Product Details

• Actors: Ryan O'Neal
• Directors: Stanley Kubrick
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Studio: Warner
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (208 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B001AQT0OU
• For more information about "Barry Lyndon [Blu-ray]" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

In 1975 the world was at Stanley Kubrick's feet. His films Dr. Strangelove, 2001: A Space Odyssey, and A Clockwork Orange, released in the previous dozen years, had provoked rapture and consternation--not merely in the film community, but in the culture at large. On the basis of that smashing hat trick, Kubrick was almost certainly the most famous film director of his generation, and absolutely the one most likely to rewire the collective mind of the movie audience. And what did this radical, at-least-20-years-ahead-of-his-time filmmaker give the world in 1975? A stately, three-hour costume drama based on an obscure Thackeray novel from 1844. A picaresque story about an Irish lad (Ryan O'Neal, then a major star) who climbs his way into high society, Barry Lyndon bewildered some critics (Pauline Kael called it "an ice-pack of a movie") and did only middling business with patient audiences. The film was clearly a technical advance, with its unique camerawork (incorporating the use of prototype Zeiss lenses capable of filming by actual candlelight) and sumptuous production design. But its hero is a distinctly underwhelming, even unsympathetic fellow, and Kubrick does not try to engage the audience's emotions in anything like the usual way.

Why, then, is Barry Lyndon a masterpiece? Because it uncannily captures the shape and rhythm of a human life in a way few other films have; because Kubrick's command of design and landscape is never decorative but always apiece with his hero's journey; and because every last detail counts. Even the film's chilly style is thawed by the warm narration of the great English actor Michael Hordern and the Irish songs of the Chieftains. Poor Barry's life doesn't matter much in the end, yet the care Kubrick brings to the telling of it is perhaps the director's most compassionate gesture toward that most peculiar species of animal called man. And the final, wry title card provides the perfect Kubrickian sendoff--a sentiment that is even more poignant since Kubrick's premature death. --Robert Horton

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

143 of 152 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars This release is NOT 16x9 enhanced!, October 24, 2007

By	bunkaroo "bunkaroo" (Chicago West Suburbs, IL United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Barry Lyndon (DVD)

I just received this exact DVD from Amazon. Although the package art now carries a 2007 date, the disc inside is the same as the 2001 release. It is NOT anamorphically enhanced. In fact, the files on the DVD are dated 2001, so it literally is the exact DVD release in 2001 - the menu is the same as well. The only difference is this comes in a keep case rather than a snapper case. Such a shame that WB won't do better by this overlooked masterpiece.

48 of 50 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Underrated Kubrick Masterpiece, August 7, 2004

By	David Baldwin (Philadelphia,PA USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Barry Lyndon (DVD)

I am an unabashed Kubrick fan. I was initiated into his work with "A Clockwork Orange" when I was 16 and went from there. Why is it that "Barry Lyndon" has in my mind surpassed other more revered works. You can cite the magnificent technical attributes of the film(cinematography,art direction, costume design,music), however, a technically proficient movie is not necessarily a moving experience. I would have to say that what elevates this movie is the screenplay and the acting. Kubrick does a great job moving the story from Redmond Barry's youth to his downfall among the English aristocracy. Kubrick has also gathered a great cast of actors here in supporting roles(Parick Magee, Leonard Rossiter, Marie Kean, Godfrey Quigley, Steven Berkof, etc.). What cannot be overlooked is the performance of Ryan O'Neal. If some find him wooden or off-putting should consider that he is essentially playing an unsympathetic rogue. It is a daring performance and O'Neal is utterly convincing whether playing a headstrong teenager or a cold manipulator. One gripe about the DVDs in the Kubrick Collection: with the exception of "The Shining", the only extras on these discs are trailers.

29 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Wait For The High-Def 16x9 Release, October 25, 2007

By	M. Hickey (California, USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Barry Lyndon (DVD)

In 1975, a European reviewer wrote: "One collapses in one's seat and is propelled in a state of drunken euphoria." That's just how I felt about it, going back to experience "Barry Lyndon" over and over again at LA's Cinerama Dome in '75-76. So I give the movie 5 stars. But for this disc, only 3 -- because it's not 16x9 and it's not High-Definition.
Having recently watched the 16x9 Hi-Def Blu-Ray discs of "Eyes Wide Shut" and "A Clockwork Orange" (and having watched the old DVDs a number of times), I can say that Hi-Def makes an important difference with Kubrick's movies -- not just because they are gorgeously photographed, but because the richness of the images conveys so much essential, visceral meaning that a degraded image (i.e., standard DVD) actually impairs the work's emotional fullness, clarity and expressiveness.
Short of a new 35mm print, a 16x9 Blu-Ray displayed on a big 1080 set in the dark, uninterrupted, is the way to watch all of Kubrick, and perhaps especially "Barry Lyndon." Tragically, Warners Brothers Home Video seems uninterested in a Blu-Ray release of this masterpiece. It has been more than 2 years since they remastered and released their other Kubrick films in High-Definition, and still no "Barry Lyndon," and no announced plans (as of January 2010). I have written to Criterion Collection suggesting they take this neglected classic under their wing. Their email address is on their website ("Contact us").