Stephen King's The Shining on DVD (1997)

Steve G from Argyll, Scotland , 19/02/2004

I was prepared to dislike this based on having seen Stanley Kubrick's film version with Jack Nicholson (which I like), however I thought this was excellent. There was a lot more charactisation and it had all the bits from the book missing from 1st film (e.g. the wasp nest, the topiary etc) - it was a complete story. To be honest I thought it was better than the film - for starters it had a pretty (and assured) Rebecca de Mornay instead of that irritating screamer Olive Oil! competently acted and a typical Stephen King TV mini-series

  10 out of 10 people found this review helpful

Read all reviews

A customer from Bradford , 06/04/2004

Please if hiring one of the old films, add this one to your list. A pleasure to watch! Very entertaining, excellent acting. One that keeps you watching. We considered it to be , an improvement on the original. Please add it to your selection.

  7 out of 7 people found this review helpful

Read all reviews

A customer from cardiff , 05/06/2004

This version of the shining is a much closer adaptation to the book than the Kubrick version so is different in many ways and deserves to be judged on its own merit.

The Hotel is more the centre of the story rather than the character Johnny.

The female lead is quite good and better than the googly-eyed actress of the Kubrick version.

The young boy is ok, but why do all american children in films have to have silly basin haircuts?

Sadly though, nobody can do crazy as well as Jack Nickolson.

  6 out of 6 people found this review helpful

Read all reviews

Dave Martin from Derby, England , 30/06/2004

It may not have the excellent Jack Nicholson, and let's face it 'Here's Johnny...' goes down in history along side the 'Fava beans and cianti' line from Silence Of The Lambs as 1 of THE best movie lines but it's closer to the book, even from the very begining and in fact it's filmed at the exact hotel Stephen King got the idea for the book... 2 words WATCH IT

  6 out of 6 people found this review helpful

Read all reviews

A customer from London , 20/03/2006

This is a great example of how not to adapt a novel for film or TV. Scenes that work well in print don't always make great viewing and that is certainly the case for most of this below average mini-series. If you loved the pace and spooky atmospher of the book, don't rent this. There are odd scenes that almost redeem it, but nothing can excuse the hideously cheesy ending or the dreadful performace of the child playing Daniel.

  2 out of 3 people found this review helpful

Read all highest rated reviews

Magic from Portsmouth, England , 29/10/2005

This is a mini-series of 3 x 1.5hr episodes. It's brilliant, and there seems to be far more depth to the characters, not to mention far more tension in the screenplay. I would say this is more like the book than the Kubrick/Jack Nicholson version, which is a great film but didn't give the same scope as the book.

If you're looking for a definitive version of The Shining which turns th ebook into a tense, exciting and dynamic TV experience, this is the one for you. If you want to sit and watch a film with a few friends then probably better to go for the other version, unless you want to sit there for 4.5hrs!

  3 out of 3 people found this review helpful

Read all highest rated reviews