Movies - Ring

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is a 1998 Japanese horror mystery film from director Hideo Nakata, adapted from a novel by Koji Suzuki of the same name. The film stars Nanako Matsushima, Hiroyuki Sanada and Rikiya Otaka as a divorced family each cursed by a strange cursed videotape. The film was later remade in Korea as The Ring Virus (1999), and in the United States as The Ring (2002).

All three films retain the basic premise of a cursed videotape that kills the viewer seven days after being watched (a plot device that was central to an earlier novel, "Rune" by Christopher Fowler in 1990). There are several differences between the book and film(s), however, including the main character being changed from male to female (Kazuyuki Asakawa becomes Reiko Asakawa), an omission of the more unsavory personality traits of Ryuji Takayama (Asakawa's companion), and a glossing over of the scientific explanation behind the cursed videotape in favor of a decidedly supernatural one.

There were two sequels shot in Japan: Rasen
(also from 1998, aka Spiral) and Ring 2
(from 1999, and which was not based on Suzuki's works), as well as a prequel, Ring 0: Birthday
(2000). Rasen made up for its predecessor in scientific detail, which was one of the reasons for its unpopularity. There was also a Korean remake (called Ring in Korea and The Ring Virus abroad) that was the first-ever joint filmmaking venture between Korea and Japan. A video game, known as The Ring: Terror's Realm
in the U.S., was also released in 2000 for the Dreamcast.

The Ring
and Rasen
(released in English as Ring and Spiral respectively) were best-selling novels by Koji Suzuki. Loop
(which has yet to be adapted to the screen) comprises the third book in the series. It was later followed by a collection of short stories called Birthday, from which the story "Lemonheart" provided the basis for the aforementioned theatrical prequel.

The international success of the Japanese films launched a revival of horror filmmaking in Japan that resulted in such pictures as Kiyoshi Kurosawa's Pulse
(from 2001, also called Kairo or Circuit), Takashi Shimizu's Ju-on
(2000), Hideo Nakata's Dark Water (from 2002, aka Honogurai mizu no soko kara, also based on a short story by Suzuki), and Higuchinsky's Uzumaki
(2000, aka Vortex, based on the Junji Ito horror manga of the same name).

Most of the Ring stories also appeared as manga novels.

Fans of the series are known as Ringworms.

Differences from the novel

The main character in the book is Asakawa Kazuyuki, as apposed to Asakawa Reiko in the movie.
Since the main character in the novel is a man, Ryuji Takayama is just a friend not an ex-husband in the movie.
Different, as well as less images in the cursed video. The images in the novel are much more indiscreet than the movie's.
Sadako's mother Shizuko made the prediction of Mt Mihara erupting. In the book Sadako does this.
Sadako was not killed by her father in the novel.
In the novel, Sadako is not shown coming out of a TV to kill those who have watched the tape, unlike in the movie.

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Movies - Ring

Differences from the novel

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