Rating: Summary: what a waste of money Review: Kubrick can be wrong, you know (just *try* to get through Barry Lyndon). But mono and pan-and-scan for The Shining and Full Metal Jacket?! Puh-leeze! Is this what he wanted for Dr. Strangelove, too? What was he thinking, indeed. I spent my money on the whole shebang and got the collection. I'll keep it because it's Kubrick, but I'll wait for the day when a definitive edition comes out. Hopefully.
Rating: Summary: The Shining fades dimly Review: The amounts of stars in this review refer to the heart-breaking transfer of the video by WB (shame, shame!), and not the actual film.Many people here have been criticizing Kubrick's directing, calling it "sterile" and "analytical". But there's much more here than meets the eye. All of the most subtle cues are in the quiet-spots of the film: the composition of the frames, the stark, duo-chromatic color scheme of hotspots on shades of white, the balletic pacing (he choreographed many of the scenes directly to the music score, playing the music in the background as the scenes were filmed). The very idea of using a Big-Wheel as a pacing device, adding a doubly-foreboding sound element as it switches from floor to carpet, is a clear stroke of genius. For someone whose early childhood was mostly spent riding a Big-Wheel, it drives a chilling tingle down my spine to watch and hear it. A quick glance of the frozen Jack Torrance has always disappointed me. But the ending still gives me goosebumps (that is, when you can decipher the picture through the pixels - no thanks to WB). This isn't the only problem disc in the collection. 2001 pales in comparison to its laserdisc predecessor. And if this has been released the way Kubrick intended it to be, then why does the package warn that "this film has been modified..."? Advice: save your money. Rent it if you must, but hold out on a purchase for the REAL release, if we ever live to see the day...
Rating: Summary: Poor Quality... Review: For all of you who may be wondering, I think they transfered this DVD copy from my old used and abused VHS copy from the 1980's. Oh well...
Rating: Summary: Despite what "Gene Siskel" said - it *is* a pan & scan Review: Two problems with this release: 1. "Gene Siskel" (see below) perhaps forgot what the framing looked like in the theater. This DVD is most of the time a pan & scan of the matted area. Example: the Torrances driving to the Overlook Hotel. In the theater entire rear window of the car is visible (right edge). 2. Transfer quality is firmly "average". And another strange item: the closing credits are not the ones from theatrical print: they are white instead of blue, much larger, and appear on screen out of sync with the music. But for the price the DVD is great, mainly thanks to the "Making 'The Shining'" documentary. I wish it was longer.
Rating: Summary: Thanks Amazon for providing info Review: No other film is as eerie or unsettling as Kubrick's The Shining. Though previews for "The Sixth Sense" and esp. "The Blair Witch Project" look promising. Thank you to Amazon for telling us why The Shining and so many of Kubrick's other films were not released letterboxed. I have been waiting for years for a widescreen version. Now I'll finally be able to purchase the full screen version knowing that it does not compromise Kubrick's vision.
Rating: Summary: Great film, Fair DVD transfer. Review: I won't bother with a long winded review since others have done so already. My only minor complaint is that the print transfer appears to be a bit grainy and not up to the super quality of DVD. Couldn't they have found a better print to make the DVD from ? This is the only reason I give this movie 4 stars, a better transfer would have earned the additional star.
Rating: Summary: Why no widescreen??? Review: What a waste of a fantastic release opportunity that this great movie, with beautiful cinematography, but NOT WIDESCREEN. We are missing so much of the "picture" in this picture that it is a shame.
Rating: Summary: What the hell?! Review: Okay, so it's full screen, I can get over that. But what's with the awful video transfer? Warner's must have rushed it out to take advantage of Eyes Wide Shut's release and Kubrick's death. The snow and grain throughout the film is truly horrible for DVD. The reruns on the USA Network have about the same quality as this tranfer... Four stars for the movie itself, Two for the picture quality...
Rating: Summary: Desecration of Kubrick Review: First off, The Shining is one of the top three or four really great horror films ever made. Kubrick trumps the source material easily. (Just check out the idiot "King approved" TV mini-series version, for a stark comparison of brilliance vs. mediocrity). But, why oh why, does Warner Bros. release a "Stanley Kubrick collection" version of The Shining, on the occasion of Kubrick's death, and crap on his legacy by putting this out as a pan and scam version. This DVD is for chumps only. Even the packaging is low ball and feels flimsy. Doesn't WB realize that the market for this is cinephiles? Sure, the "Making of the Shining" featurette is interesting, very interesting in fact. But, cinephiles want that delicious widescreen cinematography, not this scanned bad print. And this print is flawed: it's speckled with dust, washed out, fluttering at points with what looks like tracking errors. It appears to be transfered from the video master used to make the laser disc, with the detail pumped slightly. Terrible, terrible job. I want my money back. Who is looking out for Kubrick's interests? SHAME ON WARNER BROTHERS.
Rating: Summary: Save your money people!!!! Review: First, let me say that I love this movie. It's the best horror film ever made. I can never get enough of this one man!!! See, the problem is with Warner!!!!! What the hell is wrong with you guys!!!??? You took a great masterpiece and put it on a dvd, and it doesn't really look that much better than myvhs copy.THAT'S BAD!!!! If you are gonna put a movie down on dvd, do it right. What's with all the flickering, and jittering, and dirt particles, and........... well, u get the point. I've waited for this one tooooo long man, and now, I wish I had just stuck with my vhs tape. Isn't that what dvd is all about anyway? BETTER than a tape, extras, and just damn great. I'll always love this film, if you haven't seen it.........(why the hell not) DO SO!!!!!!!! Just not o dvd.
|