NationStates Jolt Archive

Just wondering what people's favourite Stanley Kubrik films are?

Myself, I can't go past The Shining, followed closely by Full Metal Jacket :sniper: and 2001

The man never made a film that I didn't like.

I'll have to go with "all of the above" as I could not pick a favorite. I have them all and watch them often.

I think he's over-rated. I'm not particularly fond of any of these.

Full Metal Jacket followed by Dr. Strangeglove and Lolita... I like capture a side of human nature I love to explore... (sounds disturbing doesn't it?)

Tough call between Dr. Strangelove and A Clockwork Orange for me, with 2001 and FMJ following close behind.

The man never made a film that I didn't like.

I'll have to go with "all of the above" as I could not pick a favorite. I have them all and watch them often.

You can't have seen "Eyes Wide Shut" then. I wish mine had been. A terrible film!

The man never made a film that I didn't like.

I'll have to go with "all of the above" as I could not pick a favorite. I have them all and watch them often.
Yeah, it wasn't an easy choice, although Eyes Wide Shut was out of the question. Over two hours of Nicole Kidman is not my idea of entertainment! :p

What was so great about A Clockwork Orange, anyway? I can understand how it would have been "controversial" in it's time but it's not "amazing" cinema. The book isn't that good to begin with.

Stanley Kubrick couldn't put together a plot line for shit, his movies are just a collection of scenes, Dr. Strangelove is the only one worth watching.

Stanley Kubrick couldn't put together a plot line for shit, his movies are just a collection of scenes, Dr. Strangelove is the only one worth watching.
Obviously you haven't seen Barry Lyndon or Paths of Glory. Or maybe it's just your inability to understand the visuals of Kubrik films which frustrates you so! :D

Dr Strangelove of course :p

A Clockwork Orange followed by 2001, the only two I've ever seen.

Yes, I was mistaken, Paths to Glory was an excellent film, I've never seen Barry Lyndon, but, Clockwork, 2001, FMJ, Eyes Wide Shut? Terrible.

Full metal Jacket. I saw that one too.

I forgot Spartacus but I don't think any one will miss it! :p

Stanley Kubrick couldn't put together a plot line for shit, his movies are just a collection of scenes, Dr. Strangelove is the only one worth watching.

To be fair, Kubrick didn't need to put together plot lines.

A Clockwork Orange was written by Anthony Burgess.
The Shining was written by Stephen King.
2001: A Space Odyssey was written by Arthur C. Clarke
Full Metal Jacket was written by Gustav Hasford

etc etc

However, Kubrick's stunning visuals and use of mood is what makes him a brilliant director. Nobody said anything about his writing ability.

Dr. Strangelove. How can you not like Slim Pickens riding an A-bomb?

Yes, I was mistaken, Paths to Glory was an excellent film, I've never seen Barry Lyndon, but, Clockwork, 2001, FMJ, Eyes Wide Shut? Terrible.
Clockwork Orange is only problematic in that it used the American version of the novel that was missing the last chapter that made the book make sense. 2001 was brilliant in so many ways I don't have the space to discuss it here. Full Metal Jacket is better than it's fans, it's polar structure-the first half sets up for the contrast of the second-is fantastic. They spend half the movie with the worst insult being 'pussies,' and then are gunned down by a woman? The implication of a childrens crusade in them singing the Mickey Mouse theme at the end? Use of The Prayer? Bah! Eyes Wide Shut, I have to say-when you have a shot with two different pairs of people fucking and thats NOT what you're looking at-that's skill.

Kubrick is the best adapter that has ever made film. He is not for those with short attention spans. For all you, there is Jerry Bruckhemer, all the clever one liners and snappy action you want. I'll take Kubrick anytime. One of my all time favorites.

Because of the total genius of Kubrik almost all of these films are excellent, but there are two that stand out above the rest, namely "Dr. Strangelove: Or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb" and "2001: A Space Odyssey".

Now, we can consider the fact that Dr. Strangelove is on the "NY Times Top 100 Childrens Movies of All Time" (yes, you are probably saying what? believe me, it's there, I had to read the name 7 times to fully believe it) But 2001 had Arthur C. Clarke involved in it. Both factors cancel each other out.

The stream of consciousness feel of 2001 is appealing to me, but to the vast majority of humanity it is just confusing. Which leaves 2001 dead even still.

Dr. Strangelove has a Henry Kissinger type fellow (minus the fact that Kissinger was a Jew and Strangelove was a Nazi) and that is a plus in my book for Stragelove.

HAL 9000 is infinitely hard-core. Plus for 2001.

Slim Pickins is also infinitely hard-core. Plus for Dr. Strangelove.

2001 has a spaceship. Plus for 2001.

Peter Sellers plays three roles in Dr. Strangelove. Plus for the Doctor.

So, that's basically how I came to my decision.

I'm sorry, but how can you not loooooooooooooooooove a clockwork orange. I'm not gonna give any specific reasons as to why you should like it, just that it's fucking cool.

Good gracious what a choice! In loose order: Full Metal Jacket, Strangelove, Clockwork Orange, Shining, and 2001.

Hasn't anyone seen Killer's kiss? I think it's better than The Killing. I had to mark Clockwork Orange. It may not be the best film Kubrick ever made but it certainly had the biggest impact on me.

I love Dr. Strangelove, and when I was a kid (back in the early 1970s when I first caught it on the late show) it scared the hell out of me... (back when going Toe to Toe in nuclear combat with the Ruskies was a real possibility)

Still a chilling and hilarious movie all at once

I have seen all of his movies except for Eyes Wide Shut and Lolita... never had a desire to see either (subject matter wasn't of interest), but my second choice would be Paths of Glory and the Shining is always fun to watch (great acting job and Heres Johnny is one of the great movie bits of dialogue)

Kubrick took risks in all of his movies, and that is always worth seeing... they usually paid off too...

by the way, the movie Full Metal Jacket is from a rather good novel from the Vietnam War (outstanding adaptation)... worth finding and reading (its out of print though)

I haven't seen all of them but Kubrick plain rocked :) watch "the Art of Stanley Kubrick" for a great docu about him. I really don't know which one i prefer more... i guess its either 2001, Shining or Strangelove and i've only seen like 6 Kubricks or so :)

I wanna see Strangelove so badly

I saw 2001 and The Shining. Both were awesome, but I still prefer The Shining.

Why not add your favourite Simpsons Kubrik Reference;

either - No Beer and Not TV Make Homer something something
or - Homer dropping and riding the bomb at those lousy beatniks :D

Clockwork orange was psychotic and brilliant, as was the Shining. Full Metal Jacket was a great war movie and Dr Strangelove is awesome paranoid satire. To be honet though, plenty of other directors have made good good war and horror movies so I voted for 2001. No one else could have possibly made a movie that was so completely engrossing even though it only had about 50 lines of dialogue (or so it seemed). Amazing.

I have to make it a tie between Full Metal Jacket and 2001, because I love them both... but for such completely different reasons that a direct comparison hardly seems appropriate.

The Shining is a brilliant film, although in some ways it is too bad Kubrick so utterly violated King's intent.

Dr. Strangelove, CLOSELY followed by 2001. The Shining was really good too, as was FMJ, but not as good as those two.

"The Shining" I'm a sucker for a well made thriller or horror flix. ;)

I forgot Spartacus but I don't think any one will miss it! :p
How could you forget Spartacus! Shame on you! It's not too bad a movie, and you get to see where Mel ripped off practically every scene for BraveHeart from.
Me, I can't go past 2001, closely followed by FMJ, then the Shining. The visuals in 2001 are still stunning even today, and I love the fact there's no sound in space (always bugs me in space movies that). The first scene with Lee Emery is one of the funniest scenes in any movie ever. For me anyway.
"Where you from, boy?"
"Sir! Texas! Sir!"
"Texas! Holy dog shit! Only two things come from Texas: Steers and Queers! And you don't look much like a steer to me, so I guess that narrows it down a bit."
I can't understand Stephen King not liking Kubrick's 'The Shining'. Considering the awful shite that is usually made from his books, why pick on this one for a remake? Oh, yes, a croquet mallet is far more scary than an axe. :rolleyes:

Why not add your favourite Simpsons Kubrik Reference;

either - No Beer and Not TV Make Homer something something
or - Homer dropping and riding the bomb at those lousy beatniks :D
What about the Chair 9000 Homer's half-brother Herb buys him? It sends him on the 2001-type odessey. Classic.

I can't understand Stephen King not liking Kubrick's 'The Shining'. Considering the awful shite that is usually made from his books, why pick on this one for a remake? Oh, yes, a croquet mallet is far more scary than an axe. :rolleyes:
That remake was the best example given that King should not stewart his own work. I should give the caveat that I am not in any fashion a King fan. That being said-

The remake continuely stepped up to something creepy, a sense of forboding and fear, and then gleefully crossed the line into ridiculous and laughable. An example:

There was a scene where hedge sculptures kept appearing closer and closer to the guy from wings while he was out in the yard. The way it was filmed had him turning to find still hedges in seemingly new positions. Creepy-never happen while he was looking, and he couldn't look at all of them. Right before going to commercial, what do they show? All the hedges moving towards him. No longer creepy, just silly. Kubrick played what was going on down, we had little more information than the people in it and that not knowing created the horror. The remake over-explained it from a sense of menace to a 'huh.'

I know, that's what I like about 'The Shining' - the tension and the lack of horror. You know it's going to happen, and the tension in getting to it is almost unbearable.
Something that most horror movies miss and aren't able to understand. The idea of impending doom is worse than the actual event. Our imaginations are far worse than anything they could show us on screen.

Clockwork Orange :cool:

The Shining. It was filmed at Timberline lodge and I have memories of that place from childhood. Also, Kubrik made the cast watch Eraserhead to 'put them in the mood he wanted from them.' So when you're watching it, you're watching people that had just watched Eraserhead. Might as well just put Eraserhead in.

The Shining. It was filmed at Timberline lodge and I have memories of that place from childhood. Also, Kubrik made the cast watch Eraserhead to 'put them in the mood he wanted from them.' So when you're watching it, you're watching people that had just watched Eraserhead. Might as well just put Eraserhead in.
Hey that's a good idea: What about a 'Favourite David Lynch movie" thread?
Mine would be Eraserhead.

Hey that's a good idea: What about a 'Favourite David Lynch movie" thread?
Mine would be Eraserhead.
A Straight Story, one of my favorite movies of all time and the only Lynch I like.

The Shining = win just because of: "Heeeeeeere's Johnny!"

The Shining = win just because of: "Heeeeeeere's Johnny!"
I dig the Simpsons spoof that had him go through the talk shows each time he burst into the wrong room, finally ending with the opening to 60 Minutes

I'd have to go with 2001 just because it completely blew my mind when I first saw it. Then followed by Full Metal Jacket and finally Clockwork Orange. But I really want to see Dr. Stranglove, it looks really good.