User blog comment:HumboldtLycanthrope/The Shining: King or Kubrick?/@comment-25052433-20150224010502

Book vs. Movie, a battle for the ages. Most literature snobs that I know will almost always trumpet their unshakable belief that the book is always superior to the movie. Maybe this is because they really believe it, or maybe it's because you can't be a pretentious snob without automatically liking the book better.

Now, this is once again a matter of opinion, and there will never be a defining answer. In most cases, I always prefer the movie. Why? Probably because I am a product of Generation X that grew up demanding the instant gratification of the silver screen as opposed to the laborious yet deliciously rewarding experience of reading the book.

Now, I have read a lot of books. From deployments in Iraq here reading while waiting on 'stand-by' is a great time passer, to the fact that I have a very healthy digestive system, and you know, often find myself reading while expressing my digestive health, I have read a lot of novels.

Almost all of them Stephen King. I love the guy. I love his humble upbringing, I love his political views, I love the fact that he frequently shows up at the Bangor airport to spend time with Soldiers stopping at the airport before departing the country.

With that said, The Shining is one of my top favorite King books. I could sit here and list the positives, but honestly, that book's success if very well documented, and to say more on it would simply be redundant.

The Kubrick film was also a smash success and one of my horror highlights growing up. The scenes, the suspense, I could write a book just on how amazing that movie is.

Ready for a curve ball though? Want your mind blown?

My favorite was the remake of the movie that came out in the late 90's. I had the guy from Wings. I was great.

I am being serious when I say, that first movie had a lot of boring parts to it. I know, I am commiting blasphamy at this very moment. But it's my opinion. The Kubrick film had a slow pace that built up to a satisfying end. But that slow pace often times made the movie a bit of a chore. Maybe I am just not artsy enough to appreciate all the nuances of that slow paced approach. But the biggest thing I remember disliking about the Kubrick film was that a large chunk of it was simply boring.

But that remake. To me, it sort of patched a lot of the problems that I had with the Kubrick film. It was paced better, kept me locked in and had the guy from Wings, I mean, what more could you want.

Maybe because it was presented as a mini-series, much like The Stand or IT, or maybe because it just put a modern shine on the movie that made it more appealing to me. Either way, that's my answer.

Summary:

1st Place: The 1997 remake with the guy from Wings.

2nd: A tie between the book and the movie, because honestly, they're both amazing, but neither had the guy from Wings.