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New and noteworthy for digital players
By STEVE PERSALL
© St. Petersburg Times, published June 14, 2001
The New Stanley Kubrick Collection
As a movie buff, it's my duty to urge everyone to check out this 9-disc tribute to the most provocative, original and inimitable filmmaker ever.
As a consumer, I'm equally compelled to gripe about how Warner Home Video has treated Stanley Kubrick's devoted fans.
Two years ago, a collection of seven Kubrick classics was released on home video in versions approved by the late filmmaker's estate. Very few extras, but a premium price tag of around $150. Kubrick admirers snapped it up anyway, eager to see such masterpieces as 2001: A Space Odyssey and Dr. Strangelove in crisp digital format.
Now, that collection is out of print, replaced by The New Stanley Kubrick Collection. One more movie, Eyes Wide Shut, has been added, plus an engrossing 140-minute Kubrick biography narrated by Tom Cruise. Only the most avid DVD users will notice differences offered by a Dolby 5.1 audio option and subtle projection format changes.
Be patient. You can bet the Kubrick special will surface on some Warner-owned television channel after the buying spree ends.
Suggested retail price: $199.99 for much of the same material. But, Warner knows that the worst feeling for any DVD aficionado is feeling obsolete. People will pay. They're selling off old collections on Internet auction sites for a loss, making money to buy the new one.
Kubrick was never about commercialism during his life. Warner Home Video will handle it now. Makes you wonder how many more Kubrick revelations are stashed somewhere for the super-duper Stanley Kubrick collection in a future payday.
Okay, enough grousing about greed. The DVD set is one more reminder of Kubrick's gifts, well represented by the lineup: 2001, Dr. Strangelove, Lolita, The Shining, Full Metal Jacket, A Clockwork Orange and Eyes Wide Shut. Each film was an event when released, and many are the apex of their genres.
The biography, Stanley Kubrick: A Life in Pictures, is a gem. The producers combine classic film clips and talking-head tributes with home movie footage dating back to his Brooklyn youth in 1938.
The man retains much of his enigmatic appeal, but a clearer portrait of the artist takes shape. Kubrick's image as a recluse is softened by accounts of gathering family and friends at his English mansion where he exiled himself from Hollywood. Radio interviews allow us to hear Kubrick's own thoughts on the state of cinema. A shadow gains personality; a legend becomes more human.
Familiar talking heads include Woody Allen, Sydney Pollack, Peter Ustinov, all with trenchant observations. One eulogist, Jack Nicholson, sums up Kubrick's impact: "Everybody pretty much acknowledges he's the man, and I still feel that underrates him."