Another piece of trash in the IMDB top 250...

Rating: Null/10 (23 September 2001)

Shortly after posting some comments about A Clockwork Orange, one of the few Kubrick films I can stand to watch, an enraged fan with in inflated idea of their own intelligence or strength began posting me abusive messages, so I thought I would start pointing out all the Kubrick films I have seen that do a half-hearted job of stealing someone else's creative work. Of course, The Shining is the most obvious example, being based on one of Stephen King's most popular novels, but what may not be obvious is just how bad the film is compared to the novel.
I think my mother said it best when we discussed the film during a drive to the doctor's in order to get a minor skin cancer taken out of my face. She basically said that unless one had read the novel by Stephen King, you wouldn't have a clue what was supposed to be going on in the film. That's one point where the film falls down, but it is a minor one in comparison to others. Things like the unstable heating system in the hotel, the reason why Jack Torrance is out of work and needs the job in the hotel, and all the things the Torrances had gone through before the point where Jack is employed in the hotel, are the most important ones. These things play an extremely important part in the course of the rest of the story, explaining why Wendy suddenly turns on Jack, why Jack so easily falls under the spell of the spirits in the hotel, and so forth. Admittedly, it has been a while since I last read the novel, but this is just one juncture in a long pattern from Kubrick: a total display of disrespect for the author of the source material he was using to further his own career. Stephen King has also disowned this version of his novel, so it's not as though I am just making it up.
Which is a shame, really. After the abusive messages I have been receiving from one insane Kubrick fan who obviously has no idea what the point of democratic society is, I have really lost every little piece of desire to see another Kubrick film. Never again will Stanley Kubrick's directorial work get the chance to prove to me that, contrary to the impression Eyes Wide Shut, Full Metal Jacket, The Shining (especially), A Clockwork Orange, and Dr. Strangelove give me, the man wasn't an overrated hack. I bet that jrockwell will be proud of themselves.