Wonderful character development!

Lack of good storyline.

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

Excellent and certainly provocative... If nothing else, the film is a real conversation starter.

This takes nothing away from Kubrick's earlier film, and, in fact, should be viewed as a totally different animal. I love Kubrick's original, but it's not really the same story King told at all. The miniseries, aside from delivering great scares and maintaining the tension well, conveys the tragedy of the story as well as the horror. Jack is a loving husband and father with a monster on his back, and is slowly possessed by an evil entity in the Overlook Hotel that is bent on using him to destroy his family. That's what sets it apart the most from the Kubrick version. Jack is a full character with an arc versus a man who was already psychotic prior to taking the job of hotel character. Steven Weber is fantastic at portraying the duality and conflict within the character and delivers my favorite interpretation of the character.

If you have never read the book and have seen Kubrick's The Shining then there are a few questions left lingering in the mind. I've read that this film is King's book on film so I recommend watching this 1997 version. King himself had a hand in making this one.It is true that comparing the two films is like comparing Apples to Oranges - both are quite different. Kubrick's film is a condensed and somewhat changed version of King's book vs this 1997 film which is basically King's book on film (I want to reiterate for those who might not have given this movie a chance).I won't rehash the differences between the two movies - other reviewers have done a great job with that - but I can say that I like both movies.9/10

This is a very good mini-series adaptation on the horror classic, a story about the Torrence Family who become caretakers for an isolated hotel. The son, Daniel Torrence (Courtlead Mead) sees paranormal images of the hotel's past using a telepathic gift known as "The Shining." The father, Jack Torrance (Steven Weber), is slowly being driven insane by the spirits that lurk the hotel, threatening his wife Winifred (Rebecca DeMorney) and Daniel.The creepiness and eerie atmosphere of the hotel gave the perfect setting for the movie, making the audience jump when demonic creatures appear and when horrific events occur. The characters, for the most part, did a nice job portraying their roles - not on the same league as the actors in the original movie, but still on par in delivering some great performances. I think the cast in this mini-series was more engaging and I feel you actually connect and understand them better than the more eerie and unpredictable characters in the original film. The plot, for me, was easier to follow and grasp than the original movie and I thought the subplot about Daniel seeing an image of a young man, guiding him during difficult times, was a nice additional to the plot; it actually made the story more captivating. I also enjoyed the parts where the protagonists take on the evil spirits and how ***spoiler ahead*** the ending actually wraps the story better than the original film.Overall, it's a very good horror mini-series for a scare.Grade B+

One of the worst things I have ever seen committed to film. This, on one level, suffers from Kubrick's version been so good but it is not the only reason. Kubrick's changes made the adaption better and the set design just set it apart.This adaption is certainly more faithful to King's book - King wrote the screenplay, so that comes as no surprise. One particular thing is the topiary animals. I love the book, but I thought they were a bad idea in it (they just don't make sense, not even in the supernatural world created) and an even worse idea on film. Kubrick was clever to replace them with the maze. King, however, kept them - cue 1997 TV CGI...need I say more.The acting and dialogue is awful and, thus, hilarious. Even Elliot Gould in his small role as manager Ullman is surprisingly wooden. Oh, and the way they portray Tony is quite unbelievably bad. And the epilogue...wow...ten years later, Danny sees Jack's ghost at his graduation...Jack blows a kiss...Danny catches it...tears in his eyes, he pulls it to his cheek...'that's what I've missed,' he says. Beautifully bad. So, yes - Genius and hugely entertaining. It is so bad, it is good. Brilliant.