Barry Lyndon (The Criterion Collection)

4.8 4.8 out of 5 stars | 883 ratings

Price: 19.98

Last update: 11-18-2024


About this item

Genre Drama
Format Subtitled, Widescreen
Contributor Ryan O'Neal, Marisa Berenson, Stanley Kubrick
Language English
Runtime 3 hours and 4 minutes

From the manufacturer

Barry Lyndon (Blu-ray)

Stanley Kubrick bent the conventions of the historical drama to his own will in this dazzling vision of a pitiless aristocracy, adapted from a novel by William Makepeace Thackeray. In picaresque detail, Barry Lyndon chronicles the adventures of an incorrigible trickster (Ryan O’Neal) whose opportunism takes him from an Irish farm to the battlefields of the Seven Years’ War and the parlors of high society. For the sumptuously crafted film of his career, Kubrick recreated the decadent surfaces and intricate social codes of the period, evoking the light and texture of eighteenth-century painting with the help of cinematographic techniques and lavish costume and production design. The result is a masterpiece-a sardonic, devastating portrait of a vanishing world whose opulence conceals the moral vacancy at its heart.


Top reviews from the United States

Rodney Gene Blythe
5.0 out of 5 stars From the Master
Reviewed in the United States on August 23, 2024
What can i say, if you havent had the pleasure to view this your " not " living...
N.P.
5.0 out of 5 stars A great movie
Reviewed in the United States on August 11, 2024
This is a great movie that I highly recommend.
Frederick Baptist
5.0 out of 5 stars The Definitive Version To Own on Blu Ray!
Reviewed in the United States on July 14, 2018
One either loves or hates Stanley Kubrick's films but for one to whom this is his favourite director I can only describe my fondness for the majority of his works of which this ranks among my favourites. For me Kubrick was always a master artist except that painted with the still-picture camera or the moving picture camera. The way he frames his shots makes me feel like I'm at a major art museum watching masterpiece painting after masterpiece painting go by as I sit. I get this feeling throughout all his movies but especially so here in this film which makes this effect even more pronounced with shots that mirror actual paintings that are sometimes shown on the walls of the sets. This film is a masterpiece of lighting and has to rank among the most authentic-looking and hence the best period piece movies ever made and I can't help but feel the movie "Amadeus" also was inspired by this film.

Kubrick's films consistently represent the pinnacle of various film genres; anyone ever seen a list of best ever sci-fi films without "2001: A Space Odyssey" or "A Clockwork Orange" on it? How about a best ever comedy film list without "Dr Strangelove" or best horror list without "The Shining" or best gladiator movie without "Spartacus?" "Barry Lyndon" though as his longest film does require patience on the part of the viewer to fully reap the rewards on offer. For me the 185 minutes flew by as I was fully absorbed in taking in the colours and wonderful choices of frames that only a genius like Kubrick can come up with.

This Criterion release is a treat for fans as it represents the best version of this film on blu ray that is currently out there; the 1:66 aspect ratio is what Kubrick wanted and the surround sound option is a real plus. Also included is a 44-page glossy colour booklet containing essays on the film. The 2 discs containing the film and the special features are nicely packaged in a slim plastic case and represents yet another great Criterion release.

Highly recommended!
Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Masterpiece of Stanley Kubrick
Reviewed in the United States on January 18, 2024
Enjoying the film and highly recommend it for anyone who would appreciate the editing and period costumes. The acting is very competent especially if you consider that Kubrick films have an average of 75 takes for every scene. Exhausted is the cast after such repetitive shooting, over and over again. This fictional drama is engaging and satirical - it makes me laugh and also to weep for the flawed protagonist.
Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Like watching fine paintings coming to life. Lush! Region A
Reviewed in the United States on July 29, 2021
Watched this recently with my 2 sons, of 21 and 17 years respectively. I watched it back when it was released in the cinemas, and this looks as good as back then and sounds even better. I had bought an English version of this on Blu-ray, but was very envious of all the extras on this "Criterion" edition. It is an absolutely stunningly beautiful looking film. Like watching paintings of the great masters being used as backdrops. Filmed in natural light, lots of indoor candlelit scenes as well. (NASA developed 5 lenses for their space photography which when fully opened had a F-stop better than 1.0, they could make scenes appear to have more light than there were available. Stanley Kubrick had managed to get a hold of 3 of those lenses). Do you like Kubrick films and enjoy watching films at home, I would highly recommend a multi-region player and treat yourself to a truly great film in cinema history.
By the way, my 2 sons really enjoyed the 4K digital restored film despite the running time of 3 h. and 5 min. The 2 discs are packed with extras, which if you are a film buff makes the import cost of this Region A version a real bargain.
M. Packo
4.0 out of 5 stars Lord SK's Luminous Cage...
Reviewed in the United States on January 30, 2018
...for all the glorious ephemera of a gilded age.
Sadly ignored during our Bicentennial Year, which, no doubt, Stan was counting on to help spur interest in his magnificently poetic period piece:
During some of the 10 times I viewed BL between January and April 1976 I was practically alone in the theater - not a bad experience, actually.

Anyway, those of us who got it then finally now have the transfer that we have been deserving for decades.
Clean, subtle colors and gentle contrast; smooth grain (for a pushed 200 ISO) easeled in the full aspect ratio
that lovingly presents all this historical fantasia's splendid slow dreamy softness.
And the sound is exceptionally improved. Criterion got that part right.

But, if you are already a convert, and have seen BL many times already, then, like me, you need to know:
WHAT ABOUT THE (way overdue) SPECIAL FEATURES?!
Here, as usual, Criterion is rather lackluster.

Good stuff:
Included booklet with a first rate essay by Geoffrey O'Brien, worthy to be included on The Kubrick Site.
Two 1976 articles from American Cinematographer; readily available online, but nice to have in hand again.
Also, the only time that DP John Alcott is adequately given his due - barely mentioned in the videos!
A quite decent Making Of documentary.
Excellent piece with editor Tony Lawson, though it should have been longer.

"I have not received satisfaction.":
No interview with O'Neal or Berenson. What anecdotes and insights they could have provided!
Michael Hordern and his incomparable narration is unjustly minimized. How interesting it would have been to learn more about how those wonderful voice overs were arrived at; Hordern deserves to be considered one of the stars of the film.
Disappointing cinematography piece. Should have come with subtitles considering how unintelligible some of the crew are. Simply underwhelming in its lack of technical detail, considering how uniquely important all these aspects were to such a ground breaking work of cinematic art.
Michel Ciment ramblingly condescends to explain to us what he thinks that even Kubrick himself probably did not understand about his own creation. Typical Criterion propeller-head.
Art curator Adam Eaker likewise clues us in, while managing to confuse a Gainsborough for a Reynolds. Okay, for what it's worth.
Hardly anything interesting about the costuming.

No doubt I have been spoiled by the gold standard of special features that Peter Jackson and some others provide.
But I simply cannot leave without noting that this has been a decidedly UN-Kubrickian aspect, and fault, of practically every single video transfer of Stan's work. Who in the Kubrick Estate is to blame for this shameful lack?

In any event, this is the best we will get, until someone someday puts together a truly comprehensive Making of Barry Lyndon documentary (feature length). Then might I obtain satisfaction.

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