Shining, The Formats: DVD / VHS Released (US): May 23rd, 1980
Synopsis:
Jack Torrance (Jack Nicholson), his wife Wendy (Shelley Duvall), and their young son Danny (Danny Lloyd) move into the Overlook Hotel, where Jack has been hired as the winter caretaker. Cut off from civilization for months, Jack hopes to battle alcoholism and uncontrolled rage while writing. Danny's only companion during the long winter is an imaginary friend, Tony (Larry Durkin), who speaks to him and shows him visions of the murdered daughters of a previous caretaker. The hotel's head chef, Dick Halloran (Scatman Crothers), warns Danny before he leaves for the winter not to go into Room 237 and explains to Danny that he has the same psychic gift, the "shining". The long winter and the evil forces inside the hotel take its toll on Jack with dire consequences when Wendy discovers what Jack has really been working on rather than the novel he claims to have been writing.
The movie version of The Shining is legendary, the book will live forever, the TV series however was durge, the whole idea of the Overlook Hotel was that it would be a place of complete total seclusion something so maddening that it would drive a man to insanity and murder, unfortunately it seems that Stephen King concentrated so much on relating the cinematic adaptation to the book, he seemed to leave out the scariness
Posted By: JV - 09/03/2009 - 10:28 PM EST
Love the tone of this novel; it's probably my favorite of King's works. One thing the Kubrick adaptation got right was Phillip Stone as Delbert Grady. Absolutely menacing performance.
Posted By: Starbar7 - 07/15/2009 - 2:27 AM EST
having watched this movie as a child i read the book and i must say to date it is by far my favorite Stephen King book of what ive read so far.....i re-watched the movie and was disgusted by what i saw!!! when the re-make or made for TV version came out i was delighted as this really did the book some justice...and i was delighted to find out King had some input into this one....it really shows!! Stephen is the King...long live the King! lol
Posted By: Kosta - 07/14/2009 - 11:40 AM EST
I am not the one to compare books and movies, but I believe there is always room for exception. The book is Masterpiece. And the movie... well. I re-watched it once I read the book. I could hardly watch the movie even though I love Jack Nicholson. Kubrick seems to me took out all the important things that were in the book. I couldn't help but take movie back to shop
