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The Shining (1980)
Studio: Warner Brothers
MPAA Rating: R
Run Time: 143 minutes
Movie:
Video:
Audio:
Features:
Audio Format:
Dolby Digital 5.1
Video Format:
4:3 Standard

The Movie: Yes, yes, yes, this is yet another one of those movies that I should have seen a long time ago, but didn't. Then again, at the rate I've been watching movies I should have seen already, I've probably seen more movies people should have already seen than anyone has actually seen.

Anyway, Cami described this movie as being one of those movies that is scary in its own way -- not just things just popping up at you. In my opinion, it was really the music that made this film. The music really drew me in and got me into this film.

As far as the plot goes, Jack Nicholson gets a job as a winter caretaker for a secluded hotel resort that closes down (and actually gets snowed in) every winter, and brings his family out to stay the winter with him. As it turns out, some years before another winter caretaker ended up going crazy and chopping up his family with an axe. Strange freakiness ensues.

The DVD: Reading on the internet I've discovered that there's actually a lot of controversy over the aspect ratio on this DVD. Most films that are shot for 1.85:1 or 1.66:1 aspect ratios are actually shot on a full 1.33:1 (aka 4:3) frame of film, and then later cropped down to the aspect ratio of the movie screen. There's nothing strange about that, that's how many widescreen movies have been made for decades now.

Where the controversy starts is where people start guessing what Kubrick "would have wanted". The DVD box claims that the full frame is what Kubrick intended, but IMDB shows 1.66:1 as being the intended aspect ratio. Some people say that if you watch this film, it's clear that the shots were composed for a full 1.33:1 frame, and that's how Stanley Kubrick would have wanted it to be shown. Others say that if you watch the film, you will clearly see that the shots were composed with the having the top and bottom of the frame cut off, and so what Kubrick would have wanted is a widescreen DVD transfer. Kubrick is dead, so who the hell knows what he would have wanted today.

Aspect ratio issues aside, the transfer is pretty good overall, but something of a mixed bag. Through most of the movie, the video is clean and sharp, with very little grain and virtually no dust or dirt. The whites are crisp and clean, and the blacks well defined. But toward the end of the movie, things go awry and gradient compression artifacts abound, especially in the running around outside in the snow scenes, where they are quite visible. By the way, I'm reviewing the "Digitally Remastered" version of this DVD. Apparently the original DVD version of this film had a pretty dismal video transfer.

The audio on this disc has been remastered into a 5.1 format, and although there is very little use of the surround channels, I'm sure the music got a great boost from being expanded out of the original mono format (and as I mentioned earlier, the music is a major part of this film).

Special features consist of a theatrical trailer, and a 30 minute (cut down from an original 1 hour TV documentary) making-of piece that was made by a then-17 year old Vivian Kubrick, which even includes a commentary track by her for the documentary.

Date reviewed: 2002-04-23

468C

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