Barry Lyndon
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Movie Reviews of Barry Lyndon
Movie Review: Absolutely Beautiful Yet So Dead.
Summary: 4 Stars
Viewed: 5/08
Rate: 8
5/08: Barry Lyndon is a superbly photographed flick that defines filmmaking in every bit but suffers from being emotionless, tediousness, and lifelessness. Ryan O'Neal's finest hour probably only happens in Barry Lyndon, and he was great in his role. He does what Heath Ledger and Ryan Phillippe (as well as thousands of other flukes) can't possibly do: act good for the day and still be already an overall bad actor. Stanley Kubrick's direction is exactly how films like Barry Lyndon should be made; he sets the bar where the standard must be met. Unfortunately, there is a legion of films that are woefully three-fourths behind that mark yet have been made regardless. Only quite a few since 1975 are at par or better with Kubrick's masterful direction. Stupidly and blindly, people praise countless other films overusing CGI as if it is actually one of the Seven Wonders of the World. When I think of Barry Lyndon, I think of standards. Admittedly, Barry Lyndon is not an overall masterpiece since I keep thinking back to Amadeus and how it had the completeness factor including the story, development of the plot and characters, and how they translate into the overall impact of a film. But Barry Lyndon, it fell short of that. The way the characters were in Barry Lyndon, they seemed to be less human. I thought it was the only disappointing thing about the film. There was an austere coldness about the film that I didn't really like. Maybe it's truly representative of that era, that is, the 17th century. Yet I was enthralled by Michael Mann's The Last of the Mohicans. If there is anything that is perfect about Barry Lyndon, it is undoubtedly the cinematography work. I even love the costume pieces; they all look genuinely real and rightly correct. Of course, I would watch Barry Lyndon again despite the fact that it's a bit tedious picture to sit through. Interestingly, as time wore on, Ryan O'Neal's face slowly resembles Marlon Brando's (I am thinking a lot of Mutiny on the Bounty). Honestly, how hard can it be to shoot a person ten paces away even when given the opportunity to fire first? It feels like a gimme. Even worse, people can actually survive from a gunshot wound at this close of a range. All in all, Barry Lyndon deserves to be watched for its beauty, but don't count on anything else.
Movie Review: They Are All Equal Now
Summary: 4 Stars
Barry Lyndon is good movie and I'm happy I saw it. It could be faulted for being occasionally slow by today's standards, but what it does have going for it is a sympathetic and likable main character Redmann Barry, aka Barry Lyndon, who goes from countryboy of no standing to the ranks of nobility (almost) by the twists and turns of fate. At 184 minutes, it's not a short movie and there are some places in it that are about as interesting as the court music which accompanies it. But, at the same time, while there are lulls in the story, it mostly tends to keep interest. Add to that the Kubrick sense of tone and irony, with a narrator stepping in from time to time to give a somewhat amused overview and finally you've got a movie that is quite watchable. It doesn't take long to get into, the filming is gorgeous and the recognizable touch of the master is unmistakable. It's a study of character and a study of "nobility" perhaps, in both senses of the word. While nowhere near as intense as say "A Clockwork Orange" or "The Shining" the stealth and pace of the direction and a quiet cosmic irony that is the signature of Kubrick is there.
As to the mastering of this DVD, it's not sure if it wants to be widescreen or full screen - a thin black line on the top and bottom of the screen suggests this (so you get a widescreen that is so wide on the top and bottom it could almost be full). In fact, I didn't find it overly distracting. The quality of the transfer was superb in every other regard, and there were English subtitles (yes!). There are no special features, and the only other drawback to the package is that the case is "environmentally friendly" which means half the plastic is taken out and that we are supposed to beleive this is good for the environment.
Movie Review: Aspect Ratio was KUBRICK's choice!
Summary: 4 Stars
Since I love this movie I'll limit myself to the issue of the aspect ratio. In summary: Kubrick wanted the film to look this way--a decision he made while preparing the now out-of-print "Collection" of his films.
According to an Editor's Note on the 1999 release (found here (Amazon doesn't allow URL-insertion, so you'll have to copy-paste): [...] the Aspect Ratio is exactly the way The Master intended.
According to the WB spokesperson quoted on the above ref'd page, "In every respect, the films in the Collection remain as Kubrick approved them." (who was that decided on these description? 16X9 TVs are more accurately described as full-screen that 4X3 TVs which leave a very large area of the screen unused).
So, while the 4X3 "full" screen is annoying for those of us with 16X9 TVs, it they way Kubrick wanted us to see it. (He also favored mono over stereo because of the vast differences in theatrical audio equipment and quality; e.g. the original cut of "Star Wars: A New Hope" had mono (the overwhelming majority of theaters, back then, had one speaker placed behind the screen), 2-channel stereo, and 5 channel stereo mixes for those tiny number of theaters which had them in 1977 (two years AFTER "Barry Lyndon"!).
Unfortunately, Amazon's product description of this version frustratingly doesn't indicate if it comes with even a 2.1 stereo version, let alone a full 5.1 mix.
Either way, it's still a great movie, gorgeously photographed and including all the hallmarks of his inimitable style.
Movie Review: Badly, Badly Miscast
Summary: 4 Stars
Ryan O'Neal does a terrible, repeat, TERRIBLE job as trying to feign an Irish accent. It is like he is not even trying. The grace in the movie is that the story is much better than the acting of O'Neal. It is a shame that Liam Neeson was not old enough at the time to portray Barry Lyndon: everything else in the movie is great, but O'Neal's disinterested acting makes it a toss-up between comic and dramatic...especially the part when he "beats up" on a much heavier and savvy soldier in a bare-knuckled fight. "Might-en I be allowed to keep my horse?" Keep the horse, and spare us the acting.Movie Review: Beautiful
Summary: 4 Stars
A technological tour de force, no less than every film to come before from Stanley Kubrick. But this one has a sense of "no urgency" (as opposed to "no sense of urgency") and it's easy to see Kubrick looking back for a moment and breathing a sigh of relief ..."Well, I got THAT out of the way!" ... and realizing he was at the summit and he was the only one there, took some self-indulgent time to make love to his cameras again, coaxing them to do things they had never been intended for.
This was good time for Stanley, and he shows it.