DVD 273 mins IMDB 6.0
Suitable for 15 years and over
Stephen King's The Shining [1997]
 (27/04/1997)
In Collection
#337

Seen It:
Yes
Drama, Fantasy, Horror, Thriller
USA  /  English

Rebecca De Mornay Winifred 'Wendy' Torrance
Steven Weber John 'Jack' Torrance
Courtland Mead Daniel "Danny"/"Doc" Anthony Torrance
Melvin Van Peebles Richard "Dick" Hallorann
Wil Horneff Tony/18-year-old Danny
Pat Hingle Pete Watson
Elliott Gould Stuart Ullman
John Durbin Horace 'Harry' Derwent
Stanley Anderson Delbert Grady
Cynthia Garris Decayed Lorraine Massey

Director Mick Garris
Producer Mark Carliner
Writer Stephen King

Stephen King's The Shining is a new adaptation from the author himself, made for American television, that bears very little resemblance to the 1980 Stanley Kubrick version. Which is not surprising since Kubrick practically threw out most of King's novel and presented his own version of the story. Here King redresses the balance in a mini-series that follows his original almost to the letter, and manages to be effectively creepy despite the budget and censorship limitations of the TV format.

Stephen Weber takes over the role of Jack Torrance, the caretaker who slowly descends into madness in the haunted Overlook Hotel. His performance is as far from Jack Nicholson as you could get, with his insanity building slowly and menacingly rather than being virtually mad from the get-go. Rebecca de Mornay is superb as Wendy Torrance, struggling to hold her fragile family together amid the spooky goings on. Young Courtlan Mead plays Danny, whose unique gifts give the story its title, as one of those infuriating TV brats who overacts left right and centre. Fortunately, there are enough creepy moments and a fair few frights to hold the whole thing together: the woman in the bathtub scene being a stand out shocker. Sure, there is nothing quite like Nicholson's "Here's Johnny!" moment, but this is the story King wanted to tell and it still shines brighter than most of the other recent screen adaptations of his work.

On the DVD: Stephen King's The Shining is a nicely packaged set, with the film spread over two discs complete with a commentary featuring Stephen King himself, instantly making this set a must-have for his fans. There are also several deleted scenes which add some interest to parts of the movie. The transfer is good, considering its TV origins, and the crisp sound captures every spooky moment on this well-thought-out and presented set. --Jonathan Weir

Edition Details
Barcode 7321900151153
Region 2
Release Date 10/02/2003
Nr of Disks/Tapes 2
Personal Details
Links Amazon UK
IMDB