Want to know the best Stanley Kubrick movies? How about the worst Stanley Kubrick movies? Curious about Stanley Kubrick box office grosses or which Stanley Kubrick movie picked up the most Oscar® nominations? Need to know which Stanley Kubrick movie got the best reviews from critics and audiences and which got the worst? Well you have come to the right place….because we have all of that information. From 1953 to 1999 Stanley Kubrick only directed thirteen movies. This is a case of quality over quantity, as some of those thirteen movies are classic movies. Kubrick’s first two films were produced by friends and family. Both films,1953’s Fear and Desire and 1955’s Killer’s Kiss, failed at the box office, costing his friends and family most of the money they invested.
His next two movies 1956’s The Killing and 1957’s Paths of Glory, also failed at the box office but gained Kubrick notice as a director who could produce a quality movie on a limited budget. In 1960, Kirk Douglas picked him to direct the big budget movie Spartacus. Spartacus would be Kubrick’s second biggest hit and establish him as a great director. From 1962 to 1999, he would only direct eight more movies. But during this time frame he directed the classic movies Dr. Strangelove, 2001: A Space Odyssey, A Clockwork Orange, The Shining and Full Metal Jacket. In 1999, four days after screening a final cut of Eyes Wide Shut, Kubrick died of a heart attack in his sleep at the age of 70. It should be noted all the people that lost money on Kubrick’s first two films were paid back when Kubrick became successful. Stanley Kubrick’s IMDb page shows 16 directing credits from 1951-1999. This page will rank 13 Stanley Kubrick movies from Best to Worst in six different sortable columns of information. His 3 documentaries were not included in the rankings.
Stanley Kubrick Movies Ranked In Chronological Order With Ultimate Movie Rankings Score (1 to 5 UMR Tickets) *Best combo of box office, reviews and awards.
Stanley Kubrick Movies Can Be Ranked 6 Ways In This Table
The really cool thing about this table is that it is “user-sortable”. Rank the movies anyway you want.
- Sort Stanley Kubrick movies by the stars of the movies.
- Sort Stanley Kubrick movies by adjusted domestic box office grosses using current movie ticket cost (in millions)
- Sort Stanley Kubrick movies by their yearly domestic box office rank
- Sort Stanley Kubrick movies how they were received by critics and audiences. 60% rating or higher should indicate a good movie.
- Sort by how many Oscar® nominations and how many Oscar® wins each Stanley Kubrick movie received.
- Sort Stanley Kubrick movies by Ultimate Movie Rankings (UMR) Score. UMR Score puts box office, reviews and awards into a mathematical equation and gives each movie a score.
Stanley Kubrick Adjusted World Wide Box Office Grosses
Stanley Kubrick Movies Worst to Best
#13 Fear and Desire (1953) From Wikipedia….. “Fear and Desire (1953) is a military action/adventure film by Stanley Kubrick. It is Kubrick’s first feature film and is also one of his least-seen productions. Kubrick served as the film’s director, producer, cinematographer and editor.” Kubrick would later try to purchase all known prints of the movie, in the hopes it would never be seen in public again. When prints of the movie started to show up in the mid 1990s…..Kubrick issued a statement that severely downplayed the film’s value, and he called Fear and Desire “a bumbling amateur film exercise.” He succeeded in making it difficult to locate…..but I actually tracked down and watched this movie. A nice first effort….but this is a confusing movie that does not even bother to try and explain itself.
#12 Killer’s Kiss (1955) After his first movie, Fear and Desire, which was family and friend financed, failed to make a dent at the box office, Kubrick raised the money for his second movie, Killer’s Kiss, by going to different friends and different family members. Killer’s Kiss had a budget of $40,000 but only returned about $21,000 to its producers. The movie which is about a boxer, a gangster and a dance hall girl, received mixed reviews….Kubrick not only co-produced but also directed, photographed and edited the venture from his own screenplay and original story…a true low budget film. One of the better reviews came from the New York Times….they said it looked like Kubrick had some promise.
#11 The Killing (1956) This is the first movie Kubrick made that was not by being banked by his friends and family. With a budget of $320,000 dollars, Kubrick and Jim Thompson (of The Grifters fame) wrote the screenplay based on the novel Clean Break by Lionel White. The drama features Sterling Hayden (who would later play Jack D. Ripper in Dr. Strangelove) and Elisha Cook, Jr. The movie did not make its money back but established Kubrick’s reputation as a budding genius among critics and studio executives.
#10 Paths of Glory (1957) Stanley Kubrick’s first great film. Paths of Glory is a 1957 anti-war film based on the novel by Humphrey Cobb. Set during World War I, stars Douglas as the commanding officer of French soldiers who refused to continue a suicidal attack. This movie shows the insanity of trench warfare, Douglas is awesome in his role. In 1992, the film was deemed “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant” by the Library of Congress and selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry. This is my 2nd favorite Stanley Kubrick film. Outstanding supporting roles and Kirk Douglas is outstanding in the lead role.
#9 Eyes Wide Shut (1999) The last film to be directed, produced and co-written by Stanley Kubrick. The film was based on Arthur Schnitzler’s 1926 Traumnovelle (Dream Story). This is one of my least favorite Kubrick movies. I have only seen it one time and that was enough for me. The movie earned over $87 million in adjusted for inflation box office dollars. It’s 75% critic audience score is the second lowest of all the Kubrick movies. Kubrick died four days after showing the final cut to the stars Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman. FYI. The next time you watch Eyes Wide Shut….notice how there is a Christmas tree in almost every scene in the movie.
#8 Full Metal Jacket (1987) Considered by some to be the best Vietnam movie ever made. For my money I think Platoon is easily the winner of that argument. Full Metal Jacket follows some infantry riflemen from basic training at Paris Island to the Tet Offensive in 1968. It took Kubrick almost seven years to make this film. Vincent D’Onofrio and R. Lee Ermey are outstanding in the first half of the movie, neither makes it to the second half. IMDB has Full Metal Jacket ranked 86 on their Top 250 list.
#7 Lolita (1962) Lolita is a 1962 comedy-drama based on the novel by Vladimir Nabokov. James Mason plays Humbert Humbert, a 40-something British professor of French literature who falls in love with a fourteen-year old girl named Lolita. Murder, mayhem and a very funny Peter Sellers (he was Oscar® nominated for his role) take place in the movie. This was Kubrick’s 5th biggest box office hit. Jeremy Irons took over the James Mason role in the 1997 remake.
#6 The Shining (1980) Easily my favorite Staley Kubrick movie. No matter how many times I see this movie, it still can creep me out. Nicholson is fantastic, the sets are awesome, Shelly Duvall is memorable, and Danny Lloyd (his only film) as the son gives a great child performance. The Shining was Kubrick’s 4th biggest hit with $134.40 million in adjusted for inflation box office dollars. For some unknown reason to me, it received no love from the Oscar® or Golden Globe® people, not a single nomination. One of the best movies based on a Steven King book to be filmed.
#4 Barry Lyndon (1975) When people mention their favorite Kubrick movie, not too many people offer up 1975’s Barry Lyndon. Despite the movie’s lackluster box office (9th of his 13 movies), it earned seven Oscar® nominations (the most of any Kubrick film) and won four Oscars® (tied for most with Spartacus). The movie follows Ryan O’Neal’s character Barry Lyndon from the 1750’s to 1789. In Sight and Sound’s 2002 critic poll, Barry Lyndon was ranked #27 of all-time.
#3 Spartacus (1960) After veteran director Anthony Mann was fired after the first week of filming by producer Kirk Douglas. Douglas turned to Kubrick to take over the film. Douglas had appeared in Kubrick’s 4th film, Paths of Glory, and felt that Kubrick could handle the $12 million dollar budget with a cast of 10,500.
#2 Dr. Strangelove or How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Love The Bomb (1964) Dr. Strangelove was a 1964 black comedy movie that satirized the nuclear scare. The American Film Institute’s 100 years…..100 laughs poll ranks Dr. Strangelove as the 3rd funniest movie in American cinema history. Kubrick earned his first ever Oscar® nomination for Best Director for this movie. Peter Sellers was actually supposed to play 4 characters in the movie. There is great debate about why he never filmed the 4th part.
One story is that Seller’s broke his leg and therefore could not play the 4th and last part. Another story goes that Seller’s did not want to play the part and faked an injury to get out of the part. This was good news for Slim Pickens who got to play his most famous role in his career…Major “King” Kong.
Very impressive list of Kubrick movies, I have actually seen every single one of his movies. My favorites would be Paths of Glory and 2001. All his movies have some awesome moments in them, he truly was a genius.
Hey Kubrickfan…I agree that Paths of Glory is awesome….he impressed Kirk Douglas so much …that Douglas used him as the director on Spatacus…..and the rest in history….thanks for your comments
I just saw The Shining and it is still a great scary movie.
I agree BERN1960 it is a movie that gets better with each additional viewing.
….one of my favorite directors of all time just led to one of my favorite movie pages of all time and there is only one thing left to do – because the epi-man is one big film buff ….and that is to follow you and spread the word to others
Hey epigramman, I appreciate the compliment you sent through e-mail….it made a tough day go a little better….I am glad to see another film buff and I am glad you are following me…..I take suggestions on hub subjects so any actors/actresses/directors you would like to see….just let me know. Thanks for finding my page.
…just finished watching a VHS copy of Magnolia – and yes I am a big film buff – I am just scratching the surface of your fantastic hubs my friend – do you have a hub on films of Martin Scorcese, Woody Allen ….I’ll bring over a list tomorrow and list some of my favorites too. I am 53 years old so VHS is still a viable way of watching movies – lol – and another great hint I give a lot of my readers and people I follow is to always check out a film title on You Tube for a preview or an excerpt and sometimes the entire film.
My dad was a historian of World War II in particular as he was a Canadian soldier in that war for 6 years and landed on Omaha beach with Tom Hanks on D-Day – lol – just kidding about that one – the Canadians, as you know, actually landed on the Juno beach. And in civilian life he enjoyed reading about all kinds of history and loved the movies. He also wrote 70 books including his first one which were memoirs of his experiences in the war – none were ever published – but it’s still quite an achievement and his legacy will be that of a great father, my best friend and great husband.
Thank you for your endorsement of my page too and coming from someone like you that is quite a compliment.
Hey epigramman….Magnolia is a great movie…did you notice all the frog references and that Exodus 8:2 is alluded to over a hundred times throughout the movie….I love a movie that hides things in plain view.
You are the third person to suggest Woody and the first to suggest Marty …..both are good suggestions.
My mom is Canadian as well…which makes me 50% Canuck….lol…very cool about your father’s success as a writer…I will have to check that out….thanks for your great compliments.
Clockwork Orange was unbanned in the UK in the late 90’s early 2000’s I know because I saw it at a west end cinema (along with The Exorcist which was also unbanned about the same time).
This news report at the time Kubrick died might be of interest.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/clockwork-orange.
Thanks for sharing the linkSteve…it was an interesting read…..I am willing to bet the reason Kubrick put the ban on….is a combo of the death threats and the copycat violence he feared would happen….so I wonder if giant ceramic penises became the weapon of choice for London gang members?
What can I say? That is not only an excellent level Movie Page but much appreciated too. I have always regarded Stanley Kubrick as the best at cinematic direction in the west. Yet in England since it’s initial release at a cinema in London; ‘A Clockwork Orange’was immediately banned. The only way to actually see ‘A ClockWork Orange’ in England was through extremely poor video copies which were illegal. Hence even to say you had seen ‘A Clockwork Orange’ was to suggest that you had broken the law but only in England, the only country in the world where ‘A Clockwork Orange’ was an illegal film. A fascinating story from London around 1998 was a court case brought against The Scala Cinema near King’s Cross for projecting ‘A Clockwork Orange’. Even though it became the main reason that eventually led to the cinema being closed down, even though all witnesses denied the film had been projected. Yet around 1999 on the news that Stanley Kubrick had died something strange occurred. The ban on ‘A Clockwork Orange’ turned out to have been made right from the beginning of its release and only in England by of course…Stanley Kubrick. Around 2002 for the first time in England ‘A Clockwork Orange’ was aired on television purely because Stanley Kubrick had died and his wife allowed it to be shown on British TV. Also perhaps unknown reinterest has been surfacing regarding Stanley Kubrick’s work. On the original cinematic release of ‘Blade Runner’, the ending 3 minutes of landscape film footage is actually used from what Stanley Kubrick would not use in the opening of ‘The Shining’. When ‘Full Metal Jacket’ was being filmed I was working with a lady who knew the Kubrick’s pretty well and had even worked on ‘The Shining’. Yet ‘Full Metal Jacket’ was filmed entirely in an area of London called The Docklands during the second half. It has been proved to a degree that some of the reasons why Stanley Kubrick did this were, due to budget, but also because he refused to fly by aeroplane anywhere. Hence ‘Full Metal Jacket’ was partially not taken too seriously on its release in England. Yet personally, like all of Stanley Kubrick’s work totally inspiring as a director. Yet, one other fact regarding ‘The Shining’, ‘Dr. Strange Love’, ‘Lolita’, and ‘2001 A Space Odyssey’, has to be that they were all directed in England. It is pretty much common knowledge amoungst anyone who worked with Kubrick that the only way he could get some actors and actresses to do what he thought they were supposed to was let them try it their way before filming as a rehearsal, if he felt that what they did in a scene did not work and the scene did not work, Stanley would challenge them to play a game of chess with him, if they won the game then the filming would be done, but if they lost the game the scene would be filmed his way. From just about everyone who ever played chess with Stanley Kubrick no one can recall anyone ever beating him. Shelley Duvall once mentioned that even though her performance in ‘The Shining’ was extremely exhausting while filming, much of her performance is guided by Stanley Kubrick’s direction and his genius at chess.
Thanks for the compliment Liam J. Madden….thanks for all the great information in your comment….I thought Kubrick received death threats when A Clockwork Orange first came out and that is why he decided to pull the movie from release. I saw A Clockwork Orange a midnight show in the early 1980s….I had no idea what is was about going into the movie….but I still remember the feeling of watching that world he created.
As for The Shining…there is a great feature on the DVD…and you can see how Nicholson was having a blast making the movie….while Scatman Crothers and Shelly Duvall were in their own personal hell while making the movie…..but Duvall has never been better.
Matthew Modine wrote a picture book on his experience on Full Metal Jacket….it is an awesome book. Once again thanks for the great comment