Kubrick, Stanley

2001; a space odyssey by Arthur C Clarke ( Book )
36 editions published between 1960 and 2008 in 4 languages and held by 3,140 libraries worldwide
When an enigmatic monolith is found buried on the moon, scientists are amazed to discover that it's at least 3 million years old. Even more amazing, after it's unearthed the artifact releases a powerful signal aimed at Saturn. What sort of alarm has been triggered? To find out, a manned spacecraft, the Discovery, is sent to investigate. Its crew is highly trained--the best--and they are assisted by a self-aware computer, the ultra-capable HAL 9000. But HAL's programming has been patterned after the human mind a little too well. He is capable of guilt, neurosis, even murder, and he controls every single one of Discovery's components. The crew must overthrow this digital psychotic if they hope to make their rendezvous with the entities that are responsible not just for the monolith, but maybe even for human civilization.

Dr. Strangelove, or, How I learned to stop worrying and love the bomb ( Visual )
103 editions published between 1963 and 2011 in 4 languages and held by 3,030 libraries worldwide
A satire in which the U.S. president and his military advisors struggle ineptly to avert a holocaust after a psychotic Air Force general launches a nuclear attack on the Soviet Union because he fears that the Russians are poisoning the water supply in the United States.

Spartacus ( Visual )
105 editions published between 1959 and 2010 in 8 languages and held by 2,325 libraries worldwide
Spartacus is the bold gladiator slave who leads a massive slave revolt against Imperial Rome in this epic true account of man's eternal struggle for freedom.

2001 a space odyssey ( Visual )
21 editions published between 1968 and 2011 in English and held by 2,101 libraries worldwide
A space voyage to Jupiter erupts in disaster when the ship's computer goes mad.

2001 a space odyssey ( Visual )
107 editions published between 1968 and 2009 in 6 languages and held by 1,804 libraries worldwide
A science fiction film which moves from the pre-historic birth of intelligence toward the emergence of man as pure thought somewhere in the future.

Paths of glory ( Visual )
58 editions published between 1955 and 2010 in 6 languages and held by 1,804 libraries worldwide
The desolation, cynicism, and futility of war are embodied in this film based on a novel that took as its subject a real incident from World War I. Three innocent French soldiers are tried and convicted of cowardice, after their battalion fails to take a heavily fortified German position. Colonel Dax, a lawyer in civilian life, attempts to defend the men, who were chosen by a random drawing of lots. The General Staff, comfortable and safe behind the lines, demands they be executed to inspire the troops remaining in the trenches. Critical of the military hierarchy, and the class divisions that inspire the antipathy of common soldiers for the officer class, the film is renowned for its depiction of the callous treatment of the condemned men, taking their lives in so arbitrary a fashion.

A clockwork orange ( Visual )
9 editions published between 1986 and 2011 in English and held by 1,705 libraries worldwide
"Being the adventures of a young man who couldn't resist pretty girls, or a bit of the old ultra-violence, who went to jail, was re-conditioned, and came out a different young man. Or was he?" So might opine your humble narrator, Alex. Alex and his droogs Georgie, Dim, and Pete are bored. Alex loves Ludwig van, milk bars, and mayhem. One night a botched burglary ends in murder. Apprehended by the police, Alex is tried, sentenced, and sent to prison for fourteen years. Two years into his sentence, he signs up for The Ludovico Treatment, and is released as cured. However, the world is a harsh and violent place, and now Alex is unable to defend himself. O my brothers, what will happen to poor Alex now?

The shining ( Visual )
14 editions published between 1980 and 2011 in English and held by 1,653 libraries worldwide
A young boy and his parents spend the winter in a resort hotel which is possessed by ghosts.

Full metal jacket ( Visual )
12 editions published between 1986 and 2007 in English and held by 1,561 libraries worldwide
Vietnam war drama which begins with a depiction of the brutality of Marine Corps training and then shifts to Vietnam, focusing mainly on a group of Marines responding to the Tet Offensive of 1968.

A clockwork orange ( Visual )
98 editions published between 1941 and 2011 in 4 languages and held by 1,387 libraries worldwide
Depicts a harrowing journey through a near-future world of decaying cities, murderous adolescents and nightmarish technologies of punishment and crime.