Anyone Giving THE SHINING TV Miniseries Another Chance?

[Antonio]

Although I'm probably the #1 fan of Kubrick's 1980 version, I will be watching the Stephen King/Mick Garris collaboration on ABC this coming weekend/week:

Sunday, July 21: 8pm (Central)
Monday, July 22: 8pm (Central)
Wednesday, July 24: 8pm (Central)

[This message has been edited by Antonio (edited 07-20-2002).]

[mjg 15]

Do you mean July?

[mangohead]

I bought this on VCD. I was leary about a remake because who could do better than Jack. I was pleasantly surprised.

[The Claw]

I might watch this, isnt the original shining supposed to be on this saturday or sunday so i can kill two birds with the same stone.

[Horror_Fanatic]

I just cought the commerial for it, and I'm totally psyched. I've been hearing so much about how the mini-series is so much better then the movie. But after seeing the movie, I don't see how that's possible. Guess I'll just have to wait and see.

[Antonio]

Sorry for the month misprint. It is indeed July and not August! As Delbert Grady informed Jack in the original SHINING..."I corrected my mistakes!"

[Andrew Tom]

I loved the Miniseries. It was a lot better than the average Kubrick movie.

[Antonio]

Although I was at first turned off by this whole remake idea, I have grown very curious about this miniseries. Although I know that no one can ever "out-Jack" Jack Nicholson, I'm going into this one with objectivity and no unrealistic expectations...thinking of it as a companion piece to King's novel (which I re-read last summer) instead of a remake of a classic.

I'll post my review of each night's episode as I view them.

[Moviebuff]

I watched the first part tonight and thought it was pretty good. I was flipping through channels watching both The Shinning and The Dead Zone so I did miss some scnes. But I will still watch the next two parts of the miniseries. Stephen King himself said that he liked the minseries better than the Nicholson/Kubrick version.

[Irwin M. Fletcher]

<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by Moviebuff:
Stephen King himself said that he liked the minseries better than the Nicholson/Kubrick version.</font>

Well I'd hope so considering he wrote the teleplay and was executive producer. http://www.joblo.com/ubb/wink.gif

As a King fan, I was always pretty displeased with the Kubrick version. Not that it wasn't a good movie, but it did not even come close to capturing the essense of the book IMO. I didn't catch the mini-series the first time around but watched part 1 tonight. It suffers from the infamous "TV movie feel", but was pretty good I thought. I felt like I was actually watching the novel on screen.



[This message has been edited by Irwin M. Fletcher (edited 07-22-2002).]

[RogueSpear]

Actually, I'm giving it a first chance and so far I'm not dissappointed. I been waiting for the chance to see the miniseries for a long time. I have a burning hatred for the Kubrick version and have always wanted to see the movie the way King wanted.

I also like the fact that the movie is filmed in the same hotel that King himself stayed in and gave him the idea to write The Shining.

[Razorblade Smile]

I'm thrilled to all hell that this series is FINALLY being re-aired. (It's never been released to video because ABC optioned the rights to a re-air some time ago.)

I caught it the first time around and foolishly never recorded it. I bought the VCD for it, but for some reason I can only play it on my computer. So I'm pretty jazzed that I can finally get this flick on tape.

[Cushing]

I bought this on two videos a couple of years ago and really liked it.
It's much more faithful to the book than the movie. Don't get me wrong , I loved Kubricks version but it wasn't the book that King had written.The TV version is .Both have their place and I like them equally.

[Batgirl1979]

I watched the second part tonight and I actually jumped in a couple places. Good Stuff! The hedge scences were Fuck'in creepy. It's cool to see that there are alot of different eliments in this story that weren't in the other version.

http://www.westwoodi.net/~smilies/contrib/sarge/Guillotine_anim.gif
--------------------------------------
F.E.A.R~Fuck Everything And Run

[This message has been edited by Batgirl1979 (edited 07-22-2002).]

[Hobb's End Horror]

I've been watching it again, and I know I'm gonna catch hell for this, but I think Steven Webber does a much better job than Nicholson. He makes it all seem so very real. And disturbing. I feel sorry for him. And I usually don't feel too sorry for child-abusers.

[Carrie]

I LOVE the mini-series!!

I think it's certainly equal to if not superior to the Kubrick film.

Had it on video, but the tape's not in very good shape.

DON'T MISS IT!!

[Ro's Baby]

I loved the mini-series when it first premiered on TV a few years back. VEEEEERY faithful to King's classic novel.
One question....Where the hell is the DVD release?!?!?!

[Tommy Doyle]

I saw it the first time around, and once was good enough for me. Don't get me wrong, it was good for what it was, but it wasn't all that. Even if the original didn't stay true to Stephen King's vision, it was better than this mini-series.

[thingsgoinon]

I have to admit I like it much better this time around...it's definately getting a higher rating from me this time...I didn't even remember some of that stuff happening......tho I still think they fudged the Hedge Animals...

[Razorblade Smile]

<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by Hobb's End Horror:
I've been watching it again, and I know I'm gonna catch hell for this, but I think Steven Webber does a much better job than Nicholson. He makes it all seem so very real. And disturbing. I feel sorry for him. And I usually don't feel too sorry for child-abusers.</font>

You hit the nail right on the head. You feel more for Webber's character because he actually comes across as a normal guy. As much as I love Nicholsen's performance in the original, his character doesn't generate a lot of sympathy from me. He started out as a psychopath who gradually evolved into a LOUD psychopath. His personality never changed; just his volume.

[Jess]

I've been watching it and I think it's pretty good..except for one thing.
That kid bugs the fuck outta me! I feel like shaking him around and yelling at him to close his damn mouth whenever I see him.
Aside from that, it's all good.

[PapaJupe2k]

I actually like this Danny better as opposed to the original Danny. He just seems more human and like a regular kid. As a poster said earlier about Jack's character being more sane in this one I think Danny's character is in the same boat. In the 1980 version I think the character of Danny was seriously mentally disturbed before he even came to the Overlook, what a little freak. But this one just seems like a normal kid.

[myers67]

<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by PapaJupe2k:
I actually like this Danny better as opposed to the original Danny. He just seems more human and like a regular kid. As a poster said earlier about Jack's character being more sane in this one I think Danny's character is in the same boat. In the 1980 version I think the character of Danny was seriously mentally disturbed before he even came to the Overlook, what a little freak. But this one just seems like a normal kid.</font>

took the words right out of my mouth. the story for the mini series also revolves more around Danny than Jack.

[RogueSpear]

Now that I have seen all of it, I can say that the miniseries was much better than the 80s Kubrick version. I thought Steven Weber did a much better job at playing Jack Torrance than Nicholson did. There were a few parts of the movie (mostly the ending sequences) that I had a problem with that but overall I enjoyed it a great deal. I felt is was much more atmospheric and spooky than the movie version.

Kubrick's version - 4/10
King's version - 8/10

[thingsgoinon]

Well...sorry the third act ruined it once again...I suddenly remembered all I did not like the first time....first of all they literally steal the scary scenes from Kubrick almost verbatime(sp?), (and Kubrick did them better)...but even King himself raped the own ending of his book....bad bad bad..yet another lesson in 'why King should not be done for television'....toned down is NOT King....


But I have to retract my previous statement on 'fudging the hedge animals'....cuz I think tey looked real good...

Also...while Wendy was not the 'whiner' she was in Kubricks version, she most definatley was NOT the strong Uber-Chik the Tv verson made her out to be..

All that being said....I cried at the graduation ceremony...hard...



[This message has been edited by thingsgoinon (edited 07-25-2002).]

[Antonio]

"THE SHINING" (1997) Directed by Mick Garris. RAVES: Steven Weber's excellent performance as Jack Torrance (the character here doesn't go over-the-top as quickly as Jack Nicholson's Jack persona did in the Stanley Kubrick original from 1980); the palpable chemistry between Weber and Rebecca DeMornay (as Wendy, a helluva lot easier on the eyes than Shelley Duvall); Melvyn Van Peebles' Dick Halloran character was a much meatier role than the original Scatman Crothers incarnation; this miniseries had the time span to follow the details in the Stephen King novel more closely; the bloody, violent, awesome final confrontations between Jack and Wendy; the shot of that corpse rising out of the bathtub in Room 217 (Brrrr!); that ghost in the wolf’s mask (double Brrrr!); the topiary animals were cool (especially during the scene where they terrorized Jack), but only as stationary threats (see RANTS for the FX diss); TV director Mick Garris proves that he is a formidable Stephen King collaborator. RANTS: DeMornay’s character lacked any real identity (who was she, really...aside from being Jack’s wife and Danny’s mother?); Courtland Mead, who played the pivotal character of Danny was hard to look at, annoying, and gave a very uneven performance (why was the “gifted”, smart, well-spoken, precocious 7-year-old just learning to read?); where were the Grady girls and Lloyd the bartender?; aside from the bathtub corpse and the wolf, the specters just weren’t scary; the sets were unimpressive; the FX involving the lion hedges were sooooo fake!; the denouement was corny as hell! FINAL GRADE: B+

THE SHINING (1980) Director Stanley Kubrick's decision to alter the ending and some of the story from the Stephen King novel which inspired this film put him in direct conflict with the famous horror writer. This film has a "love-it or hate-it" kind of quality among horror fans. I loved it! No one can "out-Jack" Jack Nicholson, who stars as Jack Torrance, an aspiring writer and former school teacher who agrees to spend the winter months as the caretaker of a posh, haunted hotel in the Colorado mountains. His wife Wendy (Shelley Duvall) and psychic son Danny (one-hit wonder Danny Lloyd) are along for the ride. And what a ride it is! Nicholson talks to the spirits of the former bartender Lloyd (in the film's best, scariest but most subtle scene) and caretaker Grady (Jack's predecessor whose daughters are haunting and taunting Danny into joining them as murder victims). Duvall screams on cue, and Nicholson is all paranoid rage. Claustrophobia, cabin-fever and descent into madness at its best! Scatman Crothers co-stars as the hotel's chef, who is psychically linked to Danny, and attempts to save Wendy and Danny from the murderous Jack and his ghastly friends. Poor bastard! The TV miniseries from 1997 paled in comparison. Sorry Mr. King, but Kubrick ruled! This is the best ghost story ever told! My grade: A+


[This message has been edited by Antonio (edited 07-25-2002).]

[cereal killer]

One of the only times were i thought that the mini series was better than the movie was when they showed the garden animals, I can't believe Kubrick left that out!

[foxgate2000]

I was never a huge Kubrick fan (outside of Clockwork Orange I pretty much disliked almost all of his films, not that he ws bad, just that they never particualry interested me) and I certainly did not like his version of the movie simply because not only did it not follow the book...but it was so boring. The miniseries was way more faithful, certain elements were done far creepier, and all in all it was just better. Plus Jack Torrence was far more believable in this one. And the ghosts had a bit more of a personality. The only thing I liked about Kubrick's version that was missing in this on ewas the blood in the elevator scene. that was cool.

[chemical]

i personally found that the remake was a pretty damn good movie
it was no jack but it was very good
i enjoy the stephan king movies that are on tv and are like 6 hours long
i would have to say that the stand is his best tv movie
lata

[scream_gurl123]

I thought the miniseries was great. At first i didnt think that they could ever remake The Shining and it be even descent because the first one was so great. I thought it would be just another remake that had very crummy acting. I mean the new Jack guy doesnt even look like he could be a killer at all. But i was very suprised. I thought he did a great job. Though far from Jack Nicholson, he was still pretty good!