The folks who made that doc had waaaayyyy too much time on their hands. It is out there! (Entertaining, nonetheless....)
Kubrick's Shining WORST novel adaptation ever!
- Thread starter Christine62
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It's a bit tongue in cheek to put it mildly, but I actually love it. Anyone who believes Kubrick faked the moon landing and left a trail of clues in his film work, is alright by me! A brilliant man. That brilliant? Probably. But it's all crap.
I just re-watched The Shining on a flight last week (surprisingly good on-demand feature on American Airlines). I still love it.
Sure it isn't an amazing adaptation of the far better novel, buts it's a fairly enjoyable film that's well shot and acted.
I'm not a big fan of the Shining, I didn't care for the mini series or the film but the guys who developed Vampire The Masquerade: Bloodlines (pc game) obvously did, there's an entire mission that pays homage to the hotel. There's also a little Elm Street easter egg in that level that some miss....
You know what, I don't agree with the guy above anymore.
To be fair, I haven't read the book so I can't compare the two but the film is enjoyable now and while the kid doesn't really get much depth, Duvall and Nicholson shine in the film. Now I can see why Trokia dedicated an entire quest to paying homage to the film in Bloodlines. I wish they'd have paid homage to IT as well, and they may have but I may have missed it. The Shining quest in the game is a huge quest but the other things they pay homage to are easter eggs that are easy to miss, like the Elm Street house on the table of the hotel.
Speaking of the Shining, those who watch WWE, you are aware of the Fiend, those who don't, look him up on Youtube. The Fiend is their new horror character and he borrows a bit from Freddy, Pennywise, and I think he also borrows a bit from the Shining.
I liked The Shining when I saw it back in the day, I was in my mid-teens and basically anything in the horror genre got my seal of approval. I thought Nicholson and Duvall were terrific, the kid I found just too annoying. As the years have passed I still enjoy the film but not as much as I used to, having watched the making of The Shining documentary I see just what a grueling experience the whole thing was for everyone involved, I think with countless takes of each scene Kubrick bled every ounce of enthusiasm from the actors and what's left is merely actors speaking lines with no feeling or depth to them, most of the time it's like listening to someone flatly reading lines off a page. Despite this there are still some great moments in it, the last 15 or 20 minutes when Jack goes helter skelter are basically what makes the film worth watching. The other thing I liked were the sets, the whole design of the film was just beautiful, and the opening shot gliding across the lake with Wendy Carlos's haunting theme playing was superb. That's just my two cents on The Shining.
