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Each twist and turn of Barry Lyndon's life - his triumphs
and failures - are added to with such artistic imagery you
can almost feel the rough-hewn stone walls of his native Ireland
or the cool silks of noble fashions.
The lighting is without peer as the production team devised
ways of turning banks of powerful lights into representations
of natural light through Restoration windows or toning it
down to catch the thrown light from a single candle.
Some critics complain that Kubrick has made the movie way
too long but the deliberate pace adds to the sensation that
you are with this person and his contemporaries as he wends
his way through an adventure and experience-filled lifetime.
Ryan O'Neal is well-cast as the hero and while there are
times when you want to shake him out of behaving like a cad,
this only goes to show how engaging his portrayal has been.
The supporting cast - headed by Patrick Magee as a young
Lyndon's role model and Hardy Kruger as the ambitious Prussian
aristocrat - is without fault.
To highlight the effect the photography has upon viewers,
Kubrick has put together a soundtrack that moves from one
classical masterpiece to the next, leaving one's ears positively
vibrant.
A film filled with glorious visuals and sublime music makes
for perfect DVD material and even without a huge amount of
extras, this offering is a worthy addition to any movie collection.
Conclusion: Movie: 90% DVD Extras: 50%
Continued:
DVD details at a glance >
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