/12/2011
No Country is good...but against Shawshank? C'mon son!
Shawshank is a pure classic. NCFOM is pure crap. I found NCFOM to be one of the worst movie going experiences of all-time. I understood the underlying themes and the attempts of the Coen brothers. I still hated the film. Off camera deaths, a cartoonish villain that gets away practically unscathed and the ridiculous ending makes this film as overrated as any in history. It's pretentious, crude, cruel, bizarre and not even remotely as clever as it pretends to be.
Two questions: #1 Why are off camera deaths bad, exactly? #2 Why do you think the villain got away unscathed? It seemed to me that all the cocky characters ended up being humbled in one way or another. I can understand someone liking Shawshank (which I find to be extremely maudlin and tedious, but to each his own). You reasons for not liking No Country are just kind of vague. I can give more specific reasons for not liking Shawshank. For example, I hate Tim Robbins as an actor. I always have. Also, Morgan Freeman's narration is so repetitive and annoying that it I felt like it became an instant self-parody the first time I watched the film. Your problem with No Country being "cruel" doesn't even make much sense to me. If it is cruel, it's not just to the good guys. The villain, who based his whole philosophy on randomness without taking responsibility for his actions, got a taste of his own medicine at the end. The movie isn't really about good or evil winning the way I saw it. Maybe people don't like the ambiguity, which is fine for them. I liked it just for that reason. The sentimentality of Shawshank is far more irritating to my movie tastes.
Hey, could it be that some people dislike No Country because there's no redemption in it? I mean, Tim Robbins gets framed for murder, raped in prison and taken advantage of by a crooked warden for a really long time. But he does dig a hole in the wall and escape to freedom at some point. No Country doesn't really have that "triumph of the spirit" thing going for it. Quite the opposite, really. Then again, life isn't always about redemption.
on 5/26/2012
Like Red would say, "First time I saw NCFOM, I didn't think much of it." NCFOM is brilliant but Shawshank is cinema's pure gold.
on 5/29/2012
NCFOM is good, but Shawshank is the definition of pure cinema. Plus, Morgan Freeman narrates it.
on 5/31/2012
My God this is tough.
on 6/14/2012
Both are pure movies, but shawshank is better
on 7/11/2012
Both are great, but I gotta go with the dynmic duo of Robbins and Freeman.
No Country. It's subtle, it's thrilling and it has Chigurh.
on 7/12/2012
Just rewatched NCfOM, scariest villain in movie history, but Shawshank is awesome
on 7/13/2012
No Country for Old Men, easily. It has the scariest villain since Hannibal Lecter.
on 7/30/2012
Both are masterpieces, but you gotta go with Shawshank
on 5/2/2013
Voting against 'the mighty' Shawshank 'cause people (& charts) praise it 2 much, while it's not even in my top 50 :-)
on 6/26/2013
The Shawshank Redemption. No Contest.
Shawshank wins now.
on 6/27/2013
But are good, but it's gotta be Shawshank.
on 11/29/2013
Shawshank wins easy
on 4/26/2014
NCFOM...truly a masterpiece
on 6/28/2014
Can you imagine what Anton Chigurh would be like in Shawshank prison?
on 7/25/2014
No Country for Old Men is a masterpiece. Shawshank is just ridiculously overrated.
on 9/2/2014
I really like Shawshank, I just don't slurp it like everyone else does. No Country wins by a narrow margin because it has THE villian and i love the subtle nature of it. It doesn't force dialog on you, and lets the context do the talking. Great film.
KingofPain was right on the money. I'll echo everything he said. No Country is fantastic (it IS a Coen Brothers movie) and Shawshank feels like a Lifetime movie by comparison. It just irks me.
No Country is a good movie but I still have to go with Shawshank.
on 2/24/2016
I'll join ToryK and KingofPain team.
on 12/10/2017
I give the nod to No Country, which I consider to be a haunting masterpiece. Shawshank sometimes borders on being a bit too saccharine, but it is still a great uplifting experience. It just can't compete with one of my favorites of all time.
on 12/11/2017
No Country is more complex and I love what it does to its characters and the western genre!
on 3/2/2018
NCFOM. It has possibly the greatest antagonist of all time.
Not quite that good. The Shawshank Redemption>No Country for Old Men
on 2/27/2021
Shawshank is fantastic, but NCFOM is perfect.
on 8/9/2022
TheLovecraft98 Both of these movies are flawless in execution and concept. I think No Country is a more thought provoking film, but Shawshank pull through more as cinema. It has everything. Thought provoking and complex themes and philosophies, amazing cinematography, well written and interesting characters, an excellently structured and written story, and most of all actually makes the audience feel emotions beyond just suspense and sadness. It's a film that inspires us. So yeah, I prefer Shawshank, but they're both phenomenal and I could see why one would choose No Country
