This weeks release schedule is dominated by one title, Stanley Kubrick – Visionary Filmmaker Collection, so with that, and the general tone of the site in mind we decided to dedicate this weeks instalment of Monday Blu(e)s and DVD to this one release.

Normal service will resume next week. 

Stanley Kubrick – Visionary Filmmaker Collection

The collaboration between Warner Bros. and Stanley Kubrick is one well documented, with the period between 1962 (Lolita) and 1999 (Eyes Wide Shut) housing the filmmaker’s most creatively successful work. The pairing seemed like something of a miracle of the cinema, with the partnership maintained through perhaps the most tumultuous period of change that the film industry has ever seen. The relationship survived the New Hollywood, the dawn of the blockbuster and the rise of the high concept, with Warner seemingly content to leave Kubrick to his own devices when it came to harvesting his work. This box set collects the seven films produced by Kubrick for Warner.

Lolita (1962)

James Mason stars as the wonderfully monikered Humbert Humbert, in Stanley Kubrick’s adaptation of the Vladimir Nabokov novel of the same title. Understating and epic in scale, at over two and a half hours long Lolita truly is a mammoth production, though not often is it remembered as such. The inclusion of Lolita in this box-set marks its high definition debut, with a release that, while light on extras, is leagues ahead of any previous home video release thats gone before.

2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)

In the years that fell between Lolita and 2001: A Space Odyssey Kubrick produced Dr. Strangelove for Columbia, which would be the only break in the Warner/Kubrick relationship over the course of almost 40 years. 2001: A Space Odyssey is an obvious digression from the work that had gone before, yet the core ideas that run prevalen through the filmmakers work remain the same. The disc included in this set is the same as the one previously released, and includes a wealth of special features.

A Clockwork Orange (1971)

The second of Stanley Kubrick’s science fiction epics sees a dystopian Earth born of the architecture of a post-war, concrete London. The tale of Malcolm McDowell’s Alex and his band of “droogs” remains as relevant and effective as ever, 40 years on from its theatrical release. This release of A Clockwork Orange features the masses of special features from the films previous release, alongside O Lucky Malcolm!, a feature length documentary charting the career of the star of A Clockwork Orange.

Barry Lyndon (1975)

Similar to how the world of A Clockwork Orange was inspired by the streets of modern London, Barry Lyndon was very much born out of the ashes of Kubrick’s Napoleon project, with many of the technical breakthroughs that the director had designed with that unsuccessful project utilised in the making of the tale of Redmond Barry. Like every other film in this collection, Barry Lyndon is based upon a novel, with Kubrick’s treatment of William Makepeace Thackeray’s 1844 story forming the basis of the film. As with Lolita the inclusion of Barry Lyndon in this box set marks the first time that the film has been available on Blu-ray.

The Shining (1980)

Similar literary influences brought about The Shining, alas Stephen King, the author of the work in question, was, unlike William Makepeace Thackeray, still very much of this mortal coil when Stanley Kubrick chose to adapt his work. The two creatives famously clashed during production, with King even going so far as to film his own version of the story in 1997. This disc repeats the extra features of the previous special edition Blu-ray. 

Full Metal Jacket (1987)

Seven years fell between Full Metal Jacket and its predecessor, a sign of the growing irregularity by which Kubrick was directing. While this seven year gap falls in to relative insignificance when one takes in to account the gap between this film and its successor (12 years), its still quite the break. Whilst the hugely iconic extended opening sequence is often in danger of overshadowing everything that follows it, Full Metal Jacket is perhaps the ultimate insight in to Kubrick the filmmaker. While it would be easy to associate the relentless Sergeant Hartman as an analogue for the demanding director ( a sly nod from Kubrick no doubt, a joke even maybe), one ought not to downplay just how much of an homage to the image Full Metal Jacket truly is, be it moving or still, as per the professions of the films protagonist. The manner in which certain scenes in the early section of the film echo the “Dawn Of Man” sequence from 2001: A Space Odyssey  coupled with Private Joker’s assertion that his contradictory outfit represents the “duality of man” combine to create a work that dissects the very notion of human emotion and its relationship with the silver screen.

Eyes Wide Shut (1999)

Stanley Kubrick’s final work, and perhaps his most divisive work, was met with fierce criticism upon its release shortly after the filmmakers death in March, 1999. Kubrick returned to Homer for this spiritual update of the Odyssey themes first explored over 30 years earlier with 2001: A Space Odyssey, with one of the most effective nightmare visions ever captured on celluloid. A challenging film, Eyes Wide Shut is accompanied by a generous amount of extra features.

The set also includes Jan Harlan’s Stanley Kubrick; A Life In Pictures, the seminal documentary on the filmmaker, as well as a lavish hard-bound book containing programme notes for each of the films.

All in all Stanley Kubrick : Visionary Filmmaker Collection is a release worthy of one of the great iconoclasts of the cinema. I’d struggle to find a more perfect collection of films available on the Blu-ray format right now.

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