Seinfeld

SEINFELD BLOG

Barry Lyndon

starring: Ryan O'Neal, Marisa Berenson, Patrick Magee, Hardy Krüger, Steven Berkoff
directed by: Stanley Kubrick

: Barry Lyndon
See Larger Image







Aspect Ratio: 1.66:1
Audience Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Binding: DVD
EAN: 9780790759975
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD-Video, Full Screen, Letterboxed, Original recording remastered, Widescreen, NTSC
ISBN: 0790759977
Label: Warner Home Video
Manufacturer: Warner Home Video
Number Of Items: 1
Publisher: Warner Home Video
Region Code: 1
Release Date: June 12, 2001
Running Time: 184 minutes
Sales Rank: 40930
Studio: Warner Home Video
Theatrical Release Date: December 18, 1975



Related Items:

Editorial Review:

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
Average Rating: out of 5 stars

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars - Aspect Ratio was KUBRICK's choice!
Since I love this movie I'll limit myself to the issue of the aspect ratio. In summary: Kubrick wanted ... Read More


Rating: 5 out of 5 stars - Another Kubrick film that manages to leave a visual impression
Stanley Kubrick's Barry Lyndon is a spectacle, full of luscious visuals, extraordinary costumes, and a very ... Read More


Rating: 5 out of 5 stars - Masterpiece
The film portrays an unusual young Irish man, Redmond Barry, and his endeavours as he is forced to leave his ... Read More


Rating: 5 out of 5 stars - Great Story, Great Director, Great Movie
No problems here with this release. No real special features, but at least it's not one of those crappy snap ... Read More


Rating: 5 out of 5 stars - Time to correct and enhance the DVD
It would be nice if someone could reissue the DVD with enhanced, repaired color and grain. Kubrick wanted Barry ... Read More

More Barry Lyndon Reviews

Browse for similar items by category:







Copyright ©2003, Mark Carey.