Barry Lyndon

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Barry Lyndon

PG

Released Dec 18, 1975

3h 4m

Drama

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Popcornmeter

87%

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84 Reviews

92%

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25,000+ Ratings

How does an Irish lad without prospects become part of 18th-century English nobility? For Barry Lyndon (Ryan O'Neal) the answer is: any way he can! His climb to wealth and privilege is the enthralling focus of this sumptuous Stanley Kubrick version of William Makepeace Thackeray's novel.

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Critics Consensus

Cynical, ironic, and suffused with seductive natural lighting, Barry Lyndon is a complex character piece of a hapless man doomed by Georgian society.

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Pauline Kael

New Yorker

Barry Lyndon indicates that Kubrick is thinking through his camera, and that's not really how good movies get made.

Oct 24, 2023

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Adam Nayman

The Ringer

The sense of torpor simultaneously helps to call attention to the painterly beauty of the images-widescreen compositions evoking the light and coloring of 18th century paintings-and the grim, fatalistic determinism of the narrative...

Mar 27, 2020

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Donald Clarke

Irish Times

Barry Lyndon is, despite its rigorous construction, also among Kubrick's more emotionally engaged films.

Rated: 5/5

Mar 20, 2019

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Kat Halstead

Common Sense Media

It's not laugh-out-loud funny, but there's a dry wit at play that adds a kind of comedy of manners element to the epic drama about a man at once casually unassuming but unwaveringly ambitious.

Rated: 4/5

Oct 11, 2023

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Christopher Connor

The Film Magazine

Make no mistake, Barry Lyndon is one of Stanley Kubrick’s finest films, its status as a less celebrated offering perhaps coming as the result of its position of release being between the vastly more popular A Clockwork Orange and The Shining.

Aug 8, 2023

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Steve Warren

The Barb (Atlanta)

It may be the most beautifully photographed movie in history, but that's all it is.

May 9, 2023

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Fer S

Amazing movie. You can enjoy it a lot even if you are not a history fan. By the end it started getting slow, but it is still such an interesting story.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

10/30/24

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Rick T

Depressing. Beautifully filmed with a bunch of rotten people.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

10/25/24

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Andrew M

When a film absent of dialogue shows two people fall in love, it is a perfect work of art.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

10/11/24

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Aaron P

Barry lyndon is a film with an overly large length and too much filler... is what i have heard far to often this film is kubricks second best beaten only by 2001. my main reason for the love is the due to the gourgious cinematogrophy the simatry in this film is beautiful. another reason i love the film is the score which is elegant yet brash matching the main charector. while the acting leaves much to be desired but as i watched the film i viewed it as more a play. as the sets were all simple the violence was often exaderated etc. the ending of the film (the final duel i mean) is amazing as throughout the film we see bary violently repermand bullingdon. however despite him having an opertunity to fire on him he doesn't instead firing in the ground, which to me implied that he had respect for bullingdon trying to raise him to be stronger.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

09/04/24

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Kevin L

This is not even close to Kubrick's best movies. The friggin' flute & other prancy music in the background is distracting if not outright annoying. Now I know why I skipped this one for so long. O'Neal's acting is often just plain bad. Gimme Paths of Glory, Spartacus, Dr. Strangelove, 2001, and Clockwork over this pompous, bombastic bore. 2.6 stars

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

08/20/24

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Audience Member

Total Snoozefest! I saw this upon initial release as Kubrick had made "A Clockwork Orange" two years earlier. Most of the sparse audience in a rather large urban theatre walked out by halfway through. I would have, too, but I brought a date. She probably hated it, too. Ryan O'Neal stinks up everything he's in. I guess being a bad actor "...means never having to say you're sorry!" I don't give a rodent's posterior about the great lighting and camerawork; if you can't put an engaging story on the screen it's nothing but an ego trip, and Kubrick was known for those eg: 2001, Eyes Wide Shut, and THIS turkey.

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

07/25/24

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Stanley Kubrick

Director

Ryan O'Neal

Barry Lyndon

Marisa Berenson

Lady Lyndon

Patrick Magee

Chevalier de Baliban

Hardy Krüger

Capt. Potzdorf

Steven Berkoff

Lord Ludd

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Synopsis

How does an Irish lad without prospects become part of 18th-century English nobility? For Barry Lyndon (Ryan O'Neal) the answer is: any way he can! His climb to wealth and privilege is the enthralling focus of this sumptuous Stanley Kubrick version of William Makepeace Thackeray's novel.

Director: Stanley Kubrick
Producer: Stanley Kubrick
Screenwriter: Stanley Kubrick, William Makepeace Thackeray
Distributor: Warner Bros. Pictures
Production Co: Hawk Films, Warner Bros., Peregrine
Rating: PG
Genre: Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Dec 18, 1975, Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Dec 31, 2007
Runtime: 3h 4m
Sound Mix: Mono
Aspect Ratio: Flat (1.66:1)

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