The Shining / Full Metal Jacket / Eyes Wide Shut - Transfers

[TheHighRoller]

I own all of Stanley Kubrick's filmography on Blu-ray, so I am well aware of the aspect ratio controversy surrounding these last three of his films. I also completely respect the fact that he shot these in the full frame (as he did with all his others I guess) but with the American 1.85:1 ratio in mind, seeing as that ratio was the standard in American theaters.

Because of this, I'm interested in buying these three films on DVD since it's the only format besides VHS and Betamax that has the full negative's 1.33:1 aspect ratio (yes, a Blu-ray release of these in the 1.33:1 aspect ratio would be awesome, but highly unlikely). But I have a few questions for those of you who own these on DVD already:



- What are the differences between the 2001 and 2007/2008 releases of The Shining and Full Metal Jacket? The 2001 releases have a cardboard 'snap' case, and the 07/08 releases have the common plastic cases. Do the latter releases have a better transfer even though the art is the same, or were they simply repackaged in a plastic case?


And, Eyes Wide Shut was first released on DVD in 2000 in a 'snap' case with the purple artwork. Does the 2001 white 'snap' case re-release have a better transfer than the original release? The latter one has the "Stanley Kubrick Collection" banner on the top (as do the other Full Frame releases for The Shining and Full Metal Jacket). I have seen that TS and FMJ also have this as well, and each of them have a "digital remaster" banner on the back, yet EWS doesn't.

I also understand that The Shining and Eyes Wide Shut were also re-released again in 2008 in a 2-Disc version. These carry the films in the 1.85:1 aspect ratio, correct? Was a Full Frame version released as well? And are the extras on the 2-Disc release the same as the ones on their respective Blu-ray releases?



In the end, I want to know which versions of TS, FMJ, and EWS in the full frame (1.33:1) are the best to get? Which ones sport a better transfer? Thoughts?

[OrlandoEastwood]

For The Shining, when I was in Hawaii doing my year of college, the library had the 2001 DVD that's the snap case and that DVD was indeed in full frame.

[TheHighRoller]

Yeah, I have the snap case version of The Shining (the only one of these three DVDs I have- I bought it two days ago).

What I'm asking is if the transfer for the 2007/2008 re-release is the same as the one for the snap case version.

Additionally, it was also re-released in 2008 as a two disc version which is in the widescreen. What I want to know about this re-release is whether or not a Full Frame version was also available.


I've tried searching online for all this info, but I can only find info on the Blu-ray releases (since BD is a better format than DVD).

Thanks for your input though.

[spawningblue]

I believe all the full screen releases are the same quality wise, the two disc sets only came in widescreen. Extras are same as bluray. This site is pretty helpful for these kind of questions.

http://www.dvdcompare.net

[brian9229]

The transfers for the shining and fmj are indeed the same they were just repackaged in 07

[TheHighRoller]

Originally Posted by spawningblue

I believe all the full screen releases are the same quality wise, the two disc sets only came in widescreen. Extras are same as bluray. This site is pretty helpful for these kind of questions.

http://www.dvdcompare.net

Thanks for the info. I didn't know of that site, but I do now.

Does that mean that the Purple art version of EWS and the white art version of EWS have the same transfer?

This also means that a Full Frame version of EWS hasn't been released that is uncut, correct?

[TheHighRoller]

Originally Posted by brian9229

The transfers for the shining and fmj are indeed the same they were just repackaged in 07

Thanks for confirming!

I've checked the site that spawningblue has linked to, and sadly there is no Region 1/Region Free uncut version of Eyes Wide Shut in 1.33:1, only the R version. It still seems interesting to watch, so I'll get it anyway.

[Eye Candy]

Originally Posted by OrlandoEastwood

For The Shining, when I was in Hawaii doing my year of college, the library had the 2001 DVD that's the snap case and that DVD was indeed in full frame.

The snapcase shining in mono was one of the first DVDs I ever bought, with the purchase of my first DVD player in 1999, a Sony 5-disc player. (The other two DVDs being Alien and 2001).

Just the other day, I purchased the 2010 re-packaged 2000 Digital Master from restored elements rematered in DD 5.1 (#21156).

I love how you can just pop in the DVD, and select the play icon, and the movie begins without any muss or fuss. And stopping it, to go and run an arrand, and being to easily pick up just where I left offf, is also nice.

I had the BD, but donated it to the library. I enjoy this DVD presentation better than the BD.