I have spent this entire last weekend immersed in The Shining. I'm re-reading the book, and I watched both movies. The book, of course, is better. As for the movies I prefer the mini-series. As for Kubrick's version? Well, I never cared that much for it and after this re-visitation I have downgraded it to crap. It's full of pretty sweeping shots of long hallways and that's about it. It has absolutely no character development. The idea that it is a study in psychological terror is crap. The family checks into the hotel, and suddenly Nicholson's crazy and ready to hack up his family. No build up, no development. What little is learned of the characters is told mostly through exposition, people just sitting around talking for seemingly interminable lengths of time. Nicholson playing crazy is no stretch, it's what he does best. But the character of Jack Torrance needed some subtlety. Yep, after re-watching Kubrick's version I now thoroughly despise it. But really, I never liked much of anything Kubrick did after Spartacus.