New Kubrick Boxset

[Big Perm]

Well, I've bought these movies too many times in many forms over the years, VHS, LASERDISCS (Still got mine & my player), & DVD's.

 

Apprently, these all have widescreen aspect ratios, something not found on previous DVD for most. HERE

 

But EWS does have both versions, rated & unrated, so that;s good for us here the US. I think the FUll Metal Jacket featurette might be the one Vivian Kubrick did as well, MAYBE???

 

And i believe this is the 144 min version THE SHINING, YAY!

 

Anyway, I wish this would have come out a long time ago, thanks Warner Bros. Barry Lyndon& Lolita will be avaliable later in the fall. Part of the new Warner Bros Director Series, so rest assured they will do this again with Scorsesse & Eastwood, who knows who else, Darabout?

 

Okay, enjoy and these are now on HD DVD & BLURAY

[ZenLunatic]

Yeah I already have most of the set. This stuff always happens.

 

I will wait to get a Hi-Def player and then if I happen to have some money, maybe I will upgrade or else I am happy. I love Kubrick though.

[GtrPlyr]

If I didn't already own the previous reissues of these, I'd probably grab this. I was tempted the other day but talked myself out of it.

 

As for them all being widescreen, that shouldn't be the case. Kubrick shot in a 1.33:1 (4:3) aspect ratio for a lot of his films, so the DVD's for The Shining, Eyes Wide Shut, and Full Metal Jacket should be in fullscreen format, and 2001 and Clockwork should be widescreen (if I remember these films correctly.)

[Beltmann]

As for them all being widescreen, that shouldn't be the case. Kubrick shot in a 1.33:1 (4:3) aspect ratio for a lot of his films, so the DVD's for The Shining, Eyes Wide Shut, and Full Metal Jacket should be in fullscreen format, and 2001 and Clockwork should be widescreen (if I remember these films correctly.)

While he definitely shot some of these in 1.33:1, there seems to be considerable disagreement about whether he actually intended them to always be shown in 1.33:1, or instead with masking. Various circumstances yielded different answers from Kubrick--he typically composed in-camera to simultaneously accomodate theatrical release, TV broadcast, and home video distribution--and so for several titles it's hard to pin down which version is the "definitive" version. In particular, I remember much unresolved controversy regarding the fullframe DVD release of Eyes Wide Shut.

 

The format -- or "aspect ratio" -- controversy is the most complicated. Kubrick, one of the film world's most meticulous experts on cameras, cinematography and projection, decided how his films should be formatted for home viewing. "He basically recomposed for video," the tech expert said flatly. Beyond that, there is this issue, troubling for purists: With the possible exception of "Dr. Strangelove," which was deliberately released with two varying aspect ratios (an idiosyncrasy preserved on the DVD release), no Kubrick film has a "correct" presentation, not even the epochal "2001." Because projection standards for widescreen films varied between England and the U.S., Kubrick shot his films in a way that anticipated various projection formats, or "mattes."

 

The most trenchant examples of this are the DVD versions of "The Shining" and "Full Metal Jacket." Both fill the TV screen fully. Some Internet complainers have charged that they are "panned and scanned" -- i.e. presented with the main action of the frame centered on the TV screen, even though the subject (a person talking, say) might have originally been far on one side or the other of the screen version. Panning and scanning is a travesty: Viewers are both cheated of the director's original composition and denied a great deal of screen content.

 

But that is not the case here. It turns out that Kubrick's unconventional solution was actually to "unmatte" the two later films. Consumers are in fact getting more, rather than less, of the image: Sharp eyes on the newsgroup alt.kubrick have spotted a helicopter shadow in the lower right-hand corner of the opening aerial scenes of "The Shining," for example.

 

Kubrick had total control over the aspect ratios (ratio of the width of a film image to its height) of his films, in their theatrical release and on home video. He liked to experiment, and he liked to question conventions regarding aspect ratios, so it

[GtrPlyr]

I remember reading that Kubrick preferred the 4:3 aspect ratio overall. I'm not sure if this was spurred by the influence of early film, particularly film noir, or just an aesthetic choice, or because it would work better for television. It is an interesting choice, especially for a film like Full Metal Jacket, which probably would've benefited from a 2.35:1 or 1.85:1 ratio. As for the DVD re-releases, hopefully they used the original camera negatives and kept the original aspect ratios intact, whatever they may be. I'd hate to hear that they tinkered with things just to conform to 16:9 TV standards. I'll have to look closer next time I see this set.

[tugmoose]

I got the first box set when it came out in about 98 and I still haven't watched the whole thing.

[PopTodd]

I met Stanley Kubrick once.

Oh, and I want this box set!

[Beltmann]

I met Stanley Kubrick once.

Are you sure?

[PopTodd]

Are you sure?

 

I was 7 years old and interviewing for the role of "Danny" in The Shining. I'm pretty sure it was him.

[Papillon Parade]

Another Christmas present idea for my b/f..thanks!