The Shining (1997) [Blu-Ray]

Director: Mick Garris

Cast: Steven Weber, Rebecca De Mornay, Courtland Mead

Release Date: March 12, 2024

A Review By: Kevin Lovell

Disc Rating: 7/10

Synopsis:

Jack Torrance (Steven Weber) and his family (Rebecca De Mornay and Courtland Mead) move into the sprawling, vacant Overlook Hotel to get away from it all. Away from the alcoholism that derails Jack’s writing career. Away from the violent outbursts that mar Jack’s past. But Jack’s young son Danny knows better. He possesses a psychic gift called the shining — a gift the hotel’s vile spirits desperately want.

In the hands of Stephen King, the “dead” Overlook comes horrifyingly alive. Phantoms lurk, the message “redrum” appears with scary frequency, and even the garden topiary lurches into macabre existence in this atmospheric shocker scripted by King from his own novel and directed by ace King adaptor Mick Garris (Sleepwalkers, The Stand).

Please Note: Shout! Studios provided me with a free copy of the Blu-ray I reviewed in this Post. The opinions I share are my own.

Stephen King’s ‘The Shining’ joins recovering alcoholic Jack Torrance along with his wife Wendy and son Danny as Jack acquires a new job serving as caretaker for the massive and beautiful summer hotel destination The Overlook on the winter offseason with the hope of getting away from his difficult past, working on his play and getting things back to a better place with his family. But what he didn’t expect were the lingering residents and employees long ago deceased who still roam the property, and what they want more than anything is his young son Danny who possesses a gift they call “the shining” which makes him a must have permanent resident for the management. Unfortunately for Jack, he’s the perfect vessel to utilize and get what they want.

The second adaptation of King’s novel, this 1997 mini-series is directed by Mick Garris from a teleplay written by Stephen King himself, and Garris does a commendable job at the helm of this edition of ‘The Shining’ capably guiding along this more faithful adaptation of the novel. The cast includes Steven Weber, Rebecca De Mornay, Courtland Mead, Melvin Van Peebles, John Durbin, Elliott Gould, Pat Hingle and more, with the majority offering decent enough performances altogether in each of their respective roles, although some are arguably better than others.

This mini-series adaptation of ‘Stephen King’s The Shining’ first aired in 1997 in three parts and features a significantly more faithful adaptation of King’s beloved novel; something King himself has never been shy about discussing over the years, and while many understandably prefer the earlier film adaptation for its ambience and terrifying performance by Nicholson, it’s impossible not to appreciate this more accurate and emotionally resonant take on the material if you’re a fan of the novel. It may not have the budget or the hard-edged dialogue and violence of the film, but it does a great job of providing a rewarding take on the book that stays true to the source material throughout and manages to really capture the heart and humanity of Jack (and the story itself) which was surprisingly absent in the film and is honestly one of the most crucial elements of this tale.

This mini-series still holds up fairly well in most respects, although some of the effects and tidbits within are certainly a bit rough around the edges, yet they were rough upon its release as well (you could only do so much with a TV film after all) and Weber delivers a haunting performance in the lead that does a spectacular job of properly capturing the heart, kindness and struggle of Jack as things become progressively worse and more terrifying throughout the property. If you’re a fan of Stephen King’s novel and haven’t had the pleasure of this adaptation, I would definitely encourage giving it a shot, just be prepared to settle in as it does have an accumulated runtime of about 4 and a half hours.

Scream Factory brings the 1997 mini-series of Stephen King’s ‘The Shining’ home for the first time on Blu-ray, which also features its original full-frame broadcast ratio which in itself should be a definite treat for fans of this adaptation. The new video presentation is sourced primarily from a new 2K Scan From The Interpositive, although it is noted prior to viewing and on the rear of the case “To provide the most complete version of the film, a few scenes have been upgraded from the best available, non-interpositive source” and the quality shift is indeed noticeable, although as a whole the presentation looks quite striking and great; certainly a huge step up from the previous DVD releases. The new video presentation is nicely complemented by a capable and solid DTS-HD MA stereo soundtrack and a few nice extras which should have fans quite pleased as a whole. If you’re a fan of this adaption and have been hoping to see it get an upgrade from the older DVD releases, then this new Blu-ray release from Scream Factory should not disappoint and is definitely recommended.

VIDEO:

The Blu-ray release of ‘Stephen King’s The Shining’ features a full 1080p High Definition presentation with the  original mini-series Aspect Ratio of 1.33:1, primarily from a new 2K Scan From The Interpositive although with other sources utilized to fill in certain gaps. The following note is included on the case and before playing the series “To provide the most complete version of the film, a few scenes have been upgraded from the best available, non-interpositive source”. The video presentations look pretty fantastic as a whole and while the non-interpositive pieces included throughout are noticeable and feature some heavy video noise and distortion they aren’t as horrid as they could be and the majority of the film from the new 2K Scan looks delightful, especially compared with previous versions of the mini-series. Detail and clarity is solid and everything from the eerie hallways to exterior snowy landscapes and character specifics look sharp, clean and solid, while the colors remain clean and vivid and are nicely balanced by sufficient black levels. Overall, this is a rather great video presentation as a whole that holds up well and should have fans quite thrilled.

AUDIO:

The Blu-ray release features a 2.0 channel DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack on all three parts of the mini-series. These stereo soundtracks do their job quite nicely in addition and deliver clean, sharp and well-balanced audio presentations throughout. They capably balance the various audio elements throughout and the dialogue, music and other effects always share the two channels well and keep one element from outdoing or conflicting with another; ensuring that any dialogue or other audio elements that might be occurring simultaneously with one another remain sharp, clean and fully audible without any glitches or troubles arising along the way. Overall, these are nice 2.0 DTS-HD MA soundtracks that should please fans of the mini-series.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

The Blu-ray release of ‘Stephen King’s The Shining’ includes a few decent extras including ‘Audio Commentary by Author Stephen King, Director Mick Garris, Cast Members Steven Weber And Cynthia Garris, And Select Crew’, in addition to a collection of ‘Deleted Scenes’ from the mini-series with optional audio commentary (running approximately 17 minutes in length altogether). The ‘Trailer’ (approximately 1 minute) for the mini-series is also included.

*Please note that the above images are taken from the Blu-Ray disc and resized. They will additionally suffer quality loss as a result of .jpg compression. Larger versions of each image can be viewed by clicking on the image. All images and content included on this Blu-Ray release are the property of their respective owners.

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Disc Rating: 7/10

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Stephen King’s ‘The Shining’ (1997) Arrives on Blu-ray March 12, 2024 from Scream Factory!

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You can purchase your copy of ‘Stephen King’s The Shining’ on Amazon HERE, or purchase it directly from Shout HERE!