The Stanley Kubrick Archives (Bibliotheca Universalis)

This is a must-have for Kubrick fans & cinephiles. Outstanding collection of interviews, essays, storyboard sketches and behind-the-scenes photos. Each of his incredible movies receives great coverage.

Perhaps you are similar to me and you occasionally justify a purchase by saying to yourself "The kids will enjoy this after I'm gone someday." This rationale helps me feel a little less guilty when I indulge in an expensive purchase. Well, as I review this book I realize a new problem: 40 years from now, as my body lay cooling, my two lovely daughters will probably be engaged in a dispute as to who gets the AWESOME Kubrick book! I am a big fan of Taschen books and I'm also a big Kubrick fan. This book is the ultimate dosage of both. I have well over a hundred Taschen titles and this is definitely one of my favorite three ("Cabinent of Curiosities" and "Complete Costume History" being the other two. All of these are the large-size super-high quality classics that are likely to become sought-after collector's volumes). You've already had this Kubrick book described for you, but I wanted emphasize three points: First, the front page edges are "tabbed" in this book, making access to particular areas (eg, particular films) very convenient. This is really a sophisticated fluorish which makes the book that much more stunning. Second, the snippet of "2001" is nothing less than magical. As I read about it here I thought it sounded a little gimmicky: but when you see a foot-long section of one of the most important films ever made, it is really captivating. The section I received has bright geometric colors which I'm delighted by, but regardless of what you get, you're getting a piece of "2001"!!!! I get the same reverential feeling looking at it as I did when gawking at the original Declaration of Independence! Third, the quality of manufacture here is first-rate. I have been critical of Taschen in recent years because they have so many great books with cheesey/flimsy covers and bindings which don't hold up. I think this has been a MAJOR strategic error at the corporate level for them; they should raise their prices a little and create books which will last 200 years. Well, as to this Kubrick book you don't have to worry about that: this cover is composed of two different types of cloth and it appears very solid and is GORGEOUS. I collect books new and old, and please believe me, you'll be psyched when you see this behemoth! (Due to size and weight you'll still want to hold it carefully so binding doesn't get unduly torqued.) Anyway, it is so great to roll the dice on a book and to win big. If you're a Kubrick fan I encourage you to act quickly and to nail one of these.

The Stanley Kubrick Archives, newly published by Taschen and edited by Alison Castle, is the perfect overview of Kubrick's storied career. It includes vintage photos and previously published articles, although some are newly edited and expanded. Each film of Kubrick's career is heavily illustrated and described, including almost 100 of 700-plus pages devoted to 2001: A Space Odyssey, and the un-realized projects such as Napoleon and The Aryian Papers, as well as AI, discussed in the epilogue. Editor Castle should be congratulated on such a superb gathering of interesting facts and opinions about one of the finest filmmakers of moviedom's first 100 years. For those people who previously owned Gene D. Phillips' 1975 publication of Stanley Kubrick: A Film Odyssey, Phillips' stories are gathered here and updated. It is no problem overwhelimingly suggesting that followers of Kubrick's work should own this book. Personally, I found myself dropping a book I had previously been reading and diving into this at full speed. Buy it, read it, enjoy it.

If it wasn't for its hefty weight, the book is one of the items I'd take with me if my house was on fire - without hesitation. I can't even imagine how long it took for the Taschen team to assemble this incredible book; it tries to do justice to recollect Kubrick's body of work in the form of a portable archive. Seeing this book in person is an experience in itself. The conceptual design is simply impressive: details like the texture of the binding mimicking that of a real archive is a start. A CD of a rare uncut interview with Stanley Kubrick included in the book is a real gem. The interview takes place during Kubrick's career in its earlier years, and it provides an insight of the director that no other text interview has been able to accomplish - precisely for the reason that you hear Kubrick's voice and his unfiltered opinions. Then, of course, you have a piece of 2001's film strip as an added bonus. It's just too much for a book! And I say that gratefully. The first part of the book is filled with glossy stills of all the films made by Kubrick. It's nice, and glossy, but the real reason I purchased this book is for part two. Part two, or "The Creative Process", is filled with a lot of archival materials for each of Kubrick's films - especially pre-production materials: production notes, correspondences, and etc. You learn a lot about how Kubrick prepares for his films by seeing just a tiny fraction (undoubtedly) of what he does before he actually goes into production - it is one of the reasons that explain the long intervals between the director's releases. In addition, the book has an extensive collection of interviews with the director from various sources. But it is little treasures like the former that make this book special. If you are a serious fan of the master director that is Stanley Kubrick, this is the next thing to have in your possession after the DVDs. Taschen made a serious effort in paying homage to Kubrick's work as a book publisher, and they have succeeded. They could've made a lazy effort in disguise to simply profit off of Kubrick's name, but they didn't, and for that they have my respect.

This is an incredible book, even for long-time fans like myself who thought that they knew all that was to be known about Kubrick's films. I much prefer the smaller size of this book, which is the same size as a medium-sized paperback book. Although the book's size is MUCH smaller, it has considerably more pages and has been reformated so well that the size of text and images isn't nearly as affected as you'd think, and many of the images are the same size as in the large sized book (or close). No squinting for me. You can pay $70 or more for the large format book, but $25 or less for this smaller, more convenient size seems an absolute no-brainer to me. If I HAD to list any complaint - and it would just be very minor nit-pick - I wish there had been fewer stills from the movies so that even more space could be had for promotional posters, of which there is surprisingly little , but the book is 850 pages, so it's not as if I felt shortchanged in the least bit. One of the best price for the value books I've ever purchased.

Awesome book for a great price. Only negative thing is the packaging wasn’t great and the corners of the book came a little roughed up.

Overall, pretty great book. A lot of interesting details and compelling stuff about the making of his movies, definetly great and offers a very full and versatile set of information about how each of his movies got made.

This is a magnificent purchase, because it's so impressive in size (much like Taschen's G.O.A.T. on Muhammed Ali), craftsmanship, presentation and material -- if Kubrick was alive, he'd be impressed at the compilation of his life's work. I was hoping something like this would come out, because about a year ago there was an article in The UK's Gaurdian newspaper (I read it online) about a guy who was invited into the Kubrick estate and was shown ALL of the archives by Kubrick's assistant -- and the information discussed in that article will blow your mind. And apparently this book gives you the chance to jump into the world of a extraordinary visual artist. The scans from Kubrick's IPs are FANTASTIC. I don't think their should another way a looking at a film (in book or electronic form), but you're seeing the EXACT frames -- not those production stills that are slight off, or are alternate takes. Looking at the 2001 and Spartacus filmframes do just to those films in ways that you rarely, rarely get a chance to experience. Happily, the edition I bought is part of that early print run that has 12 70mm frames from 2001. Stunning. You'll Be Like Alex in ACO, wanting to keep your eyes open for far longer than you'll be able to in any four or five sittings. I don't think you need to be a Kubrick to enjoy this book, just a fan of cinema - because a comprehensive examination is what you want. Unlike the other critical assessments, this book enpowers the reader to make up his own mind about what Kubrick's images meant. If you're a fan of Kubrick as director, you'll be proudly showing this off for years to come. The only think that would have been "more" would have been the inclusion of a DVD with any behind-the-scenes footage; i.e. all the footage from "The Making of the Shining" and there was some footage I saw during the production of 2001 at the beginning of an Oscar broadcast in the mid90s, which I've never seen anywhere else. Overall, you'd not be disappointed -- on any level. It'll just whet your appetite for more, and to see the films again.

Ben fatto manco a dirlo, Taschen con questi volumi fa gioielli. Ovviamente è una versione compatta, l'ideale sarebbe poi prendere il volume originale per apprezzare al meglio quanto sia stato grande Stanley Kubrick. però è bello, si fa notare e l'ho messo in bella mostra, ottimo per consultarlo a volo!!

Parfait

Wonderful book, detailing many aspects of Stanley's films. Great photographs too, showing many I haven't seen before. Starting at his short films, to the epics, this is such a comprehensive collection, at a very reasonable price, through a marvelous publisher, who does a great job, producing a quality item. For all fans of Stanley's films. I would definitely buy it, especially as the price is so reasonable right now, if you are at all curious about the brilliant films Stanley made.

Está muuuy completo. El libro lo esperaba más grande. Excelente calidad, con imágenes, guiones, etc. Vale mucho la pena

Nice piece of work. I am referring to the book and taking notes from it now. I recommend every Kubrick fans to have this one on your shelves.