The American version

- The production designer Americanised the setting of Sadako's life by moving the story to the American Pacific North West
- He based the visual style of the film and paintings on the works of the American artist Andrew Wyeth
- The American version of the Ring makes specific what the Japanese version leaves murky and ambiguous
- More than one critic, including Rodger Ebert has suggested that the Ring explains too much
- The mosts striking example is in the decision to reveal Samaras entire face at the climactic moment of the Ring
- "In contrast, by revealing only a single baleful eye, the Japanese version forces the viewer to imagine what the rest of Sadako's water logged decomposed face must look like."
- "By leaving much to our imagination, Ringu may be the more effective horror film. We always imagine worse monsters in the dark."

Bringing Peace to a soul in Japanese culture
- In Japanese Bhuddist traditions there are only two ways to get a ghost to stop haunting you
- One way is to perform an exorcism and the other is to resolve what is bothering the ghost
- In both films the protagonist tries to bring peace to the soul of Sadako/Samara although it is shown that their spirit is still angry and still trying to kill people