Directed By... Stanley Kubrick (1953 - 1957) - 4K UHD + Blu-ray Limited Edition Hardbox + Hardcover Booklets - Imprint Collection #622 - 625

Before Spartacus, before 2001: A Space Odyssey, and before The Shining, there was a young man in New York City with a camera and an unshakeable conviction that he was going to change cinema.

Stanley Kubrick directed his first four formative features before the age of thirty, outside of the Hollywood studio system, on shoestring budgets, and with a visual intelligence and artistic ambition that announced the arrival of a singular talent.

From the self-financed debut he would later try to suppress, to a Kirk Douglas-produced anti-war masterpiece that remains one of the defining films of its decade, these four films trace one of the most compressed and dramatic artistic evolutions in cinematic history:

• Fear and Desire (1953) - 4K UHD + Blu-ray


• Killer's Kiss (1955) - 4K UHD + Blu-ray


• The Killing (1956) - 4K UHD + Blu-ray


• Paths of Glory (1957) - 4K UHD + Blu-ray

All fully restored in 4K from their original elements, this set features authoring and encoding by Fidelity In Motion, hours of brand NEW Special Features, a 100-page hardcover booklet featuring brand NEW essays and original production stills, and a second 144-page hardcover booklet featuring scripts for Killer’s Kiss, The Killing, and Paths of Glory.

Kubrick met producer James B. Harris while playing chess in Washington Square, who once described Kubrick as “the most intelligent, most creative person I ever came in contact with”. The two forged the Harris-Kubrick Pictures Corporation in 1955, with The Killing the first of their three-picture collaboration. We are honoured to have James B. Harris, now at the age of 97, participate in brand NEW and exclusive audio commentaries for The Killing and Paths of Glory.

Limited Edition 8-Disc Hardbox - 1500 copies only.

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Fear and Desire (1953) - Imprint Collection #622

Shot on the slopes of the San Gabriel Mountains with a borrowed camera and a cast of five, Fear and Desire is the audacious debut of a twenty-three-year-old Stanley Kubrick - a film he would later attempt to suppress but which now stands as a haunting origin document.

Four soldiers crash behind enemy lines during a nameless war and must fight their way back to safety.

Laced with moral disintegration and psychological torment, this Kubrick debut stars Frank Silvera, Kenneth Harp, and Paul Mazursky, presented here in both the 70-minute Premiere Version and the 61-minute Theatrical Version on both 4K UHD and Blu-ray.

Special Features and Technical Specs:

Disc One - 4K UHD

• 2160p High-definition presentation on 4K UHD (Dolby Vision / HDR10) of the 70-minute Premiere Version


• 2160p High-definition presentation on 4K UHD (Dolby Vision / HDR10) of the 61-minute Theatrical Version


• 
  NEW Audio commentary by filmmaker and film historian Daniel Kremer on the 70-minute Premiere Version
  


• Trailers


• Audio: English LPCM 2.0 Mono


• Aspect Ratio 1.33:1


• Optional English HOH Subtitles

Disc Two - Blu-ray

• 1080p High-definition presentation on Blu-ray of the 4K restoration of the 70-minute Premiere Version


• 1080p High-definition presentation on Blu-ray of the 4K restoration of the 61-minute Theatrical Version


• 
  NEW Audio commentary by filmmaker and film historian Daniel Kremer on the 70-minute Premiere Version
  


• 
  NEW Paths to Glory - film historian Jeremy Arnold on young Kubrick’s Fears and Desires
  


• 
  The Seafarers - 1953 short by Stanley Kubrick (4K restoration)
  


• Trailers


• Audio: English LPCM 2.0 Mono


• Aspect Ratio 1.33:1


• Optional English HOH Subtitles

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Killer's Kiss (1955) - Imprint Collection #623

Before focusing on cinema, Kubrick was a prolific street photographer, working for Look Magazine for five years from age 17. It was these skills that helped craft Killer’s Kiss at the age of 25, a fiery noir shot on location in New York City that serves as a time capsule of 1950s Manhattan.

Washed-up boxer Davey Gordon is barely scraping by on the Lower East Side, and he witnesses his neighbour Gloria being attacked by her violent employer. In trying to protect her, he pulls both of them into a spiral of pursuit and violence through the city’s most treacherous corners.

Special Features and Technical Specs:

Disc One - 4K UHD

• 2160p High-definition presentation on 4K UHD (Dolby Vision / HDR10)


• 
  NEW Audio commentary by professor and film scholar Jason A. Ney
  


• Theatrical Trailer


• Audio: English LPCM 2.0 Mono


• Aspect Ratio 1.37:1


• Optional English HOH Subtitles

Disc Two - Blu-ray

• 1080p High-definition presentation on Blu-ray of the 4K restoration


• 
  NEW Audio commentary by professor and film scholar Jason A. Ney
  


• 
  NEW Kisses Before the Knockout - film historian Paul Lynch on early Kubrick and Killer’s Kiss
  


• Theatrical Trailer


• Audio: English LPCM 2.0 Mono


• Aspect Ratio 1.37:1


• Optional English HOH Subtitles

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The Killing (1956) - Imprint Collection #624

Adapted from Lionel White’s novel with dialogue by crime novelist Jim Thompson, The Killing is a shattering, non-linear noir that anticipates the modern heist film by four decades.

After five years in prison, criminal Johnny Clay has one last job in mind: rob a racetrack on race day, take two million dollars, then finally go straight. With a small team of carefully chosen insiders, the plan seems foolproof, until one man tells his wife, and one wife is not what she appears…

Featuring Sterling Hayden, Marie Windsor, and Elisha Cook Jr. in career-defining performances, with cinematography from Lucien Ballard (The Wild Bunch), The Killing is a remarkable feat of filmmaking, inspiring countless directors since its release and cited by Quentin Tarantino as the inspiration for Reservoir Dogs.

Special Features and Technical Specs:

Disc One - 4K UHD

• 2160p High-definition presentation on 4K UHD (Dolby Vision / HDR10)


• 
  NEW Audio commentary by documentarian/author Steven C. Smith & producer James B. Harris
  


• Theatrical Trailer


• Audio: English LPCM 2.0 Mono


• Aspect Ratio 1.66:1


• Optional English HOH Subtitles

Disc Two - Blu-ray

• 1080p High-definition presentation on Blu-ray of the 4K restoration


• 
  NEW Audio commentary by documentarian/author Steven C. Smith & producer James B. Harris
  


• 
  NEW Coleen Gray: Looking Back - 2004 interview with actress Coleen Gray, newly edited by filmmaker Robert Fischer
  


• Interview with producer James B Harris conducted by Alan K. Rode at the Arthur Lyons Film Noir Festival
  
  


• Q&A session with producer James B. Harris from the Rancho Mirage Library & Observatory (2023)


• 
  Pharos of Chaos - 1983 feature documentary on the legendary actor Sterling Hayden
  


• 
  Interview with producer/director Wolf Eckart Buhler (on Pharos of Chaos)
  


• Theatrical Trailer


• Audio: English LPCM 2.0 Mono


• Aspect Ratio 1.66:1


• Optional English HOH Subtitles

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Paths of Glory (1957) - Imprint Collection #625

Just three years before taking on the cinematic epic Spartacus, Stanley Kubrick had a breakthrough with anti-war drama Paths of Glory. Co-produced by Kirk Douglas’ production company, Bryna Productions, and James B. Harris, this feat of filmmaking cemented Kubrick as a world-class director and set the stage for the remarkable career that would follow.

France, 1916. General Mireau, hungry for promotion, orders his regiment to take an impregnable German position known as the Anthill. When the suicidal assault predictably fails, Mireau orders three of his own soldiers court-martialled for cowardice to deflect the blame. Their defence falls to Colonel Dax, a former criminal lawyer turned battlefield commander, who finds that the tribunal has been decided before it begins.

Based on Humphrey Cobb’s celebrated 1935 novel, Paths of Glory was banned in France until 1975 and was nominated at the BAFTAs for Best Film and a Writers' Guild of America Award.

Special Features and Technical Specs:

Disc One - 4K UHD

• 2160p High-definition presentation on 4K UHD (Dolby Vision / HDR10)


• 
  NEW Audio commentary by documentarian/author Steven C. Smith & producer James B. Harris
  


• Theatrical Trailer


• Audio: English LPCM 2.0 Mono


• Aspect Ratio 1.66:1


• Optional English HOH Subtitles

Disc Two - Blu-ray

• 1080p High-definition presentation on Blu-ray of the 4K restoration


• 
  NEW Audio commentary by documentarian/author Steven C. Smith & producer James B. Harris
  


• 
  Charlie Rose Remembers Stanley Kubrick – featurette
  


• Roundtable discussion on the life of Stanley Kubrick, featuring filmmaker Martin Scorsese, wife of Stanley Kubrick Christiane Kubrick, and film producer Jan Harlan, moderated by Charlie Rose


• Q&A with producer James B. Harris hosted by the Rancho Mirage Library & Observatory


• Theatrical Trailer


• Audio: English LPCM 2.0 Mono


• Aspect Ratio 1.66:1


• Optional English HOH Subtitles

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Hardcover Booklet

A 100-page hardcover booklet featuring a brand NEW essay ‘Paths of Glory: Kubrick’s Monument to Barbarism’ by film historian Tim Pelan, a brand NEW essay ‘Early Kubrick’ by author and former Chicago Reader film critic Jonathan Rosenbaum, and dozens of original production stills.

Scripts Booklet

A 144-page hardcover booklet featuring scripts for Killer’s Kiss, The Killing, and Paths of Glory.