Customer Reviews:
kubricks best masterpiece........2008-02-27
out of all stanley kubricks movies this has to be the best & until now the
142 minutes directors cut has been scaled down to 119 minutes.from the very start of the movie where jack torrance goes up the mountain to the
hotel for his interview is breathtaking, what scenery! but it also makes you fully aware of the isolation the small family will endure in the winter months when the snow starts to fall.the shining is full of shocks like the lift leaking gallons of blood to jack torrances(jack nicholson) slow descent into madness.i felt sorry for the cook(scatman crothers)who on arriving at the snowbound hotel from florida is cut down with an axe
whilst trying to rescue danny & wendy (shelley duvall) long chases of a limping jack in the snow haunt you & to be honest the atmosphere was so
realistic i put my heating up ! the film is doom laden with nicholson playing a pre-joker part & you can see why tim burton chose him for batmans joker,hes good at crazy parts. a great movie to send chills up your spine !
Stanley Kubrick's Home Alone.......2007-12-22
At times Stanley Kubrick's version of The Shining feels like Home Alone with jokes (Macauley Culkin's "Oh no!" expression even originates in young Danny Lloyd's reaction to seeing the caretaker's twins), with Jack Nicholson doing the screen's most prolonged Bruce Dern impersonation while a helpless little boy outthinks him and lures him to his own destruction. Nicholson's constant clowning certainly does the film few favors and makes Jack Torrence more standup comedian than fearsome killer, setting the scene for three decades of comedy improv slashers. Many of the film's most effective moments, such as the conversation with the dead caretaker in the men's' room or the conversations with Joseph Turkel's ghostly barman, tend to work in spite of the star's grandstanding rather than because of it. He's at his best in the early scenes or his the genuinely unnerving moment where the sleep deprived Torrence unemotionally and less than reassuringly promises his son he'd never hurt him, but by the time he's broken out the fire axe all that's missing is the hockey mask and the striped sweater. It doesn't help that child actor Danny Lloyd isn't terribly good either (his croaking "redrum" scene makes you glad Warners turned down Kubrick's offer to direct The Exorcist), but he isn't quite disastrous either.
Yet the film still manages to hold the attention, even if it is often more of a display of technique and Kubrick's visual precision and fascination with the possibilities of the constantly prowling Steadicam rather than a visceral rollercoaster ride: the polite and accommodating Joseph Turkel is easily one of the most memorable spectres in screen history while the ever so formal Philip Stone as the late caretaker with distinct ideas on disciplining children is an almost equally intriguing creation. And with the novel's original ending that saw the various animals carved out of the maze's hedges coming to life impractical with the special effects of the day, Kubrick's solution is very satisfying even if he does steal one shot wholesale from The Last Hunt. One striking thing about two of the Overlook's permanent residents, however: if the place does still contain echoes of all the bad things that have happened there over the years, that must mean that one particular guest must have got the worst oral sex of all time from the guy in the Pluto costume!
Although still cut by three minutes after its premiere, the 146-minute American cut on theRegion 1 NTSC DVD works better than the European version that Kubrick himself cut down to two hours. While many of the cuts are pure exposition, with much of the initial tour around the Overlook and all of Anne Jackson's part hitting the cutting room floor, as did part of one of Turkel's scenes, the longer first half of the film means it takes longer for Nicholson to go whacko (in the European version they've barely had time to unpack before he starts slicing up the ham in extra-thick slices). Unfortunately the stereo remix on the DVD tends to dull some of the film's best sound effects, such as the memorable sound of Danny's tricycle as it passes over carpet onto hardwood floor, and the new letterboxed transfer loses detail from the previous fullframe version that Kubrick approved (the overhead shot of the maze in particular).
Amazon.co.uk Review
Stanley Kubrick's The Shining is less an adaptation of Stephen King's best-selling horror novel than a complete re-imagining of it from the inside out. In King's book, the Overlook Hotel is a haunted place that takes possession of its off-season caretaker and provokes him to murderous rage against his wife and young son. Kubrick's film is an existential Road Runner cartoon (his steadicam scurrying through the hotel's labyrinthine hallways), in which the cavernously empty spaces inside the Overlook Hotel mirror the emptiness in the soul of the blocked writer settled in for a long winter's hibernation. As many have pointed out, King's protagonist goes mad, but Kubrick's Jack Torrance (Jack Nicholson) is Looney Tunes from the moment we meet him--all arching eyebrows and mischievous grin. (Both Nicholson and Shelley Duvall reach new levels of hysteria in their performances, driven to extremes by the director's fanatical demand s for take after take after take.) The Shining is terrifying--but not in the way fans of the novel might expect. When it was redone as a TV mini-series (reportedly because of King's dissatisfaction with the Kubrick film), the famous topiary-animal attack (which was deemed impossible to film in 1980) was there--but the deeper horror was lost. Kubrick's The Shining gets under your skin and chills your bones; it stays with you, inhabits you, haunts you. And there's no place to hide... --Jim Emerson, Amazon.com
Customer Reviews:
Short Changed.......2008-03-13
Yes yes, I agree with all the fullsome praise that has been lavished in bucketloads from other reviewers on here. However, this particular version is a very poor issue. For a start, it is NOT the original theatrical version. Kubrick was very displeased about abitrary cuts made to the film at its release in the UK and this DVD is one of the cut ones. Also, for anyone with a widescreen TV (just about most people), this version is in 4:3 NON widescreen. Unacceptable from a suposedly 'restored' print. Probably they mean digitally remastered which simply means, transferred to DVD from tape. If you like this film, avoid this version and seek out the Region 1 full-version which is a full anamorphic widescreen presentation. 2 out of 10 for bad work..see me after class!
All work and no play makes jack a dull boy......!.......2008-02-11
Fantastic film with Jack Nicholson at his psychotic best!A family spend the winter at a remote hotel in the mountains. Things seem normal to begin with. Then the boy, Danny, also on top form for such a young actor, starts to have terrifying visions. Jack slowly starts to lose his mind and everything starts to spiral terrifyingly out of control. If you want a truly scary, creepy disturbing film this is it. This film has it all, including two of the creepiest gruesome looking identical twins I have ever seen.....!watch this if you haven 't already. Atmospheric, and truly chilling.
Definitive Horror.......2008-02-11
Is the shining enjoyable? God no, is it a faithful adaptation of Kings novel, from what I hear no, is it entertaining, well that depends on whether you like films of its kind. I don't, yet I had to see this film, which has been deemed one of the influential horror masterpieces of all time. And after seeing it, i have to admit it deserves it. The story is about a recovering Alcoholic played by Jack Nicholson who agrees to take the caretaker job at the overlook hotel for the winter season. The hotel will be entirely deserted and has a violent and disturbing past.
Jack Torrance (Nicholson) brings his wife (Shelley Duvall) and son (Danny Lloyd) along for the winter. From the very start Nicholson appears unstable and the tension is carefully added with every minute that passes, thanks to the edginess to Nicholson's character and his sons imaginary friend who tells him that he shouldn't go to the hotel. It is the son who has an extraordinary "gift" The Shining that he is told he shares with Dick Hallorann, the head chef, who tells Danny about the hotel, and alerting Danny that something terrible had happened there. The hotels dark past regarding a previous caretaker who went insane and killed his family starts to affected the family one by one with Danny and Jack and eventually Jacks wife seeing various horrific visions. Iconic Scenes so as "Heres Johnny!" And the scene when Shelley Duvalls Character discovers what her husband has been writing were merely the pick of some memorable albeit disturbing scenes. This film has this eerie atmospheric feel to it and had me watching intently despite very little actual gore that you see in so many knockoffs nowadays where is just a bloodbath. Though you will get something a lot like that in a couple of brilliantly done scenes.
I wont spoil the story for you but as someone who does not subscribe to horror films i found this fascinating but very draining, its the way it manages to pile on the tension in this atmospheric hotel without actually producing more than a single bloody murder that impressed me. Unnerving and exhausting, a film that will leave you so drained chances are you'll have no difficulty getting to sleep right after it. It takes your mentality and slowly strips it away leaving you so open and believing that when you see things towards the end your not thinking about whether its real or not but completely caught up in it altogether.
I think Spielberg summed up Kubrick films best and it REALLY applies here, "once you turn it on a Kubrick Film you cant switch it off" and the Shining holds true to that statement.
The Shining.......2008-02-10
A movie of the novel written by Stephen King, an excellent adaptation, outstanding performance by Jack Nicholson, Probably his best. from the start he looks unstable. the film is of Jack Nicholson his wife and son, the son being gifted with "the Shinig" being able to see and talk to ghosts. the family are looking after a remote hotel in the mountains over the queit winter peroid were Jack is to maintain the property as the caretaker, the hotel though has had a sinister and tragic past. spirits still reside there that arent friendly, slowly they try to drive jack insane in an attempt to kill him an his family, a tense horror of being isolated in a creepy hotel is excellent, the movie can be a little slow in parts but all is integral to the movie.
So unendingly bleak.......2007-11-30
If hell exists, the shining envisions it.
Bleak - this is the best word to describe this film. The weather is bleak, the setting is bleak and cavernous, the ghosts and hallucinations are chilling, devoid of feeling, manipulative, bleak.
Is Torrance simply going mad, or being influenced? What's driving him? Is it the ghosts of past events, or his own consciousness filling the void of isolation, or a bit of both?
Despite the supernatural visitations you never quite know, and this is what makes this film so chilling and unbelievably bleak - Jack could simply be a victim of his own insane consciousness.
Without ever resorting to extreme gore or shocks, Kubrick creates a vision of hell, a vision of the void that will sear itself onto your mind.
Unlike many horror flicks, this one becomes more disturbing the older you get.
A true horror, a real vision of hell. Watch it, but if you're sensitive, don't watch it too often!
Amazon.co.uk Review
Stanley Kubrick's The Shining is less an adaptation of Stephen King's best-selling horror novel than a complete re-imagining of it from the inside out. In King's book, the Overlook Hotel is a haunted place that takes possession of its off-season caretaker and provokes him to murderous rage against his wife and young son. Kubrick's film is an existential Road Runner cartoon (his steadicam scurrying through the hotel's labyrinthine hallways), in which the cavernously empty spaces inside the Overlook Hotel mirror the emptiness in the soul of the blocked writer settled in for a long winter's hibernation. As many have pointed out, King's protagonist goes mad, but Kubrick's Jack Torrance (Jack Nicholson) is Looney Tunes from the moment we meet him--all arching eyebrows and mischievous grin. (Both Nicholson and Shelley Duvall reach new levels of hysteria in their performances, driven to extremes by the director's fanatical demand s for take after take after take.) The Shining is terrifying--but not in the way fans of the novel might expect. When it was redone as a TV mini-series (reportedly because of King's dissatisfaction with the Kubrick film), the famous topiary-animal attack (which was deemed impossible to film in 1980) was there--but the deeper horror was lost. Kubrick's The Shining gets under your skin and chills your bones; it stays with you, inhabits you, haunts you. And there's no place to hide... --Jim Emerson, Amazon.com
Customer Reviews:
Short Changed.......2008-03-13
Yes yes, I agree with all the fullsome praise that has been lavished in bucketloads from other reviewers on here. However, this particular version is a very poor issue. For a start, it is NOT the original theatrical version. Kubrick was very displeased about abitrary cuts made to the film at its release in the UK and this DVD is one of the cut ones. Also, for anyone with a widescreen TV (just about most people), this version is in 4:3 NON widescreen. Unacceptable from a suposedly 'restored' print. Probably they mean digitally remastered which simply means, transferred to DVD from tape. If you like this film, avoid this version and seek out the Region 1 full-version which is a full anamorphic widescreen presentation. 2 out of 10 for bad work..see me after class!
All work and no play makes jack a dull boy......!.......2008-02-11
Fantastic film with Jack Nicholson at his psychotic best!A family spend the winter at a remote hotel in the mountains. Things seem normal to begin with. Then the boy, Danny, also on top form for such a young actor, starts to have terrifying visions. Jack slowly starts to lose his mind and everything starts to spiral terrifyingly out of control. If you want a truly scary, creepy disturbing film this is it. This film has it all, including two of the creepiest gruesome looking identical twins I have ever seen.....!watch this if you haven 't already. Atmospheric, and truly chilling.
Definitive Horror.......2008-02-11
Is the shining enjoyable? God no, is it a faithful adaptation of Kings novel, from what I hear no, is it entertaining, well that depends on whether you like films of its kind. I don't, yet I had to see this film, which has been deemed one of the influential horror masterpieces of all time. And after seeing it, i have to admit it deserves it. The story is about a recovering Alcoholic played by Jack Nicholson who agrees to take the caretaker job at the overlook hotel for the winter season. The hotel will be entirely deserted and has a violent and disturbing past.
Jack Torrance (Nicholson) brings his wife (Shelley Duvall) and son (Danny Lloyd) along for the winter. From the very start Nicholson appears unstable and the tension is carefully added with every minute that passes, thanks to the edginess to Nicholson's character and his sons imaginary friend who tells him that he shouldn't go to the hotel. It is the son who has an extraordinary "gift" The Shining that he is told he shares with Dick Hallorann, the head chef, who tells Danny about the hotel, and alerting Danny that something terrible had happened there. The hotels dark past regarding a previous caretaker who went insane and killed his family starts to affected the family one by one with Danny and Jack and eventually Jacks wife seeing various horrific visions. Iconic Scenes so as "Heres Johnny!" And the scene when Shelley Duvalls Character discovers what her husband has been writing were merely the pick of some memorable albeit disturbing scenes. This film has this eerie atmospheric feel to it and had me watching intently despite very little actual gore that you see in so many knockoffs nowadays where is just a bloodbath. Though you will get something a lot like that in a couple of brilliantly done scenes.
I wont spoil the story for you but as someone who does not subscribe to horror films i found this fascinating but very draining, its the way it manages to pile on the tension in this atmospheric hotel without actually producing more than a single bloody murder that impressed me. Unnerving and exhausting, a film that will leave you so drained chances are you'll have no difficulty getting to sleep right after it. It takes your mentality and slowly strips it away leaving you so open and believing that when you see things towards the end your not thinking about whether its real or not but completely caught up in it altogether.
I think Spielberg summed up Kubrick films best and it REALLY applies here, "once you turn it on a Kubrick Film you cant switch it off" and the Shining holds true to that statement.
The Shining.......2008-02-10
A movie of the novel written by Stephen King, an excellent adaptation, outstanding performance by Jack Nicholson, Probably his best. from the start he looks unstable. the film is of Jack Nicholson his wife and son, the son being gifted with "the Shinig" being able to see and talk to ghosts. the family are looking after a remote hotel in the mountains over the queit winter peroid were Jack is to maintain the property as the caretaker, the hotel though has had a sinister and tragic past. spirits still reside there that arent friendly, slowly they try to drive jack insane in an attempt to kill him an his family, a tense horror of being isolated in a creepy hotel is excellent, the movie can be a little slow in parts but all is integral to the movie.
So unendingly bleak.......2007-11-30
If hell exists, the shining envisions it.
Bleak - this is the best word to describe this film. The weather is bleak, the setting is bleak and cavernous, the ghosts and hallucinations are chilling, devoid of feeling, manipulative, bleak.
Is Torrance simply going mad, or being influenced? What's driving him? Is it the ghosts of past events, or his own consciousness filling the void of isolation, or a bit of both?
Despite the supernatural visitations you never quite know, and this is what makes this film so chilling and unbelievably bleak - Jack could simply be a victim of his own insane consciousness.
Without ever resorting to extreme gore or shocks, Kubrick creates a vision of hell, a vision of the void that will sear itself onto your mind.
Unlike many horror flicks, this one becomes more disturbing the older you get.
A true horror, a real vision of hell. Watch it, but if you're sensitive, don't watch it too often!
UK DVD:
- The Short Films of David Lynch [2006] (REGION 1) (NTSC)
- The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 3 - Leatherface [1990]
- The Wicker Man - Special Edition Director's Cut (2 disc set) [1973]
- Underworld - Evolution [Blu-ray] [2006]
- Underworld (Special Edition) [2003]
- V: The Complete Series [1985] (REGION 1) (NTSC)
- Wolf Creek [2005]
- 28 Days Later : Limited Edition (2 Disc Set) [2002]
- Afterlife - Series 1 & 2 Box Set
- Afterlife - Series 2 [2006]
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