A film by Stanley Kubrick has certain qualities. Its contsruction and appearance are immaculate. Each shot is deliberate and precise, taking the viewer from one point to the next in a firm and certain manner. What you see on the screen and hear on the soundtrack is exactly what he wants you to see and how he wants you to see it.
What makes this incredible is that when you've finished watching a Kubrick film, you will have had an extremely personal experience. Should you talk to someone else who has seen the same film, it's not unusual to wonder if they were watching the same film.
Kubrick's films are remarkably varied in style, content and genre. This is not only due to Kubrick's moving interests but also because many years passed between his films. For all their differences, the common factor between them is the exquisite quality.
A few years ago, I was given a woderful present: a DVD box set called "The Stanley Kubrick Collection". I have since added the DVD release of the censored version of "Eyes Wide Shut", after my desire to see the film outweighed my severe objection to the censorship. Warners has recently anounced "The New Stanley Kubrick Collection", which adds "Eyes Wide Shut", a DVD of extra material and some new prints and Dolby 5.1 soundtracks to the original collection.
I will not bother listing or describing his films, as this has been done well elsewhere (See Resources below). I will offer a few personal thoughts and perspectives on my favourite Kubrick film - surely the greatest movie ever made - "2001: A Space Odyssey".
My first experience of this film was back when I was maybe twelve or thirteen years old (I'm useless with dates an ages) and the film came on BBC 2 late one evening.
I recall being thrilled by the bombastic and beautiful opening sequence then being rather bewildered about the first part of the film, "The Dawn of Man", since this was supposed to be a Sci-Fi film and all I saw was apes in the desert. By the time the monolith arrived I could tell there was something interesting happening but it was taking so long!
The flying bone became a space vehicle in a lovely cinematic context switch and I was launched into the futuristic and dull world of Dr. Heywood Floyd. This was Sci-Fi, since it was clearly in the future and in space, but I was getting tired waiting for something interesting to happen... really tired.
I fell asleep.
This would not be the last time I fell asleep to this greatest of movies. In the many [I gave up counting some time after fifty] times I've watched it since, I have enjoyed nodding off while on the journey many more times.
I think I may have woken up sometime during "Jupiter Mission - 18 Months Later", as I am sure I saw HAL, but I only clearly recall waking to watch "Jupiter and Beyond the Infinite". Unsurprisingly, by the time the starchild had bade me goodbye and the titles rolled I was bewildered, but I knew that I had seen something far from ordinary.
A long time passed before I watched it again; maybe a year or two. By this time I owned a VCR and I was recording movies I liked as they came on TV. 2001 came on Channel 4 in widescreen format. Up until then I had cared little for aspect ratios, but after this I knew that there were films which are damaged by having large parts of the picture obliterated. This time I watched it all the way through and caught it on tape. I watched my recording again and again and... well... again.
If there is one measure of the qualitly of the film, then it is the experience one gets from watching it more than once. While many films are a pleasureable way to spend an hour or two being entertained, it takes something extra be able to do it again the next day and still enjoy it. Words such as "depth", "complexity" and "originality" only start to describe that ellusive quality which makes repeated viewing a pleasure. For me, 2001 has this quality more than any other film.
Here are a few of my most frequently used resources. From these you cand easily find most of the best Kubrick and 2001 resources on the web.
Based on contributions made to the Usenet newsgroup alt.movies.kubrick, this site contains a wealth of articles, reviews, discussions, interviews and even some screenplays.
Images, sounds, information and news of Kubrick's films and more.
The Internet Movie Database entry for Stanley Kubrick - comprehensive filmography with biography, photos and more.
I hesitate to actually recommend Warner's official site, since it is badly designed, but if you have their preferred browser and plugins, then you may be allowed to see what they have to offer.
News, soundclips, images, commercial products and even an early screenplay
The Internet Movie Database entry for 2001: A Space Odyssey