Criterion’s Complete Kubrick Set Restores Every Film in 4K

Criterion is preparing its most comprehensive Stanley Kubrick collection yet. The Complete Kubrick, arriving October 20, brings together all 13 of the director’s feature films and three early shorts in a 30-disc edition built around 4K restorations.

The set stretches from Kubrick’s earliest work through Eyes Wide Shut. It also includes more than 25 hours of interviews and archival material, giving collectors a single package that covers both the films and the methods behind them.

Rare material expands the familiar canon

Archivist Michael Chaiken told Deadline that the project grew out of Criterion’s restoration of Eyes Wide Shut. Once studios made the feature films available, the team pursued the harder-to-clear early work so the collection could live up to its title.

Among the standout additions are Kubrick’s original cut of the short Day of the Fight, an authorized edition of Fear and Desire, previously unseen Lolita screen tests and rare footage from Full Metal Jacket. The package also presents both the American and international cuts of The Shining together.

Chaiken said the Library of Congress held negatives for Fear and Desire and the shorts, including the original Day of the Fight element that had not been recognized as such. The restoration team also worked with studios, Kubrick’s estate and former collaborators to keep the transfers faithful to the films’ intended look.

A premium set with a few carried-over discs

The 4K presentations are the headline upgrade, but not every included Blu-ray is newly authored. Physical Media News reported that Criterion confirmed the Blu-rays for Paths of Glory and Dr. Strangelove reuse the label’s earlier standalone discs, with subtitle updates. The outlet also noted other carried-over elements within the package.

That distinction matters for collectors comparing versions, but the larger attraction is the unified scope: features, shorts, alternate cuts and extensive supplements in one release. Criterion also plans standalone editions of some titles, although it has not announced a complete schedule.

For Kubrick viewers, the box is less a final word than a newly organized archive. Chaiken said further standalone restorations are expected to begin appearing over the next year.