Stanley Kubrick is one of those directors: One with enough vision to change the course of any film genre he touches but, enough brains to know that art has to be popular—enjoyable to the average movie going schmoe—in order to make bank. Full Metal Jacket, The Shining, Eyes Wide Shut, 2001: A Space Odyssey, and Spartacus; the odds are that good you’ve seen at least one of them, not to mention deeper kuts like The Killing or Dr. Strangelove. If you dig his stuff like I do, you want to reconsider that summer road trip or, I don’t know, your plan to pay your rent this month: The Criterion Collection is releasing The Complete Kubrick box set for an eye-watering $600. However, if you pre-order the thing, you can get $100 off the collection’s price.
Collected here for the first time are Kubrick’s thirteen features and three shorts, all restored in 4K, with their original soundtracks alongside the 5.1 mixes, restored and remastered; over twenty-five hours of interviews, documentaries, and behind-the-scenes materials; and deluxe packaging illustrated with rare photographs, artwork, and documents annotated by Kubrick himself, all housed in a singular box inspired by the director’s legendary archive.
As I already own a lot of the films in this collection, I’m out. But if you’re sick of streaming and want to start a rock hard foundation for your fledgling physical media collection, this is a great, albeit pricey place to start.
Wonder if this one will be half off during one of their sales. I think the Wes Anderson set was.
Why is the box wrapped like a of ream of copy paper? Wouldn't opening that immediately bring down the collectible value? I want to know more about the included book(s?).