Stanley Kubrick!

About a week or so ago, I ordered the Hong Kong version of the Stanley Kubrick Collection DVD set for $19.99 (plus 3.99 s/h) off of eBay. A knock came on the door about an hour ago, and I knew I had to take a quick break to review the set.

It's patterned after the American version of the collection, but instead of being a large box with individual cases for the DVDs, it's about as wide as a two-DVD set. It has a slipcover with a plastic keepcase. Inside the individual DVDs are kept in a cheap 10-sleeve folder (as the set contains 11 DVDs, there were two to one sleeve - for shame!)

The set is Region 0 and contains Kanji markings on the set and individual DVDs. I noticed that the Dobly notice on the DVDs misspelled Dolby Laboratories as "Dolby Ladoratories." This, and the low price, and the region 0...I don't have to read between the lines.

The set consists of the same nine titles as the USA set:

-Lolita
-Dr. Strangelove
-2001: A Space Odyssey
-A Clockwork Orange
-Barry Lyndon
-The Shining
-Full Metal Jacket
-Eyes Wide Shut
-the documentary Stanley Kubrick: A Life in Pictures

and adds
-Paths of Glory
-Spartacus

I quickly popped each DVD into my computer and spent about two-to-three minutes with each title.

Overall impressions: Pretty decent for the price, but not as good as the American set, I'd wager. Some of the DVDs suffered from pixelation or fuzziness at points (like a good laserdisc or VHS, but not quite DVD quality), and some menu items seemed disabled. I already have 2001, Clockwork Orange, and The Shining on individual DVD. I had considered divesting myself of the titles if the box set versions were of comparable quality. As of now, it looks like I'll be keeping both.

A quick summary of my impressions:

A Clockwork Orange - This had a bizarre menu filled with green smoke. I had to press the Root Menu button to access the main menu. Looked much the same as the American DVD menu, with The Ninth as the background music. The button for the theatrical trailer was disabled. I chaptered around and the movie looked OK. Strangely, it was in 1:85 instead of the full-frame Kubrick preferred for the released DVD.

The Shining - Menu was OK. In the extras menu, I pulled up the Making of The Shining doc that Vivian Kubrick made. The picture quality was great, but it only lasted 1:39 before it timed back to the main menu! I checked again, and it seems only the first chapter of the doc made it to this DVD. Chaptered around the movie, and there were some issues with audio not coming up, but the picture looked great.

2001: A Space Odyssey - Same menu as what I'd known. Theatrical trailer was the same. Disappointingly , the movie started after the opening music, with the yellow on black MGM logo looking severly pixelated. The intermission music was still present. The picture looked pretty good.

Stanley Kubrick: A Life in Pictures - I taped this off of MoreMax ages ago. It looks about the same, but, unlike the MoreMax presentation, the interviews and archival photos were framed in 1:85, while the clips from full-frame movies played full-frame. Strange. Is the DVD on the American set like this?

Eyes Wide Shut - The interviews with Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman were disabled on the Special Features menu. Picture and sound were pretty good. Eyes Wide Shut holds a special place in my heart as its the only Kubrick feature I've seen in the theatre. Randy, George, and I saw it together at the Dickinson Starworld 20 at 103rd & Memorial in Tulsa in the summer of 1999. Randy and I met in 1996 at the beginning of Freshman year, and I remember that all the way back then there was buzz for this film. Funnily enough, the lone set photo that leaked was a picture of a door.

Back to 1999 - after Kubrick's death, there was some controversy over the insertion of CGI-created cloaked figures blocking graphic scenes during the orgy sequence. This was done to get an R in America, and I remember hearing that the international cut lacked these figures. Sure enough, this DVD is the international cut, and there are no CGI figures. I can't say which version I prefer. Certainly the uncensored version is more visceral, which I imagine was what Kubrick intended. Nonetheless, it's interesting to own.