Features and Shorts of Stanley Kubrick

A picture that has survived and will only survive in time due its director. Solely for the Kubrick completist.

Kubrick's first colour feature and most distinguished documentary. Its subject is dated but works for its time. However, like Flying Padre, the film has very few Kubrick signatures. Its production is to par with the subsequent Fear and Desire, even if its makers' aesthetics are not.

Kubrick's first feature-length is exactly that: his first. Simply for completists.

Kubrick's first semi-solid feature. Extremely strong cinematography for a film following something like Fear and Desire. Its climax is one of the greatest in film noir history; extremely memorable.

One of Kubrick's lesser films, but very good cinematically for its time. Strangely weaker than its predecessor, Killer's Kiss, it is a step towards the greatness found in Paths of Glory, if anything.

Void of all flaws and completely beyond its era thematically and cinematically. The film with which Kubrick truly began.

The epitome of artistic control denied, making for the only Kubrick film that Kubrick himself disowned. With only the occasional flare of signature style amid dated gloss, the film is one of Kubrick's worst. It is fortunate to his reputation that most individuals consider it to be a classic.

Undersexed by the MPAA, the film is a good rejection of Kubrick's previous and worst feature, Spartacus. Being Kubrick's last feature with Harris, the techniques suit the style the two had together in spectacular Kubrick one-takes and lighting reminiscent of The Killing. Combined with such strong actors, it's sadly unseen.

The greatest statement on the Cold War and a great, great film after it has been that. Kubrick's monochrome construction and themetic musings wash together boldly, creating another film within the majority of his repertoire that stands as an essential piece of filmmaking and cinema. Not many honest individuals would dare deny this.

The first perfect science fiction, and, save for Blade Runner and a select few, the last. Kubrick's ultimate magnum opus showcases such strong messages about life and existence that they may even outshine some of those found in The Bible itself. The one film to see by Kubrick if no other.

Overdone in its vocal narrative compared to previous Kubrick features-- and horribly ill-marketed by distributors and the press. Shot as well as any other Kubrick film, it is nowhere near as bright or logical, making it very wrongly considered by many to be the director's greatest.

Abounding with painstaking beauty in its approach to cinematography, the film is arguably Kubrick's last perfect work. Next to nothing is notable of fault-- a hugely necessary followup to the good-but-washy Clockwork Orange.

Seeing the film, one wonders about the constant negative reaction from King fanboys. Films and novels are different things, and throughout Kubrick's career this is obvious. The film is shocking and amazingly easy to watch with characters that are likable, which is notable for Kubrick. With some of his greatest camerawork, it is one of his best.

Not Kubrick at his best, but not Kubrick at his worst, either. The film does not hold a light to Apocalypse Now as a Vietnam war saga, but perhaps it doesn't try to. While it portrays aspects of wartime affairs in new ways, its make isn't always to Kubrick's standard, and, at times, does not feel as necessary as his previous work.

With its ending being its only real flaw, the words that encompass the majority of the film are "final" and "masterpiece." While A.I. would have been a much more appropriate end to Kubrick's career instead of a footnote in Speilberg's, the film does well enough. While not my favorite by the director, amazingly good.