The Shining (15)

Kubrick's demise starts here. Nicholson is way over the top and poorly directed by Kubrick. There's no question that Nicholson is one of Hollywod's finest and that SK is one of the 20th century greats. But the fashion of liking The Shining is usually from the Bourgeoisie of present-day students of film. To like Transformers is not a sin either. Strange it seems to me how The Shining can command a place above Paths Of Glory, Dr. Strangelove, 2001 or Barry Lyndon.

As a huge fan of almost all of Kubrick's oeuvre, I first went to see this film on initial release, and was really disappointed. There is a lack of empathy for the main characters, so I didn't really care what happened to them. Kubrick's rather cerebral style works marvellously with most of the projects he chose, but not, I think with the horror genre. Would I change my mind if I saw it again now? Probably not.

One of My favourite Horror films of all time. What's special about this classic is that it delivers its scares with the lights on! Stanley's best movie by a country mile! Let's just hope its left alone and not remade! Excellent film, and to compare thrash like Transformers to this classic is unforgivable! Quality movie! Up there with the best movies ever made!

for some reason my opinion has posted 3 times - I have no wish to be so insistent or to berate other readers with my thoughts. Sorry.

Kubrick filmed a dream-state; The Shining disturbingly evokes the sensation of being in the hypnagogic drift - "do I dream or do I wake?' Time Out's reviewer "FF" failed even to mention that The Shining was the first movie to use the now-commonplace SteadiCam, and s/he completely, utterly, ignores the presiding metaphor - that the Overlook is the United States. The metaphor is there is you want it - but once a viewer chooses to test that reading of the film, it's astounding to realise how brilliantly The Shining sustains and bears the geopolitical interpretation. Just because it doesn't have the low-budget grunge of the original Night of the Living Dead or Last House on the Left doesn't mean that Kubrick didn't know how to evoke a class-ridden America gone demonstrably mad. Reagan's at the door with his axe; "Heeeeere's Ronnie!"

Kubrick filmed a dream-state; The Shining disturbingly evokes the sensation of being in the hypnagogic drift - "do I dream or do I wake?' Time Out's reviewer "FF" failed even to mention that The Shining was the first movie to use the now-commonplace SteadiCam, and s/he completely, utterly, ignores the presiding metaphor - that the Overlook is the United States. The metaphor is there is you want it - but once a viewer chooses to test that reading of the film, it's astounding to realise how brilliantly The Shining sustains and bears the geopolitical interpretation. Just because it doesn't have the low-budget grunge of the original Night of the Living Dead or Last House on the Left doesn't mean that Kubrick didn't know how to evoke a class-ridden America gone demonstrably mad. Reagan's at the door with his axe; "Heeeeere's Ronnie!"

Kubrick filmed a dream-state; The Shining disturbingly evokes the sensation of being in the hypnagogic drift - "do I dream or do I wake?' Time Out's reviewer "FF" failed even to mention that The Shining was the first movie to use the now-commonplace SteadiCam, and s/he completely, utterly, ignores the presiding metaphor - that the Overlook is the United States. The metaphor is there is you want it - but once a viewer chooses to test that reading of the film, it's astounding to realise how brilliantly The Shining sustains and bears the geopolitical interpretation. Just because it doesn't have the low-budget grunge of the original Night of the Living Dead or Last House on the Left doesn't mean that Kubrick didn't know how to evoke a class-ridden America gone demonstrably mad. Reagan's at the door with his axe; "Heeeeere's Ronnie!"

While The Shining may not be one of the two or three best of Kubrick's output, one can still be mystified at the manner at which casual aesthetes will take pot shots at this macabre portrait of a mind unraveling. Iconic scenes abound: the child rumbling his tricycle through lonely stretches of corridor, the slo mo shots of the elevator gushing a wave of blood, Jack Nicholson bursting through a door with an axe. While it is easy to be awed by Kubrick’s visual innovation and mastery, he is given short shrift in other domains. Occasional slags target this films greater emphasis on mood than intricate plot, yet elsewhere in these pages countless other reviews extol films offering a similar emphasis. Why not slag Godard’s output for de-emphasizing characterization in Breathless or Weekend? While Kubrick’s camera tracking movements and zooms are complex, the visual compositions are composed in beautiful symmetry. Characters are placed centrally, and the dialogue is largely minimal and to the point, yet without seeming mawkish and unnatural (did the use of 50-140 takes per scene facilitate this?). The formal beauty of the visual design makes the ghostly camera movements and unhinging Nicholson personae seem all the more frightening. The use of 20th century composers (Ligeti, Penderecki, Bartok) in 2001 & The Shining forever changed how popular audiences came to hear the avant-garde. You might not dig Bartok, but his music will live on longer than flippant reviews, as will Kubrick’s iconic horror piece.

I most certainly don't agree with what Chris said. At least Transformers was well acted, well cast and the mood properly set. All the tension creation in this film relied on the "eerie music", the film didn't flow well, it all seemed choppy and stop start. The characters were developed terribly, The character of Wendy, who was orignally supposed to be torn between love for her husband and love for her child but essentially a strong woman willing to do whatever it takes, is turned into a dithering arm flapping moron and Jack's transformation is not subtle and slow it's crude and way too blatant. In the space of five minutes, he goes from frustrated to obviously insane.. No flow to this film, actors were terrible (Duvall in particular), and the individual stories (Jack's writing, Wendy and Danny and Dick Halloran in Miami) were all much too disjointed.

You will never understand a genuis's work, because you have simple minds, and don't think outside the box. Leave this movie to intellects, and leave your simple-minded comments for movies like Transformers 2.