# Favorite Stanley Kubrick Film.



## Fugue Meister (Jul 5, 2014)

Following tdc's lead. I'd like to single out Stanley Kubrick and see what you guys think of his films....

Kubrick (as I suppose is self evident to all of you  ) is my favorite picture maker. Certainly the greatest American film maker and perhaps the most influential director the world has ever known. So what are your favorites of this master movie maker? If you've seen them all rate them I'm keen to know where my faves and least faves match up to yours.

My list from my favorite at number 1 to my least favorite (don't get me wrong they're all good).

1 - The Shining 
2 - Eyes Wide Shut
3 - Barry Lyndon
4 - 2001: A Space Odyssey
5 - Dr. Strangelove
6 - A Clockwork Orange 
7 - Paths of Glory 
8 - Lolita
9 - Full Metal Jacket
10 - The Killing
11 - Spartacus
12 - Killer's Kiss
13 - Fear and Desire

Hey 13 movies and ten of them are masterpieces... Kubrick is aces.


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## Polyphemus (Nov 2, 2011)

The Shining
2001
Dr Strangelove
A Clockwork Orange
Paths Of Glory
Full Metal Jacket
The Killing
Spartacus

Eyes Wide Shut and Barry Lyndon to be served at Christmas dinner with due apologies to other turkeys.


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## tdc (Jan 17, 2011)

So far I've only seen _The Shining_, _A Clockwork Orange_ and _Eyes Wide Shut_. I think they are all great movies I enjoyed, but for whatever reason at this point I can't really say I've fallen in love with Kubrick's movies in the same way as I have with David Lynch and Coen Brothers films for example.

There are still a lot of movies I need to see though (not just by Kubrick - in general). I'm just starting to really form my opinions on films as an art form.


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## elgar's ghost (Aug 8, 2010)

I wouldn't like to say which my favourite is, but ACO was certainly the most anticipated as Kubrick, who was resident in the UK by then and was to remain so thereafter, slapped a ban on it being shown in cinemas in the UK not long after general release because of reports of some Alex-like copycat attacks - this also applied to subsequent home media such as videotape and DVD. The ban was only lifted after Kubrick's death over 25 years later but I had managed to see a pirate videotape of it a few years before. 

I enjoyed it but perhaps the so-called 'shock value' was watered down seeing I had read the Burgess book first. Nevertheless, the film was, apart from some contemporary period features such as interior design and clothing (perhaps necessary due to budget restrictions), largely faithful to the book and conveyed the dystopian aura of the story quite well.


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## Cesare Impalatore (Apr 16, 2015)

The films I have seen:

1. 2001: A Space Odyssey
2. A Clockwork Orange
3. Dr. Strangelove
4. Eyes Wide Shut
5. Full Metal Jacket
6. The Shining

I have the Kubrick collection box now, so it will be only a matter of time until I finally watch the rest.


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## GioCar (Oct 30, 2013)

To me, all Kubrick's film are masterpieces. I saw all of them, I don't know how many times...
I'd divide them into just three groups and list them in chronological order within each group:

*The Master-masterpieces*:
2001
A Clockwork Orange
Barry Lyndon

*The Mature-masterpieces*:
Path of Glory
Lolita
Dr Strangelove
The Shining
Full Metal Jacket
Eyes Wide Shut

*The Minor-masterpieces*:
Fear and Desire
Killer's Kiss
The Killing
Spartacus

It's a real pity he didn't complete his project on Napoleon.

PS and I'd add it's a *real real *pity he could not supervised A.I. till the end... The Spielberg's film would have turned out to be quite different from the mediocre film it is...


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## Albert7 (Nov 16, 2014)

Barry Lyndon is one of my all time favorite movies. Beautifully shot with Zeiss f0.7 lenses.


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## Antiquarian (Apr 29, 2014)

GioCar said:


> it's a *real real *pity he could not supervised A.I. till the end... The Spielberg's film would have turned out to be quite different from the mediocre film it is...


Indeed. Yet one can see faint glimmers of his influence in that particular collaboration.

My favourite film of his is 2001. His choice of music for that film is inspired.


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## SimonNZ (Jul 12, 2012)

A very problematic director, imo. Much to admire alongside much I find self-defeating in each film.

2001 I think holds up best, though apparently it was his own least favorite.

Barry Lyndon and Dr. Strangelove are very strong.

Clockwork Orange I think was a massive failure he ought to have been embarrased about, but again apparently it was his personal favorite.


Most of the rest I find strong visually and technically, but betray a megalomaniac's distaste for the necessity - through lack of own writing talent - of collaboration with a screenwriter, and the lack of humanity and humility that comes with that, and an attitude to actors as little more than chess pieces to be moved around.


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## MoonlightSonata (Mar 29, 2014)

The only ones I've seen are _The Shining_ and _2001_. Both were very good, I'm not sure which one was better.


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## Guest (May 9, 2015)

Fugue Meister said:


> Kubrick [...] is [...] Certainly the greatest American film maker and perhaps the most influential director the world has ever known.


That's quite a claim. There are many contenders to compete with Kubrick, but you might explain a little what your criteria are.

Kubrick was the first 'auteur' I fell in love with, not least after watching 2001 and Paths of Glory, and I lapped up Alexander Walker's book about him in the 1970s.

Much as I admire most of his movies - I've still not seen ACO, BL or EWS - they lack warmth or humanity. He does not make films about heroes, nor even sympathetic people, treating characters like Hitchcock reportedly treated actors - like cattle. He constantly asks us to consider how we live in a cold universe, trapped by circumstances or events from which we cannot escape.

The possible exception to that out of the ones I've seen is Paths of Glory. Though I've not seen it for several years, Kirk Douglas' Col Dax, like Modine's Pvt Davis in Full Metal Jacket, is driven by a spark of integrity, though they themselves are both victims too.

It means that his movies are, in some ways, amongst the most cinematic ever made, relying on motion and the visual for their power - but the least engaging in terms of narrative. For a long time, the sheer wonder of 2001 made it my favourite of all movies (not just Kubrick's, though long since replaced by other films with decent humans in) and it's probably the only one I would repeatedly return to (and that I own on DVD) but of the rest that I would sit down and watch if they cropped up on TV...

Paths of Glory
Dr Strangelove
The Shining

As a completist, I'm sure I'll get to watching the ones I've missed soon enough, but they're not top of list for catching up on.


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## Morimur (Jan 23, 2014)

2001 — other than that, Kubrick's work is too conventional for me.


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## norman bates (Aug 18, 2010)

1. 2001
2. full metal jacket
3. Paths of Glory 
4. Dr. Strangelove
5. the shining
6. Eyes Wide Shut
7. Barry Lyndon
8. A Clockwork Orange
9. The Killing
10. Lolita
11. Spartacus


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## Prodromides (Mar 18, 2012)

LOLITA (1961) is my favorite Kubrick film.


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## Cosmos (Jun 28, 2013)

Of the ones I've seen:

2001: A Space Odyssey - My favorite, amazing how he could create such a large scale epic with so few words. I get chills every time I watch it
Barry Lyndon - My second favorite, just watched this one recently. Great story, beautiful cinematography. Only gripe is that it moves slower than necessary, imo.
The Shining - Even though it leaves out some of the creepy scenes from the book, it's still a great movie. Not the type of horror I'm used to, kind of dry and overlapping of tension.
Eyes Wide Shut - This is the type of horror I like: conspiracies involving powers larger than you could fathom. Also the masked orgies were disturbing in it of themselves. Biggest flaw is casting Tom Cruise. And I love Nicole Kidman but she didn't do her best here
A Clockwork Orange - The only of his films I didn't like. Too goofy to take seriously, imo. Whatever the point is, I didn't catch it.


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## Fugue Meister (Jul 5, 2014)

SimonNZ said:


> Clockwork Orange I think was a massive failure he ought to have been embarrased about, but again apparently it was his personal favorite.


I'm fairly certain his personal favorite was "Eyes Wide Shut".

About the rest of what you said : "I see vut your saying.. but I still sink you miss judge the guy."


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## Itullian (Aug 27, 2011)

I love all his movies, but I think he dropped the ball in 2 scenes in Barry Lyndon.

1. When Redman's in the service and fights the bully. The swings of the bully that are missing are so exaggerated the scene loses all credibility.

2. When Redman is caning Bullington on the butt, you can obviously see padding on Bullington's butt. It looks really dumb.

I was very disappointed that Kubrick filmed those.


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## SimonNZ (Jul 12, 2012)

well, after 70 takes the mind starts to wander...


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## norman bates (Aug 18, 2010)

Cosmos said:


> Eyes Wide Shut - This is the type of horror I like: conspiracies involving powers larger than you could fathom.


yes, I love that kind of movies, it would be interesting to made a list of works in a similar vein. And on Eyes wide shut I appreciate the atmosphere that reminds me of the movies of David Lynch.


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## schigolch (Jun 26, 2011)

_Dr. Strangelove_ is my favorite. It's really a wonderful movie, planned and shot to almost perfection. Though, perhaps, I like even more the screenplay (also by Kubrick, as co-author) that is nothing short of brilliant, with the different encarnations of the 'American hero' failing one after another: the hard-nose General Jack D. Ripper, the all-for-duty Major T. J. Kong (in his unforgettable flight on the Bomb), the searching-for-consensus President Murkin Muffley, and even the suave, elegant British outsider, Captain Lionel Mandrake. All doomed to fail in their different ways, even when they think they have won. No redemption in this movie. It's based on a novel, _Red Alert_, and the way the plot of this novel is moved into the dark comedy that is _Strangelove_, it's really a stroke of genius.

The last seconds, when we can see bombs exploding all around, to the sound of the famous WW2 song by Vera Lynn, "We'll meet again", are the last joke:


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## david johnson (Jun 25, 2007)

Dr. Strangelove is my Kubrick favorite.


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## Guest (May 10, 2015)

Morimur said:


> 2001 - other than that, Kubrick's work is too conventional for me.


"Conventional": an interesting criteria on which to rest an analysis of Kubrick's (or anyone else's movies). It's not one I'd use, since it becomes a highly subjective class - especially with the rider "for me" (if you like 'very' as opposed to 'mildly' unconventional!)


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## Vronsky (Jan 5, 2015)

1. A Clockwork Orange 
2. Full Metal Jacket
3. 2001: A Space Odyssey
4. Barry Lyndon
5. Dr. Strangelove


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## Nereffid (Feb 6, 2013)

Am I allowed say that my favourite Kubrick film is just the first part of _Full Metal Jacket_? Such relentlessness... the rest is a let-down.
It's been years since I saw any of his films; in terms of first viewings I'd say _Lolita_ and _Barry Lyndon_ stood out the most, with _2001_ and _The Shining_ not far behind. I thought I'd like _Dr Strangelove_ and _A Clockwork Orange_ more, because in theory they're the sort of films I should love; I'm not sure why I didn't warm to them, though my memory suggests it was something to do with (respectively) pace and tone.


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## joen_cph (Jan 17, 2010)

2001 and Barry Lyndon, 
by far.


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## Yoshi (Jul 15, 2009)

I have only watched 6 so far: The Shining, 2001, Barry Lyndon, Eyes Wide Shut, Dr. Strangelove and Clockwork Orange. 

I love all of them which makes it hard to pick a favorite but considering I've seen Eyes Wide Shut so many times and still go back to watch it that would probably be the one. I just love the creepy and mysterious atmosphere in it, the soundtrack choice and simply think it's one of the most beautiful films I've ever seen.


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## OldFashionedGirl (Jul 21, 2013)

My favorite Kubrick film is Paths of Glory.


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## Gustav Mahler (Dec 3, 2014)

I haven't watched all of them, but I can say I really liked 2001 and Eyes Wide Shut.


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## Xaltotun (Sep 3, 2010)

My favourite is _Dr. Strangelove_, what a brilliant film. Other than that, I'm not really a Kubrick fan, though. I recognize his talent - yes, he is very talented - but there's about 20 American directors that I like more than him.


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## Bayreuth (Jan 20, 2015)

I don't like Stanley Kubrick's cinema. I think he is extremely overrated. The Shining and A Clockwork Orange, supposedly two of his biggest masterpieces, are not even entertaining to me. People talk about Kubrick as if he had invented fire but he was just another film megalomaniac who thought he could do a movie about anything, but didn't truly master any genre. The Shining is far from other horror/psychological masterpieces like Psycho or Rosemary's Baby; 2001 (OK, the soundtrack is quite good) is just a complete non sense, millions of miles away from the brilliance of Ridley Scott, James Cameron and some of Steven Spielberg. Against popular thinking, Planet of the Apes is the best Science Fiction movie of the 60s in my opinion; if we think of his movies about Violence he was once again surpassed by De Palma, Coppola or Scorsese.
He should have stuck with War movies, where he was quite decent (but still not the best): Paths of Glory is quite ok, but I don't like Full Metal Jacket. However, the only movie of his that I consider to be brilliant is Eyes Wide Shut. I enjoy Barry Lyndon, too, but at a different level.


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## lehnert (Apr 12, 2016)

1. A Clockwork Orange - my favorite film of all time.
2. 2001: A Space Odyssey - almost as good as Clockwork.
3. The Shining - the best performance in Nicholson's career.
4. Eyes Wide Shut - very underrated film.
5. Barry Lyndon - stunning visually.
6. Full Metal Jacket
7. Dr. Strangelove
8. Paths of Glory
9. Lolita
10. The Killing
11. Spartacus - the only one I don't like at all


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

lehnert said:


> 1. A Clockwork Orange - my favorite film of all time.
> 2. 2001: A Space Odyssey - almost as good as Clockwork.
> 3. The Shining - the best performance in Nicholson's career.
> 4. Eyes Wide Shut - very underrated film.
> ...


The last remark is very funny.:lol:


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## Biwa (Aug 3, 2015)

All of his movies are well-crafted, beautifully filmed and fascinating, 
but Dr. Strangelove and 2001: A Space Odyssey really stand out for me.


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## znapschatz (Feb 28, 2016)

lehnert said:


> 1. A Clockwork Orange - my favorite film of all time.
> 2. 2001: A Space Odyssey - almost as good as Clockwork.
> 3. The Shining - the best performance in Nicholson's career.
> 4. Eyes Wide Shut - very underrated film.
> ...


I'm not so much a Kubrick fan. Of these listed, I thought *Paths of Glory* best, a fine work and the only one not afflicted with Kubrick's tendency to compromise the artistic integrity of his films. That doesn't mean I didn't enjoy many of them, though. Who could resist the black humor of *Dr. Strangelove*, or the *2001* light show, especially when _properly_ prepared? :roll eyes:

I posted in too great haste, so this is to backtrack a bit; *The Killing* was actually a pretty good caper movie, and others had worthwhile elements to them. But I'll let my basic point stand.


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## ST4 (Oct 27, 2016)

For me it's:
_The Shining_ - A movie that has stuck inside my subconscious, I quote it regularly 
_2001_ - His best from a filmakers perspective, possibly the best looking film I've seen (including modern films). 
_Dr Strangelove_ - A fun nuclear comedy satire, also very enjoyable watch

I'm reluctant with _a Clockwork Orange_ though. It's a really well made film with great mood contrasts like 2001 with the soundtrack. But the violent and sexual content isn't something I want to put on regularly. I still do put it on, but it doesn't have the same selling point for me


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