A masterpiece

Rating: 9/10 (2 December 2003)

---MIGHT CONTAIN SPOILERS---
I love this movie, not as an adaptation of King's excellent novel, but as a Kubrick/Johnson collaboration. While they kept the basic story, they came up with other themes than King (a.o. the native American theme)which works beautifully. Besides Shelly Duvall, the cast is fantastic. Sadly, Scatman Crothers appearance is highly reduced in the International version which cuts several scenes, especially in the beginning and during Halloran's journey to the Overlook. I haven't seen the U.S. version, but I do hope some day I will. It's hard to imagine that the interiors were done in soundstages, they're so elaborate (not to mention eerie). For the soundtrack, I'm glad that Kubrick didn't choose the music which was written for the movie (which appears in the DVD/Laserdisc documentary), but instead opted for Dies Irae. As for the 1997 mini series based on King's screenplay. I think it's great. Both that and this version are highly recommended (but not the latter for the faint of heart).