Stanley Kubrick's The Shining

[ERIN_LoJ]

You know, I was just thinking back on this movie, and was more than a surprised when I realize how creepy and well-done it really was. The whole theme of the movie could have been messed up in many ways but I think this movie came out a beauty. Jack Nicholson's performance is excellent, the mood of this movie enhances the overall effect, and...well, there are some just general freaky parts. Such as the guests dressed up as animals. The quiet eeriness of the film. What other movies has Stanley Kubrick done? He definitely did a masterpiece of this.

[Living_Dead_Dude]

Great eerie movie, one of the few horror movies to genuinly scare me, a favourite of mine.

Other classics Kubric has made A Clockwork Orange, another favourite of mine, a masterpiece in my view, Dr Strangelove (hillarious!), 2001:Space Odyssey, Spartacus, Full Metal Jacket, Eyes Wide Shut and Loltia

[JivaFox]

Love it, love it love it!

The atmosphere in this film is fab, and the setting is so great and powerful. The whole films is so wierd and eerie.

And no matter what they say - Shelly Duvall was brilliant.

[Wicked]

Yep, definitely one of my all time favorites. Some great scenes, great ideas. Spooky twin sisters... damn

Other Kubrick movies are all well worth checking out. I can't decide on my favorite, but it's either The Shining or Clockwork Orange

[deadeye]

Although I like Kubrick's The Shining--and this will sound weird--I would have liked it better had it been an independent vision rather than based on the Stephen King book. The book took a different direction than what Kubrick saw to film. If you are a die hard book fan, I think this movie will disappoint in regard to following the book plotline. But as a film that stands alone, it is creepier because you wouldn't be comparing it to the book. Any body else agree or disagree?

[JivaFox]

I agree.

While watching the film, I couldn't help picking out the bits that weren't the same as the book, and it spoilt it for me a little bit. However, I enjoyed Kubrick's version more than the book, but I would have liked the film even better had it not been a loose adaption of a well known book.

[movies35]

Very scary movie 10/10

[Beluga jelly]

It's one of the best!! Recent movies in the same style totally miss the target when trying to build the same sense of quiet dread. Great to fall asleep to while watching, HORRIBLE to wake up to at 2 AM especially past the 1:30 minute mark in the movie!

[DemoNBeaR]

Well sorry guys, but i hated it. For some reason, when i saw it, i never read the book at that time but i still felt like i had this " If there's a book with that story, i could swear it would be better " feeling.

And i've read somewhere that King himself was very disapointed with the movie. So years after, i deceided to read the book just to see if Kubrick was really far from the original point. When i finished i realised that the 3/4 of the movie was the same or near. But the guy screwed the whole ending. That's what pisses me off.

I still think to this day that if it wasn't of Nicholson's performance, this movie would have been an ok movie. Maybe even less.

So hell no its not a 10/10 for me. I felt ( and still feel ) screwed by that movie and the tv series was way better.

But that's said by a guy who never liked kubrick's style and MAN have i tried.

[deadeye]

I can appreciate the "genius" of Kubrick's film style, but it's not my sort of genius. He's great at what he does, but I feel very removed from his movies--I'm aware the entire time that I'm watching a carefully crafted movie, but I never become lost in it. The Shining is the effort of his I like the best, A Clockwork Orange a close second because I'm a Malcolm McDowell fan.

[ERIN_LoJ]

I know one reason King didn't like the movie was because he didn't want Nicholson for the part.

And I have to be in the minority on never seeing clockwork orange. What's it about? *ducks*

It's very rare to get a quiet, bone-chilling creepy feeling while watching a movie, but I did with this one.

[Antonio]

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 the late 1990's paled in comparison. Sorry Mr. King, but Kubrick ruled! This is the best ghost story ever told! My grade: A+

[gore encore]

totally overrated film far away from the original novel by the king. good acting and atmosphere anyway.

[XCoRyX]

the film is highly overrated and praised,it sucks to get down to the point,nowhere near as good as it is said to be.

[Cronos]

.

[HaywoodJaBlowMe]

IT IS ONE OF THE TOP 10 HORROR MOVIES EVER AND THE ARROW HASN;T REVIEWED THIS ONE EITHER

[ERIN_LoJ]

Somehow, after reading your last 4 posts, I knew you'd say that HaywoodJaBlowMe - LOL :D

Speaking of the book, yes it was excellent. One of the kings I liked, I am not a big fan of his work overall.

[angelinwhite]

I liked the film version but the book was much more horrifying.

Kubrick may be a genius, but I've neve really cared for his work. The Shining is one of his few really good movies. Full Metal Jacket is also a great film, but I think mainly because of the performances, not Kubrick's direction.

[Fulci_Fan]

I don't see how people can say this movie is "Overrated" or "Sucks" some of my friends and me have gotten into major arguments over it I think it's a masterpiece they think it sucks. I scream at them telling them to go back to there "Screams and I know what you did last summers!" and then we stop talking for about a half hour and then apologize later.

The movie is just downright creepy (Not to mention the fact that I live like a couple hours away from the hotel it was shot at) and the atmospheres are perfect, I love the sounds too it just eleborates on everything. Like the part where the kid is riding his big wheel and it is making that weird rythmic pattern it just takes part of almost every sence, and that's what makes it scary. I thought the 90's version sucked, I didn't like the book. I think King puts waaaay too much information in something that should only be expressed in two sentances he stretches them over 3 pages (See Regulators) and I love how Kubrick adds his own wierd stuff into it. Like the guy in the dog mask going down on the other guy.... What in gods name did that have to do with anything else? Nothing, it was just random and creepy. I like how Jack and the black dude from One flew over the cuckoos nest were in it together that was cool.

Overall rating--5/5

[Beluga jelly]

Originally posted by Fulci_Fan
I don't see how people can say this movie is "Overrated" or "Sucks" some of my friends and me have gotten into major arguments over it I think it's a masterpiece they think it sucks. I scream at them telling them to go back to there "Screams and I know what you did last summers!" and then we stop talking for about a half hour and then apologize later.

The movie is just downright creepy (Not to mention the fact that I live like a couple hours away from the hotel it was shot at) and the atmospheres are perfect, I love the sounds too it just eleborates on everything. Like the part where the kid is riding his big wheel and it is making that weird rythmic pattern it just takes part of almost every sence, and that's what makes it scary. I thought the 90's version sucked, I didn't like the book. I think King puts waaaay too much information in something that should only be expressed in two sentances he stretches them over 3 pages (See Regulators) and I love how Kubrick adds his own wierd stuff into it. Like the guy in the dog mask going down on the other guy.... What in gods name did that have to do with anything else? Nothing, it was just random and creepy. I like how Jack and the black dude from One flew over the cuckoos nest were in it together that was cool.

Overall rating--5/5

FulciFan, it does no good to get angered over something like this. Your friends just do not like it! Yelling and screaming at them isn't going to do you any good. Since arguing with them doesn't work, have you tried violence yet? That might do it :)

[Fulci_Fan]

FulciFan, it does no good to get angered over something like this. Your friends just do not like it! Yelling and screaming at them isn't going to do you any good. Since arguing with them doesn't work, have you tried violence yet? That might do it

Now I know to an outsider it may seem pointless to argue over something so stupid... But trust me, me and my friends have some lame arguments. We will be sitting there talking and qouting from movies and someone will say something wrong and I will correct them and then he will say it was correct and we argue about that for like 20 minutes. And then finally notice how pointless it is and stop and watch a movie or something. It is just something stupid we do. Some people debate about government, we debate about movies... It's fun.

[Jason Vorhees]

I didn't find it that creepy. I didn't like it as much as the book.

[JurassicMik]

I just saw the Shining of tv again a few days ago, it's great and really creepy like I remember. I really didn't like King's mini series though.

[teenkiller]

Commence double dipping!

http://creature-corner.com/nextraimages/shining-twodisk.jpg

Here is the latest word from CC:

"Warner Home Video have announced the Region 1 DVD release of Warner Home Video Director's Series: Stanley Kubrick Collection on 23rd October 2007. In the works for some time now, the films of Stanley Kubrick have been restored and remastered for this new collection which is expected to feature a large number of both archive and new bonus features. A full press release is yet to be issued, but we do have some preliminary information, prices and even some artwork for you…

"The Shining (2-Disc Special Edition) - $20.97."

I didn't bother with the original version and I won't be bothering with this one either. I used to have the movie on VHS and just and while I thought it was okay I wouldn't care to re-add it to my DVD collection. Well thats all for now GOoD JOURNEY my fellow schmoes.

[Cronos]

can't wait for that DVD release, hugely overdue, as are the other upcoming Kubrick SE's, while i don't especially like the ending it's a great film with some excellent direction and acting

[I Am Legend]

While The Shining is certainly not an overly scary movie, I do still get the chills when I think of that scene with the dead woman in the bathtub.

Very scary, and even scarier in the book itself.

[DrJellyfingers]

i have the bare bones. i probably won't get this, I can't see the extras being that great.

[teenkiller]

Originally posted by DrJellyfingers
i have the bare bones. i probably won't get this, I can't see the extras being that great.

Yeah, I mean Kubrick is dead so a commentary with him is out. I doubt Nicholson would do one. What interesting stuff could they add without contributions from two of the main guys? Well thats all for now GOoD JOURNEY my fellow schmoes.

[Kikabi]

"The Shining" remains the scariest novel I've ever read. The movie, while it doesn't suck, completely misses one of the most compelling things about the novel - the father-son relationship. The movie is definately creepy, but I agree with an earlier post. It's more Jack Nicholson's performance that makes this movie than what Kubrick does with it. I don't like The Shining because of the changes done to the end of the novel. For a moment near the end of the novel Jack returns to being himself, and it packs an emotional wallup. I can imagine how great Nicholson would have been playing that moment. Too bad Kubrick couldn't imagine it.

[Cronos]

copied from the thread in the DVD section

The Shining (1980)

From a script he co-adapted from the Stephen King novel, Kubrick melds vivid performances, menacing settings, dreamlike tracking shots and shock after shock into a milestone of the macabre. The Shining is the director’s epic tale of a man in a snowbound hotel descending into murderous delusions. In a signature role, Jack Nicholson (“Heeeere’s Johnny!”) stars as Jack Torrance, who’s come to the elegant, isolated Overlook Hotel as off-season caretaker with his wife (Shelley Duvall) and son (Danny Lloyd).

DVD Special Features:

Disc One

· Commentary by Garrett Brown and John Baxter
· Theatrical trailer

Disc Two

· Documentary The Making of the Shining, with optional commentary by Vivian Kubrick
· Three new featurettes: View from The Overlook: Crafting the Shining, The Visions of Stanley Kubrick, and Wendy Carlos, Composer
· Subtitles: English, French, Spanish

[teenkiller]

Well even though they didn't have the contributions of Kubrick or Nicholson it looks like they at least did TRY to give the fans something interesting to watch. I already owned it once though and that was enough for me. Don't really feel the need to go out and buy it. Well thats all for now GOoD JOURNEY my fellow schmoes.

[Narfellus]

I recall the book as being good, but i really need to read it again. I personally love the Kubrick version, although i agree that a lot of that can be accredited to Jack. No one in the WORLD can play a looney like him. In fact, i don't really like Nicholson very much except for the roles where he does play crazy characters.

[WhatsInaName]

Originally posted by Jason Vorhees
I didn't find it that creepy. I didn't like it as much as the book.

My thoughts exactly. Although I have t admit that Hack's performance really gives this movie a plus.

[Le_Big_Mac]

Definitely one of the greatest horror movies of all time. The theme, as Kubrick always has meaning, still sort of evades me, but its scares are good enough. The scene where Jack finally enters Room 237 ranks among the scariest scenes in movie history and the guy in the bear costume troubled my sleep for days. And Jack Nicholson's performance is delightfully over-the-top.

It's hard to recommend Kubrick films because they're all so different, but all have the same high quality brought to them. I can guarantee fairly well that a horror fan will love A Clockwork Orange and probably Full Metal Jacket, although neither are actually horror films. But I'd also suggest 2001: A Space Odyssey, Dr. Strangelove and Paths of Glory.

And in response to ERIN_LoJ's query about A Clockwork Orange, it concerns a member of a street gang in an extremely dystopian future (played by Malcolm McDowell), who is arrested and undergoes a new procedure in which he is made to not only stop his horrible acts but lose his free will in violence and sexuality.

[JJFlamingo]

Tremendous atmosphere, a truly frightening theme (what if YOUR dad got so fed up with you he lost it and became homicidal??), a tremendous psycho performance from Nicholson with solid support from Lloyd and Crothers, and one of the creepiest final shots in Cinema History. The only drawbacks are Duvall, who is extremely unappealing as Wendy, and the lack of enough screen time showing Jack as a "nice guy". MUCH better than King's ill-conceived remake, which goes two-thirds of the way thru with absolutely NOTHING happening and used a severely deformed kid actor to play Danny. DeMornay as Wendy was the ONLY improvement in that version. I do think a major difference in Kubrick's version is that he wanted to portray Jack as severely cut off emotionally from his family BEFORE they ever got to the hotel, whereas King wanted to hammer down our throat constantly how much Torrance loved his family. Regardless, Kubrick made yet another Masterpiece (this time in the horror genre) that should be remembered for advancing to the Final Round of the ULTIMATE ULTIMATE CULT FILM TOURNAMENT before losing to Escape From New York in possibly the Greatest Online Tourney Match Of All Time. Great work...

[Narfellus]

See, the fact that Torrance loved his family in the book is a detail that escaped me. Jack always seemed like such a dick to his family, it never occurred to me that he was opposite in the book.

I remember reading the book a long, long time ago, but all i recall is the topiary garden coming to life (replaced by the Hedge Maze in the movie) and how the book ends, which is quite different than the film.

[JJFlamingo]

Actually I never read the book, I'm just going on what I saw in the remake (which King wrote the script for)...:D

[WazAa]

One of the best horror flicks :)

[miceland1]

Its sad how poorly other Steven King novels are made into movies when you consider how well the Shining turned out.

Its scary, but more than that its plausible. Well the premise anyway.

The suspense is so well done. Riveting. Its not just a great horror movie, its a great movie as compared to any other movie period.

[darchangel]

Pure freakish creepiness.

If you don't believe me, check out Roy's avatar.


:eek:

[moviewiz9028]

One of Kubrick's best films. i dont know wich one is better The Shinning or A Clockwork Orange. What do u fellow schmoes think on the subject?

[athf1980]

This is one of my fav. horror movies of all time. I also the love the simpsons spoof of this movie also.

[Gutter Ghost]

A Clockwork Orange is his masterpiece, The Shining coming in second.

[Cermond]

Yeah, it is a classic example how soundworld holds an important role in horror.
Overall, my favourite from Kubrick with Clockwork and Strangelove.

[Zombie Jesus]

I read the book first then watched the movie. I found that the movie wasn't even a quarter of what the book was. The book was so much more in depth and spooky than the movie. The movie seemed to run through everything, trying to touch on all the spooky stuff quickly.

[Zombie Jesus]

This is one of my fav. horror movies of all time. I also the love the simpsons spoof of this movie also.

Simpsons Halloween specials are to die for

[BorderEevilIII]

Kubrick did give "The Shining" that special eerie touch though we all know that Stephen royally hated the end result overall and changed around the story and characters from the book when he transferred the book to film.
Weighing both Kubricks movie versus the TV Movie Version I gotta go w/ Jack.
Nicholson gave a way beliveable performance versus Steven Webber.

[LordSimen]

The book and the movie are so completely different it's hard for me to even compare the two. They're both great in their own right but it is correct to call the movie adaptation Stanley Kubrick's rather than Stephen King's because it was nothing like Stephen King's work at all. I still love it though, as much as I love the book.

[JJFlamingo]

Yeah, Kubrick took Kings's story and made it BETTER...:D

[Superplasmatron]

Strange love and Barry lyndon are my favorites, but of the two I would say they are both as good as each other, though Kings book is alot more focussed on danny and his gift, that the title is taken from, where as the book is more about his father's cabin fever. But I'd say Clockwork orange is just that tiny bit better.