Best King Movies

[T-Dogz_AK47]

Why Stanley Kubrick's The Shining is a masterpiece of film making

No I love the book. And I didn't hate it because it was too different, I found it kind of boring. Jack's performance was fantastic and the only good thing about the whole movie. I didn't like the casting one bit or the over the top and to me weird ways kubrick went with it. I should also add that I hate stanley Kubbrick and haven't liked any of his movies that I am aware of.

I am not surprised that many fans of the book hate Stanley Kubrick's movie - especially if they have read the book first, as Stephen King's version plays on completely different themes. Stephen King tells the story a man being possessed by a haunted hotel, whilst Stanley Kubrick's movie is essentially about a man slowly sinking into psychotic madness.

However, whether people prefer the book or the movie is an existential choice between preferring supernatural or psychological horror. Stephen King’s stories are all about emotion: his characters feel their way in and out of horrifying situations. However, Stephen King is not a visual thinker, he loves to tell, rather than show.

For Stanley Kubrick, if it can’t be seen, it doesn’t exist. His storytelling thrives on visual symbolism and artistic imagery. Where Stephen King likes to emotionally manipulate the reader, Stanley Kubrick likes to mess with his audience’s spatial awareness. For instance, Stanley Kubrick's use of steadicam and wide lenses has the audience moving through corridors that are too wide and at the wrong height, as Danny's tricycle rattles over wooden floors and silent rugs.

Together with some of the most memorable and iconic images of the film: The blood pouring out of the elevators, the twin girls, the claustrophobic hedge maze, the vast eerie ballroom, the woman in Room 237. Stanley Kubrick's vision unsettles the mind. Technically, there is no better film in this genre.

For myself, I love both the book and the movie equally, as they are in essence, completely different entities - One supernatural the other psychological. One thing is certain though, The TV mini series with it's laughable CGI leaf monsters is an utter joke in comparison.

Like it or loathe it, Stanley Kubrick's The Shining remains a modern masterpiece of film making.

[RJK1981]

No I love the book. And I didn't hate it because it was too different, I found it kind of boring. Jack's performance was fantastic and the only good thing about the whole movie. I didn't like the casting one bit or the over the top and to me weird ways kubrick went with it. I should also add that I hate stanley Kubbrick and haven't liked any of his movies that I am aware of.

I definitely agree with you about Kubrick's The Shining. Jack was great, but that was it for me. I especially hated what they did with the kid and REDRUM

[Teriw]

No I love the book. And I didn't hate it because it was too different, I found it kind of boring. Jack's performance was fantastic and the only good thing about the whole movie. I didn't like the casting one bit or the over the top and to me weird ways kubrick went with it. I should also add that I hate stanley Kubbrick and haven't liked any of his movies that I am aware of.

[T-Dogz_AK47]

I shall take this opportunity to once again express my extreme dislike for The Shining.

Because it's so different from the book? Or did you dislike the book too?

[Teriw]

I shall take this opportunity to once again express my extreme dislike for The Shining.

[Sock Monkey]

The Shawshank Redemption is the only Stephen King adaptation where I think the movie is better than the book.

I agree with you that the movie version of Shawshank was better than the book, but I would also add The Mist in the same category. The book was good but the movie had all that plus the best ending ever!

I also agree with Darabont being the best King director. He seems to really get the essence of King's material and is able to condense the source material in way that remains true to books yet stands on it's own.

[T-Dogz_AK47]

Well stated T-Dog, and I do agree with your comment on Darabont as being a director that should be exclusively used for King adaptations.

Thanks TJCams, l am glad that you agree with me.

Too many Stephen King books have had the potential to make great movies, but this opportunity has been squandered by directors screwing around with the original source material. It just smacks of lazy film making and cheap production values.

[TJCams]

Well stated T-Dog, and I do agree with your comment on Darabont as being a director that should be exclusively used for King adaptations.

[T-Dogz_AK47]

The only counter to your argument would be The Shinning.

I was expecting and indeed, waiting for someone to say that.

However great The Shining is, and I have already previously stated that The Shining is one of the greatest horror movies of all time; the source material had been changed so much that it essentially became Stanley Kubrick's The Shining and not Stephen King's. As such I do not view The Shining as a true Stephen King adaptation but a great horror film in it's own right, created by one of Hollywood's legendary movie directors.

My belief remains firm in the integrity of my afore-mentioned argument.

[Dan Hocker]

The only counter to your argument would be The Shinning.

[T-Dogz_AK47]

T-Dog - I have not read the book, but the movie is very good! I still really like The Green Mile too - heartbreaking in a way.

Both films were directed by Frank Darabont and both are extremely close to the original source material. If I was in charge of a film studio that was going to make a Stephen King movie, I would make sure that Frank Darabont is directing it or not bother making the movie at all. Frank Darabont clearly understands and respects King's work and doesn't screw around changing plot details like all the other directors have, and still do.

The reason why so many King films fail, is that essentially, the director making the movie has changed or omitted important plot elements. For example, practically everyone posting comments on the Under The Dome TV series thread, are voicing their displeasure that the TV show is too different from the book.

This discontent is not isolated, I have read many comments on this forum about other Stephen King movies that have annoyed people for the same reasons as above.

Narrative drive is what makes Stephen King's novels special. The fine art of keeping a reader hooked on both the plot and what actually happens to the characters in the story. By closely following Stephen King's work, a film director can recreate this same narrative drive, so richly demonstrated in both The Shawshank Redemption and The Green Mile.

I rest my case.

[TJCams]

T-Dog - I have not read the book, but the movie is very good! I still really like The Green Mile too - heartbreaking in a way.

[T-Dogz_AK47]

I still enjoy Pet Sematery and Creepshow - probably my 2 favourites - I did enjoy Cat's Eye too.

The Shawshank Redemption is the only Stephen King adaptation where I think the movie is better than the book.

[TJCams]

I still enjoy Pet Sematery and Creepshow - probably my 2 favourites - I did enjoy Cat's Eye too.

[T-Dogz_AK47]

If you liked the previously posted family film trailer for The Shining, check out this trailer for Stephen King's IT.

Looks like Stephen King has made another family film...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wdf2tqSy2zc

"Do you believe in magic?" LOL!