The book is much better
Ugh... so I finally got around to reading The Shining and then couldn't wait to watch the movie on Netflix (I'm 37 - I know I am a bit behind on this one, being that it's a classic). As is usually the case, the book is much better.... I have to agree with King himself on this one. And it's not just because there are more details and facts presented in the book. This movie is 2 and a half hours long, so it could have gone into a little more depth. I respect Kubrick (and the eerie feel he could bring to a film) but sticking closer to the book would have made it a better film, in my opinion. SPOILERS ahead if you haven't read the book....
I'll start with the casting and the acting. I like Nicholson, and he makes a great lunatic, but Jack Torrance was supposed to slowly descend into madness. He seemed nutty after the first few scenes. Wendy, in the book, is a beautiful blonde; she also seems intelligent and unafraid to speak her mind. Duvall was hard to watch. She came across as a total dimwit in this movie (and is not easy on the eyes by any means). And the boy Danny.... the book portrays him as a precocious, sweet young kid with this crazy "gift". The movie version makes him practically mute - like no personality whatsoever. Also, what's with Tony "living in his mouth"? The weird grunting? In the book, Tony is actually a vision of Danny himself as he gets older, and he shows him things to come.
So many good parts of the book were either left out all together or changed around. Where were the hedge animals that moved (at least in the minds of Danny and Jack)? Those scenes were scary as hell in the book, much scarier than the maze. Hearing the elevator noises for the first time? Jack reading about the actual history of the hotel - and why it is that it's haunted with so many spirits from the past? How about the hotel (and all of its ghosts) going up in flames at the end because Jack forgot to tend to the boiler (his biggest reason for being at the hotel in the first place). He just freezes to death in the snow instead? WEAK!! Lol. Dick Hallorann DID provide them a getaway vehicle in the movie, but it's a shame his part seemed so disrespected (by killing him off). I could name a lot more.
Lastly - what was the point of that framed picture in the movie of Jack being at the ball in 1921? That was random - like "he was there" hahaha. So dumb.