The Shining [Blu-ray]

MOVIE DESCRIPTION:

"All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy" -- or, rather, a homicidal boy in Stanley Kubrick's eerie 1980 adaptation of Stephen King's horror novel. With wife Wendy (Shelley Duvall) and psychic son Danny (Danny Lloyd) in tow, frustrated writer Jack Torrance (Jack Nicholson) takes a job as the winter caretaker at the opulently ominous, mountain-locked Overlook Hotel so that he can write in peace. Before the Overlook is vacated for the Torrances, the manager (Barry Nelson) informs Jack that a previous caretaker went crazy and slaughtered his family; Jack thinks it's no problem, but Danny's "shining" hints otherwise. Settling into their routine, Danny cruises through the empty corridors on his Big Wheel and plays in the topiary maze with Wendy, while Jack sets up shop in a cavernous lounge with strict orders not to be disturbed. Danny's alter ego, "Tony," however, starts warning of "redrum" as Danny is plagued by more blood-soaked visions of the past, and a blocked Jack starts visiting the hotel bar for a few visions of his own. Frightened by her husband's behavior and Danny's visit to the forbidding Room 237, Wendy soon discovers what Jack has really been doing in his study all day, and what the hotel has done to Jack. ~ Lucia Bozzola, Rovi

DVD FEATURES:

• Number of Discs: 1
• Screen: Enhanced Wide Screen Letterbox for 16x9 TV
• Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 (Theatre Wide Screen)
• Audio: PCM Stereo
• Features:
  • Commentary by steadicam inventor/operator Garrett Brown and Historian John Baxter
  • Vivian Kubrick's documentary The Making of the Shining with optional commentary
  • 3 mesmerizing new featurettes- view from the Overlook: Crafting the Shining, the visions of Stanley Kubrick and Wendy Carlos, composer
  • Theatrical trailer

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

• Cast:

  
       Jack Nicholson - Jack Torrance
       Shelley Duvall - Wendy Torrance
       Danny Lloyd - Danny Torrance
       Scatman Crothers - Dick Hallorann
       Barry Nelson - Ullman
       Philip Stone - Grady
       Anne Jackson - Doctor
       Joe Turkel - Lloyd
       Tony Burton - Durkin
       Burnell Tucker - Policeman
       Billie Gibson - Old Woman in Bathtub
       David Baxt - Forest Ranger 1
       Robin Pappas - Nurse
       Norman Gay - Injured Guest
       Lisa Burns - Grady Daughter
       Jana Sheldon - Stewardess
       Barry Dennen - Watson
       Lia Beldam - Young Woman in Bathtub
       Manning Redwood - Forest Ranger

• Director:

  Stanley Kubrick

• Producer:

  Stanley Kubrick

• Screenwriter:

  Diane Johnson

• Book Author:

  Stephen King

• Screenwriter:

  Stanley Kubrick

• Cinematographer:

  John Alcott

• Composer (Music Score):

  Wendy Carlos

• Editor:

  Ray Lovejoy

• Production Designer:

  Roy Walker

• Art Director:

  Les Tomkins

• Executive Producer:

  Jan Harlan

• Costume Designer:

  Milena Canonero

• Makeup:

  Tom Smith

• First Assistant Director:

  Brian Cook, Terry Needham, Michael Stevenson

• Camera Operator:

  Kelvin Pike, James Devis

• Production Manager:

  Douglas Twiddy

• Second Unit Director:

  Douglas Milsome

• Steadicam Operator:

  Garrett Brown

REVIEW:

• Eliminating most of the supernatural episodes from the original Stephen King novel, Stanley Kubrick's version of The Shining is at once a coolly ironic near-parody (with a Jack Nicholson performance that defines "over the top") and a genuinely chilling dissection of how a family breaks down when the father cannot (or does not want to) perform his duties as provider and protector. Making the most of the then-new Steadicam technology for intricate camera movements, Kubrick renders the hotel and maze palpable as Danny moves through them, while turning the Overlook itself into an eerily threatening entity, punctuated by Danny's vividly disturbing shinings. It isn't just Jack who is psychotic: it is the hotel and all it represents about the American system. Positioned to be a summer hit, The Shining was released to decidedly mixed reviews (including from King, who vocally objected to Kubrick's alterations of his novel); although it was the most successful movie Kubrick had made, it did not become the blockbuster that he had hoped. Despite this checkered reception, Kubrick's ability to combine icy detachment with visceral dread makes The Shining a profoundly creepy interrogation of madness, memory, and familial disintegration. ~ Lucia Bozzola, Rovi