The Shining [Blu-ray]

The Shining [Blu-ray]
by Stanley Kubrick

The Shining [Blu-ray]
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DVD Cover Information

Actor: Danny Lloyd, Jack Ncholson, Joe Turkel, Scatman Crothers, Shelley Duvall
Director: Stanley Kubrick
Brand: WHV
Cinematographer: John Alcott
Composer: Wendy Carlos
DVD: Region Code 0
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); French (Subtitled); French (Dubbed); Spanish (Dubbed)
Format: AC-3, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, Special Edition, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.85:1
Running Time: 144 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2007-10-23
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Studio: Warner Home Video

Movie Reviews of The Shining [Blu-ray]

Movie Review: Blu-Ray vs. DVD: Blu-Ray mostly wins
Summary: 4 Stars

I love THE SHINING with a passion usually reserved for movies like THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW; I bought the Stanley Kubrick boxed set in 2001 and watch it regularly. I've turned down other Blu-ray editions of Kubrick films (EYES WIDE SHUT and A CLOCKWORK ORANGE) because I didn't think they were up to snuff, but I bought this because it managed to win me over.

THE SHINING is a GLORIOUS TRANSFER: the colors and textures are more vibrant and powerful than I have ever seen and seeing all those minor backgrounds details big enough to read easily are a real treat. The picture is crisp, sharp, clear, and doggone if the movie doesn't look as new as the day it was made. Kubrick movies are always a bit skimpy on the extras (Kubrick died before DVD took off and didn't leave many leftovers for the medium anyways), but the "making of" documentary with commentary also made the crossover, as well as a few new featurettes that aren't that amazing, but do offer some cool new tidbits; my favorite is the one on production design with Kubrick staffers and Garret Brown, where we get to see diagrams and schematics of the set.

My one gripe comes from the aspect ratio, which is a never-ending argument with Kubrick movies. The old DVDs maintained a full-frame aspect ratio while the Blu-ray releases favor the 1.85:1 ratio enhanced to fit the 16:9 screen. As the diagram on the special features reveals, Kubrick preferred the full-frame 1.33:1 aspect ratio, but always shot to preserve the 1.85:1 for theatrical exhibition. The problem is, Kubrick's compositions were always strongest from top-to-bottom, not side-to-side, so the widescreen aspect ratio trims off the headroom that was beautifully visible on the old DVD set. The Blu-ray is presented in 1.85:1 enhanced for 16:9 so it fills the screen; yes you see more image on the sides than you did on DVD, but the shots don't stand out as much because of the missing headroom.

So for this reason alone, I trim off one star. Otherwise, I love this Blu-ray and heavily recommend it.
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Summary of The Shining [Blu-ray]

?Heeeeere?s Johnny!? In a macabre masterpiece adapted from Stephen King?s novel, Jack Nicholson falls prey to forces haunting a snowbound mountain resort with a macabre history.
Stanley Kubrick's The Shining is less an adaptation of Stephen King's bestselling horror novel than a complete reimagining 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 movie is an existential Road Runner cartoon (his steadicam scurrying through the hotel's labyrinthine hallways), in which the cavernously empty spaces inside the Overlook mirror the emptiness in the soul of the blocked writer, who's 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 demands 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 miniseries (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
Stanley Kubrick's The Shining is less an adaptation of Stephen King's bestselling horror novel than a complete reimagining 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 movie is an existential Road Runner cartoon (his steadicam scurrying through the hotel's labyrinthine hallways), in which the cavernously empty spaces inside the Overlook mirror the emptiness in the soul of the blocked writer, who's 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 demands 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 miniseries (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
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