Old vs. New? Worth the price? Still not what it should be? What do you think?

The only reason not to get this set is if you have a widescreen TV. Really, despite what everyone says about widescreen being the future, the fact is that it's still some years away before they become standard. Now, when I got a DVD player, I, like many people, felt I should have Kubrick films on DVD, seeing as how he is one of my five favorite directors. However, I heard from people about the poor quality of the current DVDs, and so I decided that if these discs looked so bad, I would just wait until a new set came out, no matter how long that might be. I knew I was depriving myself of several masterpieces on DVD, but I felt that if they weren't up to par visually and aurally that my viewing experience would be flawed.

So now we have this new set, with 5.1 sound for every movie sans Lolita and Dr. Strangelove, and remastered video for every movie sans Dr. Strangelove, and a documentary over 2 hours in length. Like I said, unless you have a widescreen TV, this is a must-buy. Every movie in this set looks practically pristine. Sure, there are a few little scratches on Lolita, and bits of dust on A Clockwork Orange, but overall, the image quality is probably the highest they've ever been for these films. The 5.1 mixes are more of a mixed bag. 2001 sounds incredible, like hearing the film for the first time. A Clockwork Orange hardly uses the rears at all, sadly. I would buy this set, and when the inevitable anamorphic DVDs are released, replace Lolita, A Clockwork Orange and Barry Lyndon. 2001 is already anamorphic, Dr. Strangelove's shifting aspect ratios means it will never be anamorphic (as far as I know), and The Shining, Full Metal Jacket, and Eyes Wide Shut are all in fullscreen and as far as anyone knows will stay that way. Also, the documentary is amazing and a wonderful addition to the set.

One interesting thing: Because 2001 is anamorphic, and my TV is not widescreen, I lose so many lines of resolution that a lot of objects have jagged edges. Oh well.

If you like Kubrick, buy this set!

It's all fabulous but I must admit, when I put in THE SHINING and saw how clean and rich the image is, well...I thought I would cry. I LOVE IT!!! And 2001! Dear God, this is what it's supposed to look like? It's quite simply a dream come true...

...now, for my one complaint--my set came with two EYES WIDE SHUTs and no FULL METAL JACKET!!! ARGH!!! :mad: Now I have to work on getting that situation squared away... :(

I've read that Kubrick liked for his films to stand on their own. Now I know the Strangelove in the new box is the special edition, but the rest of 'em are bare-bones. Are the Warner releases skimpy according to Kubrick's wishes or should we expect Strangelove-type special editions from Warner in the future?

And thanks Suprmallet. I'm with ya on a lot of your comments.

Buy the boxset if you are a fan of Kubrick. All the films look wonderful and the new mixes are very nice. Like many other director's Kubrick wasn't into "extras" and he even had most cut footage from his films destroyed after filming.

I very seriously doubt Warner will release these again UNLESS the Kubrick estate comes up with deleted scenes, alternate scenes or whatever. But again, it has been said that Kubrick destroyed anything left over from his films.

I think one day EYES WIDE SHUT will be released uncut but I don't see Warner doing this. I would love to see Criterion release the uncut version with some commentary tracks and so on.

Well, if you think about it, the documentary is essentially a 2 hour 20 minute extra. As for deleted scenes, forget it. Kubrick apparently had all of the deleted scenes for all of his movies burned after Full Metal Jacket. The only movie with existing deleted scenes would be Eyes Wide Shut (which would be very interesting, with Harvey Keitel and Jennifer Jason Leigh and whatnot), but considering Kubrick's desire for them never to be shown, I doubt they'll ever see the light of day. However, a Criterion release of Eyes Wide Shut with the uncensored version, commentary by some of the actors or Leon Vitali, or maybe even Jan Harlan, would just about make me wet my pants.

2001 audio glitch!
 

I agree that this new presentation is the best so far. However I have noticed a troubling "glitch" in the 5.1 audio. Pardon me while I split hairs here, but I've seen this film many times (including first-run Cinerama). Toward the end of the "star gate" sequence there is a fly-over at a mountain top and the entire screen goes bright yellow for a moment. In all previous manifestations this moment is accompanied by a deep roar, as if we are seeing an explosion. The roar quickly fades as we pass over the peak of the ridge and realize that we are indeed seeing more "travelogue" instead of the disorienting "explosion". I have always found this moment to be very dramatic. The new mix buries the drama by greatly reducing the intensity of the sound. Has anyone else noticed this?

Re: 2001 audio glitch!
 

I heard the roar pretty well there. Maybe it's just your disc...?

I was at tower the other day and I came so close to buying the newly done Full Metal Jacket: New Stanley Kubrick Collection DVD, but the word STANDARD kept staring me in the face. So I left it sitting their mocking me. Can someone please convince me that I need it. I love the movie and really want it, but I want it widescreen dammit!

"...I love the movie and really want it, but I want it widescreen dammit!"

...well, the Director wanted you to have it full-screen (note: not panned-&-scanned - but full-screen, as he filmed it ... which is what both the original DVD and the cleaned-up and therefore much better new DVD are!) - so there!

. . .

HA HA Thanks Hendrik, Your arguments swayed me! I broke down and bought it. It's all your fault. :)

Yeah, one or two discs in set say "formatted to fit your screen," which is wrong, so far as none of the movies are in pan and scan. Any movie that fills your screen in the new set is fullscreen, not pan and scan.

I always thought that "formatted to fit your screen" can also refer to open matte, in that it is different than the theatrical presentation. I don't think that terminology necessarily refers to something being pan&scan.

Yeah, I was thinking that technically open the matting is formatting it to fir 4x3 screens, but mostly it's referred to when using pan and scan, so people could be easily confused by the term.

Got it today. Sampled each disc, watched the new doc (excellent, even though it could be 2-3x as long and still have more interesting material left over).

SUPERB. I am impressed by the brilliant new transfers and the 5.1 remixes highly. I will be enjoying these for years.

So far, an unequivocal recommendation. :)

For the record, the R2 version is uncut and unedited (excluding the ar, it's still 1.33:1). At least my Finnish copy is.