Rating: 
Summary: Pretty face with naught behind it
Review: This movie looks beautiful. The costumes are impeccable, indeed downright gorgeous. The details regarding furniture, horse furniture, glassware, uniforms, even playing cards is astounding. The indoor scenes are shot by candlelight to give the proper feel.This movie sounds beautiful. Music by classical composers of the highest calibre and incidental traditional music by The Chieftans is staggering. There is never the jarring feel of non-period music or sounds, no cars, no synthesizers. This movie is boring. Ryan O'Neal looks as if he is made out of a very fine quality of wax -- he never emotes, never even appears to stir. Nothing touches him physically or emotionally. The plot is dull, the acting duller. There is no point in the movie where I give a damn about any of the characters, least of all our titular hero. No passion, no interest, no involvement; everything is poor affectation, as if the tale is taking place at two or three removes from the characters supposedly involved. I love this movie on DVD. Now I can rent it, scene-select the truly fine sequences (the battle scenes, the card game) and not have to sit through the rest of the excruiatingly dull compost heap that is the rest of the film.
Rating: 
Summary: Quite Suprizingly Un-Kubrick.
Review: I watched this film expecting the unexpected, as one tends to do with Kubrick films. However, this film just did not seem to live up to the admired oddness that most Kubrick films radiate. Cinematography is brilliant, and the costumes and makeup are top notch, but the screenplay failed to meet my expecatations. This film has no Kubrickian twists, images or characters, that probably being because it was based on W.M. Thackery's novel. The character of Barry Lyndon is quite easily a deplorable one and that adds to why I didn't enjoy this film. In the begining you like Mr. Barry but in the end you can't help but despise him. Since he is the main character, it has a toll on the over-all film. The most Kubrickian scene in this film is the horse scene and the scenes worth watching are the card games. The card game scenes really give one a sense of life during the 16th Century, not to mention the impeccable cinematography and costumes showcased in the scene. On the negative side, this film is too long and needed editing. If you are a fan of costume dramas, you will adore this film much more than I. Kubrick fans: you will be disappointed. I'm somewhere in the middle bewteen those two, and that's why I gave it three stars. One thing I'll garuntee: better novel than a film.
Rating: 
Summary: Visually, Texturally and Musically Stunning!
Review: Probibly the most beautiful movie ever made. I am talking about scenery, score, color, lighting and costume. It is flawless. The story is capturing too. I just love the dragged out climax where you are dying for it to speed up but Stanley drags it out to its fullest potential. Brilliant story telling. There were no artificial lights used in this movie. It was all done with a newly developed lense and candle light. Innovative and spectacular. A true work of art. There is something about Stanely's movies where once you see a moment of his film, you can't turn away until it is over. My uncle hates watching movies and this one is over 3 hours and he had to watch it till the end as he was so intregued. That is saying something.
Rating: 
Summary: not kubrick's best work
Review: First let me say that Stanley Kubrick is one of my favorite filmmakers. Only Hitchcock, Welles, David Fincher and a few others can compare with him. But that doesn't mean that every movie he made was great (anyone see Eyes Wide Shut?). Barry Lyndon is not a great movie. It's a period piece, and it seems well researched. The costumes are great. The sets are magnificant. And the photography is beautiful. I heard somewhere that it was like watching a painting move. And that is pretty accurate. Kubrick paid very close attention to detail, and it is a very beautiful picture to watch. The problem is that the characters are one dimensional, Lord Bullingdon being the one exception. The acting is wooden. The story moves at such a slow pace. The movie feels like it goes on for hours and hours. It's hard to believe that the same guy who made A Clockwork Orange and Full Metal Jacket is the same filmmaker who made this movie. It's just plain boring. If you are a serious film student or a hard core fan of Kubrick, I'd say watch it once, just so you can say you did. Otherwise, rewatch A Clockwork Orange.
Rating:
Summary: Just 'look' at this picture
Review: This is a wonderful movie from my all time favorite director. The story is very interesting, but above all, just "look" at this move: every scene belongs on a picture hanging from your wall, is so beautifully and masterfully composed. The balance, the colors, the shades, the light. Even without a story, just for the plastic and aesthetic value of each scene, is worth viewing, savoring and admiring.
Rating: 
Summary: Unjustly Neglected Gem
Review: "Barry Lyndon" seems to have taken a back seat to films such as "2001" and "a Clockwork Orange" whenever the subject of "great" SK films is raised. That is unfortunate because I believe this an excellent film in just about every respect: a compelling and witty story (it's really a comedy more than anything else), beautiful sets and locations, costumes and lush cinematography are among its many delights. Despite the three hour length and relaxed pacing Kubrick's assured direction and the strong performances preclude any sense of boredom. I saw and enjoyed this film when it was released in 1975 and enjoyed it even more in 2002. I'm only sorry I waited so long to see it again. The DVD remastering is superb-everything looks clear and vibrant. My only quibble is with the score which won an Oscar for "best adapted score". Kubrick's one great weakness IMO is that he seemed to think that his recurrent practice of stitching together bits of classical music (i.e. "2001" et al) was superior to hiring a professional composer to produce tailor made scores- and this already great film could have been greater still, had he hired John Williams, Alex North, Jerry Goldsmith or any number of other fine composers to enhance "Barry Lyndon".
Highly Recommended
Rating:
Summary: Dulls the brain.
Review: Nothing really going on for about three hours. It dulls the brain like many other Kubrick films. The duel between Barry and his stepson at the end is pretty good though.
Rating:
Summary: Depends On Your Mood.
Review: This is another Kubrick movie that I have changed my mind about over the years. I found it too slow and dull when I saw it on release. But now, with time and perspective, and with the luxury of DVD & home theatre I find it a beautiful and satisfying experience. First, of course, is its gorgeous look which won deserved Oscars for the Cinematographer & others. It is fanatically correct as to the period look & details. Much of the photography resembles the great paintings of English life in the 18th Century and the look & manner of everything has a complete authenticity. The story of Kubrick making his own cameras & lenses to photograph candlelit scenes naturally is well known. But it remains impressive, being the first and best approximation of what life must have looked like and been lived prior to electricity. Next the pace. It is slow. Actually, today I would say it is stately, matching the slow rhythms of the minuet and the accompanying music. I believe Kubrick intended to take us back to a time before speed, before haste, before life ruled by the nano second. People moved slowly, travel was slow, battles were fought in slow movements. The speed of life was bracketed by the footstep and the horse's gallop. There was no way or reason to move faster. Perhaps this is a failing in a modern motion picture, but it was a courageous and daring decision to pace your film to these unhurried beats. The performances are fine. They are strict in manner, formal, and precisely politely constrained to superficiality and rigidly controlled emotion. Barry undoes all his work at attempting to break into fine society when he lets loose an unbridled rage and attacks his stepson. It simply isn't done, dear boy. That the voice-over narration is wry and offers often acidly arch observations of the story and characters is Kubrickian and certainly welcome. So, this story of a rake's progress in attempting to climb and break into the world of aristocratic privelege and power has much to offer. It certainly has an undeniable grandeur in its composition and look and it does offer us as good a glimpse into what life in the long ago past might have been like as any movie is likely to achieve. I once, by happenstance, had a long alcohol-fueled conversation with Leon Vitali (Lord Bullingdon) on an Air India flight to London, discussing why Barry Lyndon didn't do well in America while it was a huge hit in Europe. It boiled down to length, slowness & no Intermission. Well, Leon, I was full of it! It's a great film. As I said at the outset, I have changed my mind about this film and now I give it 5 stars. With some patience, it is a worthwhile journey. But, if you're in a hurry, give it a pass.
Rating:
Summary: Beautifully shot, but too slow....
Review: This is one of the most beautiful movies I have seen. Apparently Stanley Kubrick wanted the movie to look like paintings from the era. It certainly does. Clocking in at over three hours, this epic tale about an Irishman's ruthless climb to nobility, and ultimately his demise, feels a little bit too long and too slowly paced. Even though the movie feels like it's about 30 to 45 minutes too long for its own good, it is still very worthwhile watching. The story is pretty intriguing and you can't help becoming involved in the rise and fall of this very unsympathetic, yet stunningly realistic "hero". Actually, Barry is anything but a hero, but that is for the viewer to judge. In this film, Mr. Kubrick's view of people, and humanity is general, is very cold, almost cynical, which lends itself very well to the story, especially given the ways of the main character. In short, watching Barry Lyndon can almost be compared with taking an intercontinental flight; the journey may seem too long, but in the end, once you're there, and you reach your destination, it is all worth it.
Rating:
Summary: Lavish, engrossing, picaresque
Review: Stanley Kubrick's beautifully opulent production takes many liberties with William Makepeace Thackeray's picaresque romance, The Memoirs of Barry Lyndon, Esq (1843), narrated in the first person depicting events from the eighteenth century. In particular, Redmond Barry who becomes Barry Lyndon, is something of an admirable rake, whereas in Thackeray's novel he is a braggart, a bully and a scoundrel. No matter. Kubrick, in keeping with a long-standing filmland tradition, certainly has license, and Thackeray won't mind. Ryan O'Neal is the unlikely star, and he does a good job, rising from humble Irish origins to the decadence of titled wealth, employing a two-fisted competence in the manly arts, including some soldiering, some thievery at cards and a presumed consummate skill in the bedroom. Marisa Berenson plays Lady Lyndon, whom Barry has managed to seduce; and when her elderly husband dies, she marries Barry thus elevating his social and economic station in life. But Barry is rather clumsy at playing at peerage, and bit by bit manages to squander most of the Lyndon fortune until his stepson, Lord Bullingdon (Leon Vitali) grows old enough to do something about it. This really is a gorgeous movie thanks to the exquisite sets and costumes and especially to John Alcott's dreamy cinematography and a fine score by Leonard Rosenman. The 184 minutes go by almost without notice as we are engrossed in the rise and fall of Barry's fortunes. There is fine acting support from Patrick Magee as the Chevalier de Balibari and Leonard Rossiter as Captain Quinn, and a number of lesser players, who through Kubrick's direction bring to life Europe around the time of the Seven Years War (1754-1763) when decadence and aristocratic privilege were still in full flower. The script features two dueling scenes, the first showing the combatants firing at one another simultaneously at the drop of a white kerchief, the second has Barry and his stepson face each other ten paces apart, but due to the flip of a coin, the stepson fires first. Both scenes are engrossing as we see the loading of the pistols with powder, ball and ramrod, and we are able to note how heavy the pistols are and how difficult it must be to hit a silhouette at even a short distance. It is this kind of careful attention to directional detail that absorbs us in the action and makes veracious the story. Notice too the way the British soldiers march directly en mass toward the French guns. They actually used to fight battles that way! Also note the incredible pile of hair atop Lady Lyndon's head. Surely this is some kind of cinematic record. Bottom line: one of Kubrick's best, certainly his most beautiful film.
|
