STANLEY KUBRICK VISIONARY FILMMAKER BLURAY BOXSET

When he died in 1999, Stanley Kubrick left behind thirteen feature films. Only twelve are available on DVD, his first, the self-funded war film Fear and Desire was pulled from distribution by Kubrick, who was embarrassed by his low-budget fledging effort. Far from being a prolific filmmaker, he deliberately and methodically poured every aspect of his creative vision into each film, building an oeuvre that has changed modern filmmaking and the way we watch films. Stunningly presented on blu-ray, this box set consists of only half of Kubrick’s films, although they are mainly his most well known (the absence of Spartacus and the masterwork Dr. Strangelove are duly noted).

Lolita, 2001: A Space Odyssey, A Clockwork Orange, Barry Lyndon, The Shining, Full Metal Jacket and Eyes Wide Shut are included plus there’s a bonus disc featuring O Lucky Malcolm! a documentary on Malcolm McDowell’s career as well as the brilliant and exhaustive Stanley Kubrick: A Life in Pictures, which is a doco worth purchasing on its own. Sadly Barry Lyndon and Lolita (both new to blu-ray) are devoid of extras, no doubt the impending 50th Anniversary of Lolita will mean yet another blu-ray release, with extras. Despite this small criticism, this is an essential clutch of Kubrick’s greatest hits, an opportunity to view these films in the best possible format. Lolita looks as great as it ever has, as does the exquisitely photographed Barry Lyndon but it’s 2001:A Space Odyssey’s amazing HD transfer that is without doubt one of the best examples of just how great blu-ray can look. Other than Barry Lyndon and Lolita, all other discs come with substantial extras (The Shining features a cracking doco shot by Kubrick’s daughter Vivian during filming), actor and biographer commentaries as well as retrospective documentaries. It’s a pity Jon Ronson’s intriguing doco Stanley Kubrick’s Boxes didn’t make it into the mix but this collection still ranks as one of the best available in terms of value for cash and those all-important geek-tastic extras.

JARROD WALKER