Jack Torrance becomes the caretaker of the Overlook Hotel in up in the secluded mountains of Colorado. Jack, being a family man, takes his wife and son to the hotel to keep him company throughout the long, isolated nights. During their stay, strange things occur when Jack's son Danny sees gruesome images powered by a force called 'the shining' and Jack is heavily affected by this. Along with writer's block and the demons of the hotel haunting him, Jack has a complete mental breakdown and the situation takes a sinister turn for the worse.
As you probably know, Stanley Kubrick's horror classic, The Shining, is a rewrite of a
Stephen King story
that helped define the modern psychological thriller genre. The strong direction and acting gives
the
film broad appeal, but it is too harrowing for squeamish audiences. Stanley Kubrick is a master at
getting the most out of his screenplays, sets and actors.
The riveting combination of the haunted Overlook Hotel and Jack Nicholson's powerhouse
performance as Jack Torrance descending into violent insanity seems eerily authentic.
But the
film is far from perfect in conception and execution. It is held back by pacing problems,
disconnects
in the narrative flow (King was very upset that Kubrick strayed from the novel) and bizarre,
often
corny visions that only rarely raised the scare factor. Nevertheless, the scenes focusing on
Torrance's inner
demons and spiralling insanity are brilliant. It is hard to imagine any other actor but Nicholson
being able to fit in this roll with such conviction and raw power. Most importantly for this release,
the Blu-ray's definition
and color are far superior to DVD versions, and the aspect ratio of 1.78:1 is a big plus.
Having signed on as winter caretaker of the Overlook Hotel, Jack Torrance
(Jack Nicholson) insists that his son and wife will enjoy it there, despite their apprehension.
Beginning with Jack's job interview at the secluded Overlook Hotel in Colorado's Rocky Mountains,
The Shining quickly reveals glimpses into its dark and supernatural theme. The hotel
must close
down every winter due to blizzard conditions and its isolated location renders any inhabitants
snowbound. A previous caretaker went crazy from "cabin fever" and murdered his wife and two
daughters.
But Jack assures hotel manager Stuart Ullman (Barry Nelson) that being snowbound all winter is
just the kind of peace and quiet needed to "write the great American novel". Meanwhile, back
home, Jack's son Danny (Danny Lloyd), who experiences paranormal images and premonitions,
has horrible visions of the Overlook and blacks out. Jack returns triumphant from his job
interview only to find his wife Wendy (Shelley Duvall) questioning the wisdom of moving to the
Overlook with their son in a fragile mental state, but Jack grows aggravated and dismisses her
concerns.
After arriving at the hotel, Danny is befriended by the hotel chef, Dick Hallorann (Scattman
Crothers). The cook has a talent for psychic abilities similar to Danny's. He tells the young boy to
not be afraid--that some bad things happened long ago at the hotel. Hollorann explains that all
places--especially old
places--have a "shine" to them. "The shining" is the residual aura of accumulated experiences.
But the Overlook has had a more violent history than most places, and when Danny asks about
room 237 from his visions, Hallorann becomes visibly upset. He sternly warns Danny to stay
away from the room. The guests already gone, Hallorann and the Overlook management depart,
leaving Jack, Wendy and Danny to settle in for the long winter ahead.
As the weeks pass, Jack becomes increasingly psychotic. He can't sleep and seems irritable and
incommunicative. He spends his time wandering the hotel's hallways and working on his
manuscript. One day, Danny is coaxed into room 237 by supernatural powers and his own
curiosity. This immediately sets off a series of events and Jack goes from bad to worse.
Wendy hears him screaming. He wakes up disoriented and disturbed, complaining that he had a
horrible nightmare in which he chopped her and Danny to pieces. Before Wendy can react, Danny
appears with his shirt ripped and bruise marks around his neck. Wendy rushes to her son,
inspects his injuries and accuses Jack of attacking the boy since the hotel is empty except for the
three of them.
As Jack's psychosis becomes full blown, he has hallucinations of interacting with staff at the hotel.
The interactions with former caretaker Delbert Grady (Philip Stone) become all too real as Grady
calmly yet
forcefully leads Jack to the unavoidable conclusion that he must act against his wife and son.
Once Jack's murderous intentions become clear, the film cycles through spooky scenes with
Nicholson's gleaming eyes and wicked grin as he bellows for his family. Kubrick's vision is manifest
with critical impact as the film reaches its climax. Some of the images work, such as the
unabated flowing of blood down the hotel's elevator shaft and flooding out into the lobby,
representing the evil spirit and bloody history of the place. Some images don't work. But the
1080p presentation and the full, restored aspect ratio deliver Kubrick's horror masterpiece for a
new generation of film fanatics.
Prior to the release of this BD, I owned abysmal, low-quality versions of The Shining on
VHS
and DVD. The color bleed and poor definition got in the way of enjoying the film, and so did the
4:3
aspect ratio, which was a problem even on Warner's 2001 DVD reissue. Finally, the studio
delivers
the goods on this Blu-ray version with its VC-1 encode. The picture isn't perfect, and one
observes
the occasional glitch. The video appears very much "cleaned up", and I suspect digital noise
reduction and other processing to have played a role in the outcome. Usually I'm not fond of that
kind of scrubbing, but the results here are so much better than any previous home video version
of
this film, that I'm willing to forego criticism. Overall, the picture is vibrant, solid, rich and highly
detailed.
This improvement is apparent from the outset, as the opening credits roll over aerial footage of
Colorado's rugged landscape. Watch the 1080p resolution of mountains and trees, and the
contrast from the shadows of the pine trees to the white areas of snow. The picture shows good
depth and definition. In fact, the detail is a revelation. Watch the wall paper patterns in the
hallways of the overlook, or Jack's facial features when Kubrick pulls the camera in tight. Detail in
objects, skin tones and black levels are accurate. The picture may not be perfect, but it is an
enormous improvement that helps convey the power of the film and ultimately draws in the
viewer as never before.
I was pleasantly surprised that Warner included a lossless PCM 5.1 track on The Shining,
but at 16 bit and 48 kHz (4.6 mpbs), the track is technically little better than CD quality. Granted, it
seems silly to expect a high resolution, engaging multichannel mix from the original mono. The
audio offers very little in the way of dynamic LFE and surround content. No one will use The
Shining to show off the new speakers in their home theater system--that's for sure.
That said, the voices were well rendered and clear. Even in scenes with a great deal of bustle (which
were of course rare in the film), the mix makes each individual sound clearly identifiable. One good
example is the ballroom scene, which is populated with a large crowd. All manner of chatter and
clinking glasses are audible, as well as the gentle music. Most of the film's music, however, features
the compositions of Wendy Carlos, with a spooky, outdated synthesizer score. It sounds fairly poor,
with no treble extention or rousing midrange for that matter. But what can be expected from synth
music? Frankly, it reminds me of the soundtrack of Scarface. Still, it is very effective in
establishing mood and the audio quality of the Blu-ray in no way hinders the film. It may even be a
step up from the 2001 DVD version.
Borrowing from the 2001 DVD reissue as well as including new content, the supplementary
features of the BD delivers interesting material that fans of The Shining should definitely
not miss. Even the audio commentary track is good, featuring steadicam operator, Garrett Brown
and Kubrick biographer John Baxter.
The Making of "The Shining" is actually a BBC special produced by Kubrick's daughter,
Vivian, for the film's original release. With full access to her father's set, Vivian delivers greater
insight into tensions during filming, as well as a behind-the-scenes look at a couple of the most
famous scenes. Stanley Kubrick had a reputation for secrecy and he shied away from publicity, so
the footage of his work is both interesting and rare. For even greater insight, listen to Vivian
Kubrick's Of course, the documentary is in standard definition in a 4:3 aspect ratio.
View from the Overlook: Crafting "The Shining" covers the development, production and
release of the film in more than 25 minutes. The highlights include Nicholson and screenwriter
Diane Johnson, who do some heavy lifting in discussing Kubrick's vision. The aspect ratio of this
and the next two featurettes is 16:9.
Wendy Carlos, Composer is a much shorter interview with the lady who penned the
film's score. Considered a pioneer in electronic music for her work with synthesizers, Carlos
discusses her conception of the music and her interactions with Kubrick.
The Visions of Stanley Kubrick, clocking in at about 15 minutes, focuses on all Kubrick's
work as a whole. It includes important insights from other directors and Kubrick's biographer and
is actually not a bad little documentary.
The bonus material also includes an original theatrical trailer in 4:3 NTSC that is hardly worth
mentioning.
To me, the scariest parts of the film lie in Jack's interactions with Danny. Kubrick coaxes magical
performances out of both the adult star and the child. When Jack sits Danny down with him to have
a talk, we see the chasm that exists between the characters and feel the chill of the words. Talk
about poor communication between father and son! Danny wants to leave and Jack says he wants
to stay "for ever and ever and ever." A father should never have to tell a child, "you know I would
never hurt you", and Nicholson's delivery makes those words stand as menacing despite their
meaning. The progression to Jack's pursuit of Danny near the end is handled very well.
Aside from this, many viewers may have problems with the pacing of the film. By today's standards
it is slow, but no more plodding than Kubrick's other movies. They all march to a much more artistic
beat of mood and gravity.
On Tuesday, one of the year's most surprising big-screen hits arrives on Blu-ray. On the surface, Magic Mike appeared to be the kind of high-concept, low-intelligence romantic comedy that usually gets dumped in the movie doldrums of summer, but director Steven ...
In the fall, Warner Home Entertainment is expected to bring the 30th Anniversary Edition of Blade Runner to Blu-ray. Director Ridley Scott's reimagining of the Philip K. Dick novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep stars Harrison Ford (Indiana Jones: The Complete ...
Just in time for Halloween, the Dryden Theatre in Rochester, New York will host a special screening of The Shining showcasing a rare print of the film with footage little-seen since the first few days of The Shining's 1980 theatrical release. General admission ...
