Question:
I personally think this film is really under-loved. Sure alot of things dont work in the film, but it does what no other film has ever done for me. Its great achievement, IMO, is that the film makes you feel like you are crazy. It was such a creepy experience to watch it. It started as this nagging feeling that something wasnt right but as the film went on and on I just wanted it to stop so I could get rid of this feeling of insanity.

Only Kubrick could pull that off, IMO. Its a totally new experience for me to watch a horror movie like that.

Choices:
Underloved
Over-rated
Other ...

 

I have a story to share about seeing Kubrick's "The Shining" the first time. My teenage brother and I drove about 45 miles to Hollywood to see the first, local sneak preview of it back in 1980. I wanted to because a Kubrick film was an event (little did we realize that there would only be two more!) My younger brother was an enormous fan of the book.

We got there early, got our tickets and went to stand in a huge line, where everyone seemed stoked by the anticipation of seeing the greatest horror film of all time. When the movie started, we were all excited by the opening aerial shot of the car snaking its way through the mountains to the Overlook and the creepy music.

Eventually though, the movie seemed to settle into a beautiful, but somewhat tedious, exercise in technique with Nicholson way over-the-top. I'm not saying that there weren't standout scenes, but I will tell you that a few times when the titles went on the screen displaying the date and/or time, the audience booed and/or laughed.

The scenes near the ending ("Here's Johnny!!!!) seemed to improve things, but then the actual ending seemed anti-climactic. Many people booed at the end, and both my brother and I were disappointed. (Well, what could we expect; we were hoping for something similar to the greatest film of all time.)

When the film was finally released about a month later, we learned that Kubrick had cut out about seven minutes, mostly at the end involving Barry Nelson, and also a few of the date/time titles. We never saw Kubrick at the theatre, and I'm sure he was in England, but he apparently got detailed feedback about that preview.

Years later, when my brother, friends and I watch "The Shining", we enjoy it more and understand that Kubrick made his Shining and not Stephen King's. We also don't have such high expectations, and can enjoy the acting for what it's supposed to express, and Kubrick's trademark tracking camera and visual /musical flourishes. I still wish that he had trimmed even more footage and used Scatman Crothers better, but that's me.

Anyone who checks out these posts knows that I love Kubrick. I even have a soft spot for "Killer's Kiss"; I just wish I could find "Fear and Desire" and his even earlier, "more-experimental" films.

To finally get to the point of the poll; at the time of release, the film was underloved, but looking at the high user ratings it gets at IMDB, I'd say that nowadays, it may be "overrated." I have found very few horror films made since (key exception: "An American Werewolf in London") that are as good. It just doesn't seem to rank with "Paths of Glory", "Spartacus", "Dr. Strangelove", "2001", "A Clockwork Orange" or "Full Metal Jacket" in the Kubrick canon. I know I probably left off some of your favorite Kubrick films, but that shows how high he set the bar.

So that's me who voted other...
Now if you want me to use my thumb, it's up.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: mark f,

I agree with you that its not up there in the Kubrick canon, but I still think its underloved because people expect it to function like a normal horror movie. Its like expecting to see "Star Wars" or some other Sci-Fi when you watch "2001". The movie did even get tedious with the wife not seeming to anything but scream for the last half of the film. Still, its flawed, but underloved IMO.

I rated this film as "Other" in the poll as well, because the 3rd option, like in the story of "Goldilocks and the 3 Bears" should be "just right."

Perhaps because I both like Kubrick and hadn't read King's book, I liked the film immediately when I saw it. But at that time, I remember it received a lot of criticism for being so much different than the book. I think the turning point for this film's place in cinema history was when they tried to make a TV version which went over a few nights a few years later. All the pre-movie buzz was that this was going to be the "ultimate" Shining movie, and it would show how badly the Kubrick film really was. Then when the TV version came out, it pretty much bombed, and it made people appreciate the Kubrick version so much more.

In addition, whenever there are those polls of "what is the scariest movie of all-time", The Shining is always near the top. Not that this is a hallowed institution, but when the "E Rank" show ranked the scariest films of all-time, I think it was rated #2 (behind The Exorcist). Accordingly, unless one wants to make the case that this is one of the greatest movies ever, this film is NOT under-rated. And since no one is saying this film is one of the greatest of all-time, it is NOT over-rated. Being considered one of the scariest movies of all-time is "just right."

I love this movie. Very scary and well done. Jack Nicholson at his best. However, the very end confused me a little bit. I have some ideas to the meaning but i dont know. Here's what I think: SPOILERS!!
At the very very end when it zooms in on the pic of the people from 1920 something, and we can obviously see that the man in the front is Jack Nicholson, I dont quite get it. Is it supposed to mean that he was here in a previous lifetime or what?

What do some other people think?

Yeah, I know, I didn't get it as well! But remember, at one point, the ghost of the caretaker talks to Jack in the bathroom and tells him: "you've always been the caretaker here" so maybe he's the caretaker or a ghost, i dunno.

Also, all the people in the ballroom seem to know him and know his name like he'd been there before. There was a point trying to be made, but I'm not exactly sure what that point is. Although it is sort of a cool way to end the movie, in my opinion and it keeps you thinking.

I have a feeling that Kubrick was merely delving into the insanity of Jack Torrance. The picture, the bar, etc. weren't literal sequences, but rather hallucinations of an insane man.

I have to say, when I first saw the film as a 3rd-grader on bootlegged cable, and the scene came during which Jack saw started to make out with the naked woman in the bathroom, and it turns out to be an old, gory-looking lady (probably the one killed by the previous caretaker), I was pretty traumatized. To say nothing of the waves of blood coming out of the elevators. GENIUS!!

I thought that the naked woman was supposed to be the first caretaker's wife whom he murdered and then when she changed to the ugly old lady she it was the way she would look then if she had aged and not died. I agree, even though I was 13 when I first saw it, that part definatly freaked me out.

I like the movie, But it is not scary at all. It is more like a mild thriller than a horror movie. I was very surprised taht it made number 3 on the scariest movies! Lately I have been waiting to see a movie that scares the willies out of me. I thought the shining would, but it didnt. The only part i thought was scary was the past where he made out with the old lady thing. Newayz, any suggestions on wut movies to watch?

I have managed to order myself a copy of the shining but since reading this forum I'm a little worried that the film will ruin the book! like 'Dreamcatcher' did. By the sounds of it Kubrick hasn't really explained what happened at the overlook and it's history.
I guess I'll have to give it a shot though! since Jack Nicholson's in it!

If you want to get a fuller history of the Overlook, you must read the book. The imagery is even more terrifying. Now to the issue of the picture Jack becomes a part of the hotel. In fact in the end of the book, he becomes a living, breathing, representation of the hotel and its many ghosts. The old woman is just another of the many haunts of the hotel, pun intended. That's why he's part of the picture at the end, he is amongst the many people driven mad by the Overlook Hotel. Brrr just thinking about that movie gives me chills.

I really enjoyed this movie, but i think a lot of things aren't explained very well for people who haven't read the book. It was also kind of slow, but still pretty good. It wasn't a non-stop frightfest like some of the crappy horro movies these days try to be, but it had some scary moments. I went to Timberline lodge where they filmed the outside scenes and the had like an all night marathon of it, which made it all the more creepy.

I'v finally managed to watch 'The Shining'. I was disappointed that Dick, the cook, died in the film. The ending in the book was far more dramatic and explosive, people who have read the book will know what I mean. At the end of the day I suppose our imaginations do all the work! Mr. Nicholson was as creepy as ever though!

I love the camera work in the "Heeere's Johnny!" scene. As Jack is chopping the bathroom door to bits with his axe, the camera follows the *axe*, rather than staying stationary on Jack...with every swing it bolts to the right, then slowly back as he withdraws, and BACK to the right. Brilliant.