Movie mistakes: The Shining (1980)

[zapplecore]

I'm a big Kubrick fan & although I think some of these 'mistakes' are intentional others are clearly not. There's continuity errors in his other films too. Filming movies is an arduous & disorderly task at best which is probably why the best directors are all such perfectionists & so meticulous

[sunsetcaptiva]

1:34 - Yes that luggage could fit, the whole front of a VW is the "trunk" and it was also piled in the back seat which is why Danny was sitting on luggage in the VW on the drive to the hotel.

[Huxley]

You have to consider that this and all Kubrick movies were meant to be seen on the big screen. Most people would only see it once and wouldn't notice most of these "mistakes". Also, some of them may have been intentional to mess with continuity in order to make the viewer feel something was off. I've heard Jan Harlan mention this. He has said that the movie is not supposed to make sense.

[matrud_bass]

2:16 When they enter and leave the walk-in refrigerator, the adjacent corridor/room is completely different as well

[sumbri]

I’m sure not all of those were mistakes! Kubrick put those there!

[alexandermendez]

Its because most of the movie is actually Jack's imagination

[DavesArtRoom]

Some of these are not mistakes, but are intentional. If you know anything about Kubrick, you would understand this!

[tooleyheadbang]

One wonders what advice Brian Rust and John Wadley ("Music Advisors: 20's music") gave Kubrick, seeing that there isn't any 20's music in the film.

[TheRealDarrylStrawberry]

While i think a lot of the "errors" were intentional there are a few that i just cant fathom. Is the sandwich supposed to represent "the Jungian thing" ? (possibly) but the disappearing chair and table behind Jack when Wendy disturbs his writing. That one doesnt seem like anything more than continuity error.

[jimbobeire]

You seem to have missed -
Shadow of Helicopter in frame in the opening scene where the helicopter is following the car.
Ski lift in frame, for a hotel that closes for the winter and doesn't service the ski crowd (according to the manager)
Wendy says Jack stopped drinking after he accidentally hurt Danny, and that he hasn't had a drink in 5 months
Jack says it was three years ago that he accidentally hit Danny.

[RafaelFiallo-yo]

There were scenes that were shot with the VW towing a small U-Haul trailer, but Kubrick didn't like them for some reason, it could also be implied that the hotel sent a van or station wagon down for the Torrance's luggage before they drove up.

[deeogee]

I like the fact that in the opening sequence of the movie that the Yellow VW Bug from a distance is only occupied by a single occupant/driver---leads one to beleive that Jack was already alone in his headspace and revealing he was already disconnected from those around him?

[ink-cow]

Fair enough on the reflection of the crew, but in one shot Danny's eaten some of his sandwich, and in another shot he's eaten...some more of his sandwich? :D

A lot of your other mistakes are things that seem to have been done on purpose. While it's easy to forget which hand was on which when matching shots, things like applying and removing cartoon decals, large furniture and entire light switches take considerable more effort.

This was not shot in an actual hotel, but a large closed studio, so there weren't people milling about in between shots moving stuff around.

[sunsetcaptiva]

4:35 the light switch is again attributed to Wendy's hallucinations and not remembering everything to the tiniest detail... the light switch trick was done on the walk in storage in the kitchen as well...just to the right of the door.

[Muirton]

The box moving during the phone conversation seems more realistic than a mistake, most people on a phone call will doodle or touch things in front of them, especially with land line calls.

[KishoreG]

Jack Daniels is technically considered a bourbon

[smmm]

Wendy said that Jack stopped drinking after he injured Danny 5 months ago. Jack said he hurt Danny 3 years ago. Danny's position on the carpet when the ball rolled to him.

[jonnybjrkhaug]

Did anyone else see all the other small things in the sandwitch scene? Plate is turned. Danny has moved. The lighting has been fixed...

[Telonious_Terp]

Right... is it that any experience in the hotel, from any character's perspective, might be affected, in that some can see the whole hotel for what it is, and some can't, and this effect is used subliminally to affect the audience, or was it just that they were slowly adding more to the set in the middle of filming, and Kubrick made sure that as long as there's enough mystery behind each frame, then people will never know the difference between error and feature...

[watermelonlalala]

You found some I never saw before. Like the painting over the bed.