Claiming the TV mini-series of The Shining is better than the 1980 Kubrick film because it's more like the book is like saying the 1976 version of King Kong is better than the 1933 film because the special effects are better. Yes, the mini-series is more like the book, but that doesn't mean it is good.
I loved the book, and was surprised at some of the changes in the 1980 film. But I still loved the movie. Movies are a visual medium , so not every concept from a book will work. Best example is the topiary hedge scene. In King's book, the idea of attacking hedge animals was frightening. Kubrick didn't use the idea and inserted a hedge maze. The hedge animals show up in the mini-series and the scene is laughable. Visually, hedges aren't scary. I'm guessing Kubrick understood this.
Worst of all, the mini-series tries too hard to be a drama. The Shining is a scary story, why not concentrate on that fact? So much time is spent on exposition and character background, that the result is just frustration waiting for something to occur. Basically, the problem is pacing. Usually, people complain that Kubrick's film are long and drawn out, but his Shining is a crack of the whip compared to this adaptation. While the acting and look of the film is decent, I'd have to say that King's adaptation fails mostly because of the fact that it is just like the book. Books work cause they're in your head. Movies show you those images. Kubrick's version worked because he concentrated on the aspects of the story that worked best visually. That scene where Jack is in the empty bar which suddenly is fully stocked with an eager bartender is great stuff, and those moments tell us all we need to know about Jack's drinking problem and the effect the Overlook was having on him.
I loved the book, and was surprised at some of the changes in the 1980 film. But I still loved the movie. Movies are a visual medium , so not every concept from a book will work. Best example is the topiary hedge scene. In King's book, the idea of attacking hedge animals was frightening. Kubrick didn't use the idea and inserted a hedge maze. The hedge animals show up in the mini-series and the scene is laughable. Visually, hedges aren't scary. I'm guessing Kubrick understood this.
Worst of all, the mini-series tries too hard to be a drama. The Shining is a scary story, why not concentrate on that fact? So much time is spent on exposition and character background, that the result is just frustration waiting for something to occur. Basically, the problem is pacing. Usually, people complain that Kubrick's film are long and drawn out, but his Shining is a crack of the whip compared to this adaptation. While the acting and look of the film is decent, I'd have to say that King's adaptation fails mostly because of the fact that it is just like the book. Books work cause they're in your head. Movies show you those images. Kubrick's version worked because he concentrated on the aspects of the story that worked best visually. That scene where Jack is in the empty bar which suddenly is fully stocked with an eager bartender is great stuff, and those moments tell us all we need to know about Jack's drinking problem and the effect the Overlook was having on him.