Room 237 [Blu-ray] [2012] [US Import]

I must admit that I did enjoy watching this documentary of nine very contrasting interpretations of Kubrick`s 1980 film. It is also fair to say that my wife hated it very much. I enjoy analysis of films and texts, and to buy into this very quirky film, you probably need to believe that something can be about something other than that intended by the creator - and a passing interest in historicism or the very essence of "meaning" will help.I don`t think it`s fair to judge as a failure or success based on whether you agree with the viewpoints of the contributors - disguised in the film is "proof" that Kubrick filmed the moon landings, that The Shining was about the slaughter of the Native Americans, or completely about the Holocaust, for example - that`s far too subjective; is it a good documentary is a fairer thing to judge. I really enjoyed the first hour; it was entertaining and thought-provoking. But I think it loses it`s way a bit, and tends to be repetitive and a firmer editor could have produced a solid one hour documentary...but if Room 237 is about anything, it is about getting an idea and absolutely flogging the life out of it. Until you`ve driven a lot of people away!

This film is not about the 'actual' subtext of Kubrick's film, The Shining. It is a portrait of some interesting and imaginative theories that cropped up since its making. There could be some truth to some of the theories but the film is not about proving them right or wrong, it just presents them.The contributors make lots of spurious claims and some are clearly ridiculous but for an extremely precise and controlling director as Kubrick was, there are some undeniably interesting points of "continuity" and messaging that could well be deliberate subtext.Worth a watch but don't view it as a 'truth', more of a film about some colourful and interesting opinions.

I may have partaken in a lil suttin-suttin when I first watched this, and it totally blew my mind. I love the shining and Kubrick is so precise, a truly great director, so I thought this would be interesting. It is so visually captivating, and makes you rewatch amazing scenes and truly question what you have watched so many times before.Then I showed my fiance telling her just how good it was, and I rewatched it sober. I tried to be as amazed the second time, but it seemed that I was just noticing the mundane theories these crazy people we telling me about before.

Well worth a watch if a Kubrick fan. So much to this film.

I'm a big fan of 'The Shining', both the Kubrick movie and the King novel, so naturally I decided to check this out. I really don't think I could have been more disappointed. Even when I watch a movie I dislike I tend to not regret watching it just for the sake of the experience - this is definitively a time when I totally regret watching the film. It was an absolute waste of time. There is almost no editing. Each interview was recorded over the phone and plays one after the other. There is no effort to edit or re-take sections of interviews that contain coughs, laughs or even children screaming in the background. It was not a pleasant viewing experience, even for someone who adores 'The Shining'.As for the theories actually discussed, they range from the bland to the laughably implausible. I truly have no idea how a sane human being could believe some of the theories discussed here. Furthermore, the theories advocated betray a total ignorance of the book the movie is actually adapted from! The disparate nature of the book and the film is overblown, and several of the allegedly peculiar things these commentators remark upon could easily be explained if they were to read the actual book! I wish I could find something to praise about this film, I really do, but you can find analysis that is much better explained and edited for free elsewhere on the internet.Among the various theories advocated are that 'The Shining' is Kubrick confessing for faking the Moon landing, that the film is intended to be played backwards and that Jack is some kind of minotaur. Most of these theories have no actual evidence backing them up and by the time the speaker has finished explaining their theory then you're unlikely to feel any greater understanding than you did at the beginning. Had actual care been put into the direction and editing then this movie could have been something truly thought provoking; sadly what we actually received was nothing of the sort. I do not think anybody should waste their time watching this.

The SHINING has more meaning built into it than you ever thought possible, including not being out of this world.the premise is simple Stanley Kubrick wanted to use state of the art Camera Lens that NASA had developed, the trade off was that he sent Niel Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin and Micheal Collins to the Moon,This is the story of all the puzzles and clues that Stanley Kubrick left within his masterpiece "the Shining" to tell the world of the conspiracy of "man landing on the moon" was all but a fake.There are many plausible pieces of information within this film, that makes you think twice. Did it really happen?The most startling single fact is, the COMPUTER you are now reading this review on, has more power than ALL the computers available to NASA in 1969, your Watch has more processing power than the computer used on the APOLLO Rocket that supposedly got man to the moon.Doesn't that make you think, was it really possible.IF you want to SEE this film - It may be available FREE via Amazon Prime or Netflix, BUT I would suggest you watch it, as it does open your mind to the possibilities that may also have happened back in 1969.