Stanley Kubrick: Visionary Filmmaker Collection [Blu-ray] [1962] [Region Free]

The films are all unique and brilliant. These are the films which all sit inside the top 100 films ever made. The quality of these blu ray releases is wonderful. 2001 is the film to show to mates when they are umming and ahhing about upgrading to blu ray. the picture is sharp enough to cut the eyeballs and is truly breathtaking. Also, Lolita and Barry Lyndon were previously unavailable on blu and make their debut here. Barry Lyndon is one of my very favorite films (it also has my favorite cinematography of any Kubrick film) so I was very pleased about this, it often gets overlooked but I would personally put it a nose ahead of full metal jacket and EWS. The extras are more than enough on the discs but also included is a whole documentary which is in depth about Kubrick on disc 8. At triple the asking price it would still be a reasonable buy but at this price it is literally a steal - about £3 a film. I have many of these on DVD but at this price I just had to upgrade. If you are even slightly into Kubrick you will without a doubt come back to these films again and again. I'm not wishing to be dramatic but its a price so low its almost criminal. I saw The Shining for sale in a well known entertainment outlet last week and it was £14.99 on normal DVD with all the extras included here, that is two thirds the price of this collection which has 6 times as many films (all in High definition), a documentary and a small book!!!! Buying this at the current price is a steal and even if somehow you haven't seen all the films included just go ahead and buy it I swear you won't be disappointed. So amazed by the price was I that I researched the Blu ray releases to make sure they were not really poor restorations and transfers but this is far from the case = all are known to be good while a few (2001 & The Shining) are noted as being outstanding eye popping transfers. In summary get your hands on this before they sell out and then put the price back up to a reasonable amount, which should surely be about £10 a film. Get it .... Quick !!!

Hey, love these films to bits and have seen them many times over.If you go to the amazon.com site there are two films missing in this set as the yanks are getting Spartacus and Dr Stangelove - USA 10 Disc set - UK 8 disc??.Yes these are available seperatley but it would have been nice to have them in the UK release..If you also go to amazon.com and check out Mark Twains's review and go to permalink there is a great comment section by maelje which explains why the films in this collection are the correct aspect ratio's - worth checking out!..

You are getting not only Kubrick's finest, but some of the greatest films ever made in high definition and at a very reasonable price (sometimes it drops to £18, or even £15)

The highlight in terms of picture quality is '2001' - which is by far the most well-restored of the entire set. The rest are above-average. Kubrick's vivid colours and flowing cinematography are given the justice they deserve: The zooms in 'Barry Lyndon', the steady-cam shots in 'The Shining', the harsh palette of 'A Clockwork Orange', and the Christmas lights in 'Eyes Wide Shut' have never looked better. I suppose one could argue that the grain and occasional murk present in a few of the films adds to the overall effect - indeed, I much prefer a grainy film to one that's been murdered by DNR.

The packaging is not perfect. For a start, whilst the discs are well protected, they are extremely difficult to extract from the case. 'Lolita' and the bonus documentaries particularly are a struggle, and I'm actually reluctant to watch these two again simply because I'm worried about snapping the discs in two when taking them out. I've seen this kind of packaging done much better before, but I prefer it to the US version which simply slots the discs into a cardboard sleeve (which is very likely to cause long-term damage to the discs). Also, I was lucky to pick this collection up back when it came with the booklet. If you own any literature regarding Kubrick then your not missing that much, but I can see why some are disappointed that its no longer included.

The reason why Dr Strangelove [Blu-ray] [2010][Region Free] or Spartacus [Blu-ray] [1960] are not included in this version of the box-set is because Sony owns the UK-rights to 'Dr Strangelove', and 'Spartacus' similarly is owned by Universal. Both of these films are available on Blu-Ray separately in the UK, so its not the end of the world - and there is more than enough content in this box-set to still be worth your money. However, the US version of 'The Shining' is not included (which I've been told is superior). This is the only in-excusable omission from the box-set: since Warner Bros owns both the European and US versions. Its really not hard to have a menu pop up before the film starts asking if you would like to view the US or European version, Warner Bros...

The US version of this Box-Set has its pros and cons as well. The packaging is much worse, but if your really picky about having 'Dr Strangelove' and 'Spartacus' (again, both are available separately in the UK), and you want the US version of 'The Shining' (although, you won't get the European version) then as long as your not too worried about the packaging, get the US version if you happen to come across it at an OK price. All Warner Bros Blu-Ray's are Region-Free (something ALL companies including Criterion should do), so if you think its a worthy investment then go for it. Otherwise, you should be happy with this cheaper, more convenient option.