Rating: 
Summary: Probably Kubrick's Best Film
Review: Its not surprising that there are some who'd find this film dull, since it requires an attention span in excess of the 30 seconds or so most self-absorbed Americans are able to eke out if they try really hard. This is a great film for all the reasons that have been outlined below, but it bears repeating how really stunning every single frame is visually, and how the acting is so seamlessly good that the it seems to flow right into the photography and the set design. Its also a very funny film. And let's not forget Kubrick's masterly use of sound design -- how he could use long silences to enhance the drama of a sudden event (for instance, the accidental discharge of Lord Bullington's gun into the ground in the barn towards the end of the film). In a movie like this, every shot, every gesture, every sound becomes freighted with significance. No surprise, then, that it taxes the ability of many who try to watch it. This isn't for them. Yes, it is overindulgent in its length and in its having an intermission, but to me that it such a wonderful reminder of that brief period in the 1970s when the young directors ruled the scene. Yes, Kubrick made a wrong bet on using the zoom a little too much. But these are minor quibbles. Forget "Wings of the Dove" or the other junk that passes for historical costume drama now and see what a real master could conjure.
Rating:
Summary: One of the most amazing films ever
Review: A deeply fascinating, though not very comforting period drama, Barry Lyndon is an immensely detailed masterpiece that requires profound attention for all three hours it takes the story to unfold, but also proves very rewarding and memorable at the end. There are many things in the movie that look downright unpleasant and even disgusting. The aristocratic hypocrisy under the mask of good manners, the weakness of character of many key figures (including the protagonist himself) - all this hardly makes for a movie which would be entertaining in a conventional sense. On the other hand, the honesty with which Kubrick transforms this particular adventure into a period piece of utmost importance is breathtaking, and the visual style of the film earn it the merit of being one of the most gorgeous movies ever made. Certainly not a movie to see as a substitute for the latest romantic comedy that's out of stock, Barry Lyndon is, despite (and maybe because of) this, one of the most wonderful cinematic experiences one can imagine. A work like this one gives a good name to cinematography itself.
Rating: 
Summary: ONE STAR ON A GOOD DAY!
Review: This is not only Kubrick's worst film, but possibly one of the worst films of all time. Boring does not begin to describe it. The movie would be much better off in an hour and a half version. Don't waste your time!
Rating:
Summary: The Best Picture of the World
Review: This is the best picture I have ever seen, the production is awesome, the colors will take you to other times, the make up is fantastic, I will not bother you with more words It is a real masterpiece I miss Mr Kubrick The Greatest Director
Rating:
Summary: The all-time insomnia cure!
Review: After seeing this, it will surprise no one to learn that Stanley Kubrick was once a professional stills photographer. He must also be a professional hypnotist to have so many sheep under his power.
Rating:
Summary: Brilliant!
Review: This is a brilliant film misunderstood by those who wanted it to be something else. Kubrick's visual style is magnificient, as always. There are many bits of Kubrick's dark sense of humor, particualrly in the opening dueling sequence. One theme that seems to be pervasive: Man is often ugly, but what he creates is often beautiful. I miss him alreadyTony Tsendeas
Rating:
Summary: I never tire of watching it
Review: When director Stanley Kubrick lensed a film based on William Makepeace Thackeray's novel "Barry Lyndon," many fans wondered why. Why would a man who made the science fiction classic "2001: A Space Odyssey," a film set in the future about man's move into outer space, go so far into the past to film a story about a guy social climbing his way through the nineteenth century English aristocracy? Good question. Fortunately, the answer, if there is one, isn't nearly as important as the fact that Kubrick made the film. "Barry Lyndon" may well rank as the finest piece of cinematic art made in the last thirty years. I personally love watching period piece films, and this movie ranks at the very apogee of the pictures from the genre that are often made but rarely successful. The only other film I have seen that matches Kubrick's eye for detail and flair for style is Eric Rohmer's "The Marquise of O," another film lifted from the pages of an early nineteenth century writer. Both of these men, but especially Kubrick, seemed to realize that the only way we can understand the distant past is to look closely at the things they left behind. Therefore, "Barry Lyndon" borrows heavily from paintings, letters, and accounts of the era. It's very difficult to spot an anachronism in this film. The movie has a timeless, ageless feel most other period pictures fail to capture.The story follows the trials and travails of an Irishman named Redmond Barry (Ryan O'Neal). Born into poverty on a small farm, Barry first runs into trouble during his teens when he falls in love with his cousin. The family seeks to remove young Redmond from the picture because an English officer, a Captain Quinn, has taken a shine to the girl. If they allow the cousins to marry, the family will not take part in the officer's considerable wealth. Barry refuses to play along, challenging the Englishman to a duel whereupon he promptly puts a bullet through the officer's chest. Whisked away from the scene by family members concerned about the duel, our hero joins the English army as a way to escape from his bleak future. Then comes war, with England fighting nearly everyone else on the continent. Barry, unimpressed with the idea of dying for his king, deserts but soon falls into the hands of the enemy. Faced with the threat of execution, Redmond agrees to join the Prussian Army, which turns out to be worse than his stint with the English. Fortune smiles when the Irishman saves the life of an officer, an officer with connections to the ministry of information. A plot is hatched whereby Redmond Barry will act as a confidante of the Chevalier de Balibari (Patrick Magee), a French diplomat suspected of espionage. De Balibari is actually an Irishman living in exile, a fact that causes Redmond Barry to confess his true identity to the man. The Chevalier, impressed with such honesty, promptly takes his fellow countryman into his confidence. The two form a plan that allows them both to sneak out of the country, whereupon they take up lives as confidence men and swindlers on the continent. It is during his tenure as a card shark that Barry meets Lady Lyndon (Marisa Berenson), a beautiful and extremely wealthy woman married to the ancient, crotchety Sir Charles Lyndon (Frank Middlemass). Redmond ingratiates himself into Lady Lyndon's graces to the point that when her husband dies, the good lady marries our hero. Redmond Barry disappears, replaced by Barry Lyndon, a wealthy man with property, money, and connections. Lyndon knows his success depends on his wife, so he spends enormous sums to curry favor with the court. He hopes to acquire his own title, which would translate into his own property and money deeded him by the Crown. Life isn't all roses, as Barry Lyndon must cope with Lord Bullingdon (Leon Vitali), Lady Lyndon's sullen and hateful son as well as his wife's suspicious assistant Reverend Samuel Runt. Lyndon thinks he's got it made when his wife gives birth to a child, Bryan, who carries the precious noble blood. What goes up must invariably come down, however, as a series of massive tragedies rock the Lyndon household. "Barry Lyndon" is an intriguing film. One wonders why Kubrick made it. Perhaps the director liked the idea of an underclass individual scheming his way into the rigid upper classes of the time. Perhaps the movie is a morality tale about a ruthless scalawag eventually getting what he deserves. If the answer is the latter, I don't think it works. If Barry Lyndon were truly ruthless, he would have seen to it that Lord Bullingdon pulled a disappearing act. Doing so would have assured his child's role as heir of the Lyndon title. Whatever the reasons behind this film, you don't have to worry about it too much to enjoy Kubrick's work. The set pieces and costumes are phenomenal, the acting wonderful, the photography breathtaking. Especially developed for this film was a special camera lens that could work by candlelight. The musical score consists of Mozart, Vivaldi, Bach, Schubert, and Handel. Arguably the best element of the film is the way Kubrick places his characters in a way that resemble paintings of the period. Pay attention to the scenes that take place in the garden where Barry meets Lady Lyndon or the confrontation between Bullingdon and Barry at the gentleman's club. You can literally see characters move into position and pose as though for a portrait. And that final duel! I could watch that scene a million times-and probably have. A wonderful film, "Barry Lyndon" on DVD contains only a trailer as an extra. I'm not complaining too much, though. The movie is more than enough reason to buy the DVD. Watch it and wonder.
Rating:
Summary: Gordon Gekko in 1767
Review: Barry Lyndon is traditionally seen as Stanley Kubrick's weakest film. Yet a certain number of newer reviewers - and Martin Scorsese - are only now beginning to see that this film has been terribly underrated. When I first saw this movie I sided very much with those who believed the film to be pointless eye candy. I couldn't see any point to this movie, which seemed to consist of more or less random events with no real beginning or end, and nothing worth remarking on in between. Of course, years later I began having flashbacks of this movie, and was sorely tempted to buy the DVD, a purchase I finally made (the DVD is very good). "Barry Lyndon" is as much a Greek tragedy as Godfather Part II or the second half of Gone with the Wind. Here Barry Lyndon is trapped by fate, after a series of events set off by aspects of his own character. His very attempts to make himself still richer, towards the end of the film results in an awful mess that is suspiciously reminiscent of Gone with the Wind. I think Margaret Mitchell may possibly have read the novel.(*spoiler!* Hmm, where have I seen a child falling off a horse before?) Barry Lyndon, as a nouveau riche social climber desperately trying to find what we would call "the American Dream" is strangely modern as a figure. The story of his rise and fall is like that of any modern, money-hungry social climber, and is quite relevant to our present world. At any rate, the film is also a masterpiece of atmosphere and style. The care with which the film was made was clearly excruciating, with scenes as carefully plotted out and filmed as any oil painting. Despite Kubrick's reputation as a rather emotionless director, there are plenty of funny scenes. My favourite scenes in this regard are the scenes showing the Chevalier de Balibari playiong cards - the innocent look on his face as he cheats his opponents gets funnier every time you see it.
Of course, there is the famous Schubert Trio scene, where Redmond Barry seduces Lady Lyndon in an incredibly long, slow, but well-timed scene. The movements of eighteenth century aristocrats through their ritualised world is truly as absorbing to watch, as the incredibly slow space pod scenes in Space Odyssey. Of course, there is no Star Gate here; no profundity of theme or mysticism; no deep truths. Barry Lyndon does not try to be as deep as Clockwork Orange, in the same way that Scorsese's Age of Innocence did not aspire to the depth of Taxi Driver. That is not the point. The film could be said to be more style than substance; but in that case it could be said to join Citizen Kane and Blade Runner. It's still damn fine filmmaking. The original novel frankly bears little resemblance to the finished film. (I am reading it now). The novel Barry Lyndon is truly a picaresque novel with a rascally, lively narrator far removed from Ryan O'Neal's very understated portrayal; and in fact the general atmosphere of the book reminded me much more of Oliver Twist or Gulliver's travels than the stately and classy environment of the film. In this respect Kubrick has taken the skeleton of plot from the novel, and laced it with copious amounts of Kubrickian flesh.
Rating: 
Summary: An indulgence and guilty pleasure
Review: Slow as molasses in January, and as sweet, while the camera lingers, soulfully kissing and savoring each moment. With immaculate precision of detail, Kubrick constructs his story of the hapless rogue Lyndon, portrayed by that expert at haplessness, Ryan O'Neal. Being no heavyweight in the acting department (but being cute enough to not have to be), the lengthy script about the rogue's success has been tailored in such a way that it flatters O'Neal's meager abilities. By method of Michael Hordem's sonorous narration, much of what O'Neal has to do is look handsome in his 18th century wardrobe. And that he does. The same is virtually true of co-star Marisa Berenson, who also co-starred in *Cabaret*. She is not an incredibly gifted actress, but she is indeed, an incredibly gifted beauty. So, she, too, must rely on her attractiveness. This is a time-honored Hollywood tradition that still lives and breathes today. If they gave Oscars for being attractive (and they do, don't they, Gwyneth?), this movie would have raked in the awards. It won four, anyway - Best Cinematography, Best Art Direction/Set Decoration, Best Costume Design and Best Musical Adaptation. Clocking in at 3 hours and 3 minutes, Kubrick fans are deeply conflicted over whether or not this is a masterpiece.
Rating:
Summary: brilliant
Review: This is possibly one of the best, if not THE best, movies I have ever seen. The cinematography, the music, the acting, and the directing were the top of the line. I can't even begin to imagine how Kubrick directed some of the scenes in this movie. They seem so real and intense, I forgot on several occasions that this was simply fiction.
The lighting, which is some technology I don't quite understand, is all natural. I loved this. Every scene glows with warmth and beauty, and the characters look even more fine in their finery.
And I seem to be one of the only reviewers that finds no fault with Ryan O'Neal as Barry Lyndon! The first few scenes I was not impressed so much, but the movie is very lengthy and there was plenty of time for O'Neal to prove himself apt and perfect for the part. I think some people are mistaking the trueness of a sometimes bland character for a bland actor.
One of the things I loved best about this movie was the fact that the protagonist, if you can call him that, isn't someone you can always sympathise with. Barry is the central character, and you begin to feel like you understand him, but you definently don't always like him.
And I won't even start on the music, except to say that while in the beginning I found the contrast between beautiful soft music and violent scenes somewhat jarring, it evolved into an art. The music was playing in my head for days after I watched this. Exquisite.
This movie didn't win all of its awards for nothing!
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