Barry Lyndon 4K Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		5.0
Audio		5.0
Extras		4.5
Overall		4.5

Barry Lyndon 4K Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov July 19, 2025

Stanley Kubrick's "Barry Lyndon" (1975) arrives on 4K Blu-ray courtesy of Criterion. The supplemental features on the release include archival program with actor Leon Vitali; archival program with focus puller Douglas Milsome and gaffer Lou Bogue; archival program with critic and author Christopher Frayling; original trailers; and more. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-Free.

The time period is irrelevant because the dilemma is always the same: should you be a man of principle and risk living a life full of bitter disappointments, or should you steer away from all principles and vigorously pursue your dreams no matter what the moral consequences may be. Think about it. Even today it is always one or the other -- always, there isn’t a third option. The choice that you make will then define the person you become, as well as the life that you are going to end up living.

The exact same dilemma quickly emerges as the central piece in Stanley Kubrick’s film. Initially, Barry Lyndon (Ryan O’Neal) follows his heart but gets cheated and punished, and later on, after he suffers a string of personal failures, he slowly begins to realize that being a man of principle may not be all it’s cracked up to be. So he trades his principles for a future that he believes will transform him into a winner.

The entire first half of the film is about Barry’s gradual transformation from a vulnerable idealist into a suave player who can always correctly guess his opponents’ next steps. During the Seven Years’ War, he comes face to face with death, but instead of reminding him of his righteousness and redirecting his life, the experience only further solidifies his decision to use every opportunity he gets to widen the gap between his past and the future he desires. Then, as time passes, Barry routinely adopts new identities -- he becomes a shameless seducer, a political informer, even the right-hand man of a notorious cheater with a seemingly endless list of powerful enemies.

A lot of what makes this film special has to do with Kubrick’s ability to sell it as a beautiful and very elegant period piece, which, in a way, it actually is. But it is also one of the most cynical dissections of human nature that you are likely ever to see disguised as a period film. Barry’s rise to the very top of the social ladder is like a clinical study of the many human flaws and vices that make it possible for opportunists like him to thrive and hurt those who become trapped in their lies and secrets. Quite like an experienced physician, Kubrick provides multiple examples in which he carefully highlights the pain and damage that they inevitably bring with them.

As odd as it may sound, however, Barry also emerges as someone who deserves some admiration because he dares to play the system. He isn’t a rebel, just a survivor whose best chance to continue to stay alive is to move to the other side, where the winners are. Kubrick understands it and does not mind that once there, he decides to take advantage of those who are naive enough to trust him. The rules are different here, and so should be Barry’s priorities. It does sound cynical, but it is awfully difficult not to agree with Kubrick’s logic.

O’Neal was an unusual pick to play the ambitious Irishman, as he does not look like an authentic William Makepeace Thackeray character. However, there is something about his obvious stiffness in a number of different sequences that actually helps his transformation in the period environment that Kubrick created.

The film’s visual beauty is astonishing, though this is hardly surprising. Kubrick, cinematographer John Alcott, and production designer Ken Adam are quite simply an unbeatable team.

Barry Lyndon 4K Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Criterion's release of Barry Lyndon is a 4K Blu-ray/Blu-ray combo pack. The 4K Blu-ray is Region-Free. However, the Blu-ray is Region-A "locked".

Please note that some of the screencaptures included with this article are taken from the 4K Blu-ray and downscaled to 1080p. Therefore, they do not accurately reflect the quality of the 4K content on the 4K Blu-ray disc.

Screencaptures #1-18 are from the Blu-ray.
Screencaptures #20-38 are from the 4K Blu-ray.

The following text appears inside the leaflet provided with this release:

"Barry Lyndon is presented in the film's photographed aspect ratio of 1.66:1, as specified in a December 8, 1975, letter from director Stanley Kubrick to projectionists. The new 4K restoration presented on the 4K Blu-ray disc was created from the 35mm original camera negative. The high-definition transfer created in 2000 and supervised by Leon Vitali, Kubrick's personal assistant, served as a color reference for this new master. The original monaural soundtrack was remastered from the 35mm magnetic DME (dialogue, music, and effects) track. The alternate 5.1 track was created in 2000 from original soundtrack stems by Vitali and audio engineer Chris Jenkins.

Mastering supervisors: Lee Kline, Giles Sherwood.
Colorist: Janet Wilson, Warner Bros. Motion Picture Imaging, Burbank, CA, with additional color by Sheri Eisenberg/Warner Bros. Motion Picture Imaging.
Image restoration: Prasad Corporation, Burbank, CA.
Audio restoration: The Criterion Collection."

A 4K restoration of Barry Lyndon was introduced on Blu-ray with this release, produced by Criterion in 2017. The same 4K restoration is retained on the Blu-ray included in this combo pack. In native 4K, the new 4K restoration can be viewed with Dolby Vision and HDR grades. I chose to view it with HDR.

Unsurprisingly, Barry Lyndon looks wonderful in native 4K. All of its visuals are lush and rather strikingly healthy, boasting impressive density levels. On a large screen, these impressive density levels, I think, produce most of the meaningful upticks in quality, strengthening delineation and depth in different ways in various areas. However, I must immediately state that the gap in quality between the native 4K and 1080p presentations that I observed on my system was very small. Indeed, even in areas where the strengthened delineation and depth, and superior dynamic range of the native 4K visuals, were undeniable, a quick comparison with the 1080p presentation easily revealed similarly great 1080p visuals. The expanded color gamut of the native 4K presentation is perhaps preferable, but again, color reproduction on the 1080p presentation is still very easy to describe as terrific. The 4K presentation's management of grain exposure is a lot easier to praise. For example, in various areas, there are visuals with noticeable density fluctuations, and on the native 4K presentation, virtually all of them have a tighter appearance. Screencapture #4 is from one such area. The HDR grade handles darker material nicely, without producing distracting flattening. However, there are a few spots where very low lighting and candlelight create nuanced shadows that can appear a tad too dark. I prefer how these spots look in 1080p. However, I suspect that different viewers will have different experiences with the same material on their systems. Image stability is excellent. I did not encounter any encoding anomalies to report in our review. In summary, on my system, the native 4K and 1080p presentations of Barry Lyndon look equally great and pleasing. There are some minuscule discrepancies in the manner in which they reproduce select aspects of the original cinematography, but this is to be expected, so I find both to be equally convincing.

Barry Lyndon 4K Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There are two standard audio tracks on this release: English LPCM 1.0 and English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1. Optional English SDH subtitles are provided for the main feature.

I decided to view the new 4K restoration with the 5.1 track. This track is a good option to have because there is quite a bit of footage where it effecitvely opens up the dynamic field. Predictably, the difference is very easy to notice during the action footage, but elsewhere there is movement and dynamic contrasts that are very effective. The dialog is very clear, stable, and easy to follow.

Barry Lyndon 4K Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

4K BLU-RAY DISC

• Bonus Features - there are no bonus features on the disc.

BLU-RAY DISC ONE

• Bonus Features - there are no bonus features on the disc.

BLU-RAY DISC TWO

• Making Barry Lyndon - this archival program examines the production history of Barry Lyndon and Stanley Kubrick's reputation of being a perfectionist. Included in it are clips from an archival interview with the late director and recent interviews with executive producer Jan Harlan, location scout Katharina Kubrick, first assistant director Brian Cook, and actors Dominic Savage and Leon Vitali, amongst others. The program was produced exclusively for Criterion in 2017. In English, not subtitled. (38 min).

• Achieving Perfection - in this archival program, focus puller Douglas Milsome and gaffer Lou Bogue recall what it was like to work with Stanley Kubrick and discuss the visual style of Barry Lyndon. Also included are excerpts from an archival interview with cinematographer John Alcott in which he discusses the type of lenses used to shoot the film. The program was produced exclusively for Criterion in 2017. In English, not subtitled. (16 min).

• Timing and Tension - in this archival program, editor Tony Lawson discusses Stanley Kubrick's working methods and fascination with technology as well as the editing of Barry Lyndon. The program was produced exclusively for Criterion in 2017. In English, not subtitled. (14 min).

• Drama in Detail - in this archival program, historian and author Christopher Frayling (Ken Adam: The Art of Production Design) discusses the impressive legacy of Oscar-winning production designer Ken Adam and his professional relationship with Stanley Kubrick. The program was produced exclusively for Criterion in 2017. In English, not subtitled. (14 min).

• Balancing Every Sound - in this archival program, actor Leon Vitali, who was Stanley Kubrick's personal assistant, discusses the important role sound has in the director's work and the original sound design of Barry Lyndon. There are also some interesting comments about the 5.1 remix that was created in 2000. The program was produced exclusively for Criterion in 2017. In English, not subtitled. (11 min).

• On the Costumes - presented here is an archival segment from the September 19, 1976, broadcast of Les rendez-vous du dimanche in which Ulla-Britt Soderlund discusses the fabrics and costumes that were used in Barry Lyndon and her work with designer Milena Canonero. In French, with optional English subtitles. (5 min).

• Passion and Reason - in this archival program, critic Michel Ciment (Kubrick: The Definitive Edition) discusses the evolution of Stanley Kubrick's style, the narrative structure of Barry Lyndon, and the theme of 'passion vs. reason' that reappears in different forms in the director's films. The program for Criterion in 2017. In English, not subtitled. (18 min).

• A Cinematic Canvas - in this archival program, Metropolitan Museum of Art assistant curator Adam Eaker discusses the compositional devices of 18th century painting that inspired Stanley Kubrick and ultimately influenced the visual style of Barry Lyndon. Also included are direct comparisons between original paintings and carefully composed scenes from the film. The program was produced exclusively for Criterion in 2017. In English, not subtitled. (15 min).

• Trailers - two original trailers for Barry Lyndon. In English, not subtitled.
  
  1. Trailer One. (5 min).
  2. Trailer Two. (3 min).

ADDITIONAL CONTENT

• Booklet - 40-page illustrated booklet featuring Citic Geoffrey O'Brien's essay "Time Regained" and two pieces about the look of Barry Lyndon from the March 1976 issue of American Cinematographer, as well as technical credits.

Barry Lyndon 4K Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

There is a degree of cynicism in Barry Lyndon that I find quite unsettling but also very refreshing because it exposes human beings as they are -- intelligent but strikingly naive and vulnerable creatures that routinely misjudge each other and then suffer the consequences of their flawed choices. Of course, it is hidden behind some absolutely astonishing visuals, but it is there and distinctively Kubrick-esque. This combo pack release introduces a new 4K restoration of Barry Lyndon that looks great in native 4K. However, I find the previous 4K restoration of the film, which was introduced on Blu-ray in 2017, equally satisfying. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.