The Shining (1980)

[pmil]

Originally Posted by ldman15

When is this getting a premium release? I was rewatching this on DVD the other day and thought to myself that I should upgrade to the Blu-ray so I went looking but the current Blu-ray offering is less than desirable. This really needs an Anniversary Edition with a new 4k Restoration or a Shout Factory Collector's Edition Release.

What exactly do you find wrong with the current Blu-Ray version of The Shining? I think it's a fine transfer. You could probably squeeze a touch more detail with a newer scan but other than that it looks great. I'm talking about my American version, by the way.

[myway]

While not as good as the IT miniseries, I think that people would otherwise remember the Shining miniseries as a solid to very good tv adaptation. It would probably have built a following (like IT did) and then people would clamoring for a proper film adaptation, etc. Here, things just sort of went in reverse order. We got the iconic adaptation first and so people see the Miniseries as sort a curiosity and for completists more than anything (I own and like it FWIW).

[English Patient]

Originally Posted by KMR

Film and literature are two very different art forms. In adapting a novel to film, the prime consideration should be to make it work as a film. Stephen King's works are notoriously difficult to transform into films. King's greatest strength is his talent for getting deep inside his characters, making the reader identify with them, getting across their internal states and their emotional journeys. That is something that is very, very hard to do in film, which is primarily a visual medium. So the films of King's stories tend to focus on the outward "horror" aspects and miss what makes the stories work. My guess is that with the Kubrick film, the goal was to take the essence of a story told in 165,000 words and use it to fashion something that would work as a story told as a two-hour picture.

Totally agree. Film is very good at showing the plot, but it's not so good at conveying a character's interior state or the overall writing style of a novel. For me, the best part of the novel of The Shining is how King allows the reader into Jack's mind, lets us see his flawed love for his wife and son, lets us see memories of his sad, abusive childhood, lets us hear the tone of his thoughts, which are often sad, self-pitying, desperate, surprisingly literary, full of fragile hope for the future, etc. All that stuff can't really be conveyed in a movie.

[ldman15]

Originally Posted by pmil

What exactly do you find wrong with the current Blu-Ray version of The Shining? I think it's a fine transfer. You could probably squeeze a touch more detail with a newer scan but other than that it looks great. I'm talking about my American version, by the way.

I'm sure the transfer is fine. I'm just a sucker for packaging. If they released this as an Anniversary Edition with a nice slip cover (Perhaps Lenticular?) and did a few new special features I would buy it. Plus I really like what they have been doing with re-releasing movies with new 4K transfers. I think that, when they do it right, it makes the movie look so much better. And I think that this movie and the way it was shot really would lend itself to a 4K Restoration.

[Rzzzz]

Originally Posted by ldman15

I'm sure the transfer is fine. I'm just a sucker for packaging. If they released this as an Anniversary Edition with a nice slip cover (Perhaps Lenticular?) and did a few new special features I would buy it. Plus I really like what they have been doing with re-releasing movies with new 4K transfers. I think that, when they do it right, it makes the movie look so much better. And I think that this movie and the way it was shot really would lend itself to a 4K Restoration.

If they added one new feature I would buy it again. I'm a sucker for the double dip (actually it would be a triple dip for me). I told myself I was not going to buy the Criterion Dr Strangelove. I already have the digi book and the steelbook. Once I saw it in person at Costco (back when they sold Criterions) I caved. I just had to have the trailer narrated by Kubrick and the packaging is what lured me in. I am so weak....

[ldman15]

Originally Posted by Rzzzz

If they added one new feature I would buy it again. I'm a sucker for the double dip (actually it would be a triple dip for me). I told myself I was not going to buy the Criterion Dr Strangelove. I already have the digi book and the steelbook. Once I saw it in person at Costco (back when they sold Criterions) I caved. I just had to have the trailer narrated by Kubrick and the packaging is what lured me in. I am so weak....

A Criterion would be awesome for this

[zafisher94]

Bummed there's still no sign of a UHD release. I was hoping they'd announce a 4k release to piggy back off of the release of 2001.

[pmil]

Originally Posted by ldman15

I'm sure the transfer is fine. I'm just a sucker for packaging. If they released this as an Anniversary Edition with a nice slip cover (Perhaps Lenticular?) and did a few new special features I would buy it. Plus I really like what they have been doing with re-releasing movies with new 4K transfers. I think that, when they do it right, it makes the movie look so much better. And I think that this movie and the way it was shot really would lend itself to a 4K Restoration.

Unfortunately my experience with remasters have not been good. They have been, surprisingly, less than optimally detailed and revisionist in contrast, white and black levels and color.

[surfdude12]

Originally Posted by crazybeats

The pantry scene absolutely makes it clear that Jack isn't completely delusional in the movie. I think if I had to criticize the movie it's that it doesn't make it completely clear that all of this could be going on in Jack's head, a lot of it is shown as matter of fact and so even before you get to that door being unlocked, there's not a lot of reason to think that what you are seeing isn't actually happening.

BUt this goes back to the main point - the U.S. Cut shows a lot of Jack's alcoholism before arriving at Overlook that Euro Cut eliminates

(1) that Wendy gave him ultimatum to not drink or she'll leave him
(2) Dialogue between Wendy and Doctor about Jack's drinking and hurting Danny
(3) Wendy in denial about Jack's drinking - saying Jack dislocating Danny's socket is "kind of thing that happens to anyone when you're disciplining a child"
(4) That Jack lied to Wendy about his drinking, since Wendy says before arriving to Overlook that Jack "hasn't had a drink since" hitting Danny, yet later in movie we hear Jack say "here's to 5 miserable months" and that he hit Danny "three god%3mn years ago"

Little details like this (pre-Overlook) give viewer clear idea of Jack's alcoholism and thus give rational evidence that Jack is likely imaging what he is seeing, UNTIL Grady unlocks the meat locker.

Yet the Euro cut removed all of these details. Maybe try U.S. Cut if haven't yet

[Kyle15]

The US cut is perfect. The shorter edit pars things down a little too soon.

[OgamiittoMcJ]

Originally Posted by Kyle15

The US cut is perfect. The shorter edit pars things down a little too soon.

Kubrick would disagree as he made the cuts
so you disagree with Kubrick

[eiknarf]

Here we go again

[Todd Tomorrow]

Why doesn’t the blu-ray contain an open matte 4:3 option ? Kubrick would have wanted it that way.

[drush9999]

[Nicolawicz]

Originally Posted by pmil

What exactly do you find wrong with the current Blu-Ray version of The Shining? I think it's a fine transfer. You could probably squeeze a touch more detail with a newer scan but other than that it looks great.

Actually, it's full of DNR. There's plenty of frozen grain and smearing (both side effects of DNR).

[Bronson13]

Originally Posted by OgamiittoMcJ

Kubrick would disagree as he made the cuts
so you disagree with Kubrick

Yeah well Kubrick can make dumb decisions too and that was one of them. And if my memory serves me correctly Warner Bros. made him cut it down. So if that’s the case then Kubrick didn’t even want to do it.

[Axl Rose]

Originally Posted by pmil

What exactly do you find wrong with the current Blu-Ray version of The Shining? I think it's a fine transfer. You could probably squeeze a touch more detail with a newer scan but other than that it looks great. I'm talking about my American version, by the way.

The current transfer is pretty dated.

I believe a new 4k scan would improve it quite a bit.

[HeavyHitter]

Originally Posted by Nicolawicz

Actually, it's full of DNR. There's plenty of frozen grain and smearing (both side effects of DNR).

A 14mbs VC-1 encode doesn't help either.

Yeah, this one is overdue although there are worse older discs out there.

[crazybeats]

Originally Posted by surfdude12

BUt this goes back to the main point - the U.S. Cut shows a lot of Jack's alcoholism before arriving at Overlook that Euro Cut eliminates

(1) that Wendy gave him ultimatum to not drink or she'll leave him
(2) Dialogue between Wendy and Doctor about Jack's drinking and hurting Danny
(3) Wendy in denial about Jack's drinking - saying Jack dislocating Danny's socket is "kind of thing that happens to anyone when you're disciplining a child"
(4) That Jack lied to Wendy about his drinking, since Wendy says before arriving to Overlook that Jack "hasn't had a drink since" hitting Danny, yet later in movie we hear Jack say "here's to 5 miserable months" and that he hit Danny "three god%3mn years ago"

Little details like this (pre-Overlook) give viewer clear idea of Jack's alcoholism and thus give rational evidence that Jack is likely imaging what he is seeing, UNTIL Grady unlocks the meat locker.

Yet the Euro cut removed all of these details. Maybe try U.S. Cut if haven't yet

I have never watched the US version but I will watch it soon as I can and give my opinions on it as I haven't seen all those scenes before. I know here in the UK that HMV re-released the movie with both the US and UK cuts, I know the US cut has been shown on here on TV a few times but this is the first time you can buy the US cut in the UK. I always held off buying it hoping for a newer edition with more unseen footage but I will get the US version and watch asap.

[Bobbyjoe766]

I have seen both versions. I can say that I much prefer the longer edit.