The Shining 4K Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		5.0
Video		4.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		4.5
Overall		4.5

The Shining 4K Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman October 17, 2025

Film Vault is back with its so-called "third wave" of releases, both culled from the Warner Brothers catalog, and both being offered in special edition formats with all of the swag associated with Film Vault's first wave in particular, as well as in standalone SteelBook editions, mirroring some of the label's later packaging regimens.

The Shining bears a Number 9 branding in Film Vault's special edition releases, and offers basically the same previously released 4K UHD and 1080 combo package Warner Brothers themselves released a several years ago "officially" in Region A. It's once again therefore probably some of the packaging swag that may appeal to collectors the most, and I detail that side of things below in the supplements section.

As mentioned above, The Shining had a 4K / 1080 combo release by Warner Brothers back in 2019 and Randy Miller III's The Shining 4K Blu-ray review provides a good jumping off point for those who may not have had any of the prior releases of the film

The Shining 4K Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Note: Screenshots are sourced from the 1080 disc in this package. While this is ostensibly a Region B release, the 1080 disc played fine in my Region A players, for Region A consumers who may be considering picking up this version.

The Shining is presented in 4K UHD courtesy of The Film Vault with an HEVC / H.265 encoded 2160p transfer in 1.78:1. I'll defer to Randy's The Shining 4K Blu-ray review for the bulk of my response, mentioning only that I'm probably a bit more curmudgeonly than Randy was about the absence of an original aspect ratio presentation on either the 4K UHD or 1080 discs, even if that difference is "slight". For that reason, my mantra of "different reviewers means different opinions" is reflected in my slightly lower scores above for the 4K and 2K presentations when compared to Randy's scores.

The Shining 4K Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

As Randy mentions in hisThe Shining 4K Blu-ray review , the lack of a lossless original mono track is no doubt going to be a disappointment for some, the DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track does substantially open up Wendy Carlos' score and some of the ambient environmental effects. As Randy mentions in his review, there are some mixing and/or balance issues in the surround track that may require some on the fly volume adjustments. Dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly throughout. Optional subtitles in several languages are available.

The Shining 4K Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

4K UHD Disc

• Commentary by Steadicam Inventor / Operator Garrett Brown and Historian John Baxter

1080 Disc

• Commentary by Steadicam Inventor / Operator Garrett Brown and Historian John Baxter


• View From the Overlook: Crafting The Shining (SD; 30:22) is a vintage EPK from 2007 with some interesting talking heads (like Sydney Pollack and Steadicam invetnor Garrett Brown).


• The Visions of Stanley Kubrick (SD; 17:17) is another vintage piece, albeit with probably more compelling interview subjects like Jack Nicholson.


• Making The Shining (SD; 34:59) is probably the best of the on disc supplements, with Vivian Kubrick offering her own memories of the project. She also contributes an optional commentary to this piece.


• Wendy Carlos, Composer (SD; 7:31) focuses on the iconic synthesizer pioneer.

The Film Vault continues their tradition of obviously gearing these releases toward serious collectors, in terms of offering a unified appearance and the same sort of non disc supplements included in each package. The outer box is approximately 9" high by 7 1/8" wide by 1 5/8" deep. The box has an acetate O-ring slipcover branded with both the film title and The Film Vault's logo as well as numbering. This rigid clamshell box is emblazoned with newly commissioned key art and itself features a kind of cool magnetic clasp that opens to disclose a somewhat limited set of goodies, at least when compared to Film Vault's first wave in particular. First up (as in at the top of the stack) is an "All Work and No Play" cardstock envelope containing what The Film Vault is calling "paper premiums", i.e., quasi-mini lobby card reproductions, five branded as character cards with quotes and three branded as behind the scenes cards with quotes. Also enclosed in the envelope are two posters. Underneath the envelope is a SteelBook containing the 4K and 1080 discs. The front panel is bathed in blue and teal tones and features Jack in the labyrinth with the hatchet. The back panel offers a door with "Redrum" scribbled on it. The interior panels offer a black and white photograph of the labyrinth. I've uploaded several hi res photos to accompany the The Shining 4K Blu-ray review of Film Vault's standalone SteelBook edition of this film.

The Shining 4K Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

The Film Vault may have cut back slightly in the non disc swag department (nothing like a useless crystal tchochke this time around), but the uniform design of this release should certainly appeal to collectors with other titles from the label adorning their shelves. Technical merits are generally solid (with some quibbles in both the video and audio department), and the "paper premiums" and SteelBook offered here should also appeal to packaging aficionados. For collectors at least, Recommended.