897 Barry Lyndon

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swo17
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897 Barry Lyndon

#1 Post by swo17 » Mon Jul 17, 2017 5:34 pm

Barry Lyndon

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Stanley Kubrick bent the conventions of the historical drama to his own will in this dazzling vision of brutal aristocracy, adapted from a novel by William Makepeace Thackeray. In picaresque detail, Barry Lyndon chronicles the adventures of an incorrigible trickster (Ryan O'Neal) whose opportunism takes him from an Irish farm to the battlefields of the Seven Years' War and the parlors of high society. For the most sumptuously crafted film of his career, Kubrick recreated the decadent surfaces and intricate social codes of the period, evoking the light and texture of eighteenth-century painting with the help of pioneering cinematographic techniques and lavish costume and production design, all of which earned Academy Awards. The result is a masterpiece—a sardonic, devastating portrait of a vanishing world whose opulence conceals the moral vacancy at its heart.

SPECIAL FEATURES

• New 4K digital restoration, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray
• Alternate 5.1 surround soundtrack, presented in DTS-HD Master Audio on the Blu-ray
• New documentary featuring cast and crew interviews as well as excerpts from a 1976 audio interview with director Stanley Kubrick
• New program about the film's groundbreaking visuals, featuring focus puller Douglas Milsome and gaffer Lou Bogue, as well as excerpts from a 1980 interview with cinematographer John Alcott
• New program about Academy Award–winning production designer Ken Adam with historian Sir Christopher Frayling
• New interview with editor Anthony Lawson
• French television interview from 1976 with Oscar-winning costume designer Ulla-Britt Söderlund
• New interview with critic Michel Ciment
• New interview with actor Leon Vitali about the 5.1 surround soundtrack, which he cosupervised
• New piece analyzing the fine-art-inspired aesthetics of the film with art curator Adam Eaker
• PLUS: An essay by critic Geoffrey O'Brien and two pieces about the film from the March 1976 issue of American Cinematographer

ivuernis
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Re: 897 Barry Lyndon

#2 Post by ivuernis » Mon Jul 17, 2017 5:46 pm

In 1.66:1! Thank you, Criterion.

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Big Ben
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Re: 897 Barry Lyndon

#3 Post by Big Ben » Mon Jul 17, 2017 5:49 pm

Great news. I saw this on DVD almost ten years ago now. I loved it then and will relish it on Blu-Ray. It is my sincesrest hope that with this new release more people can discover this ridiculously overlooked film in an enormously popular director's canon.

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FrauBlucher
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Re: 897 Barry Lyndon

#4 Post by FrauBlucher » Mon Jul 17, 2017 5:50 pm

This is quite a package.

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Re: 897 Barry Lyndon

#5 Post by John Shade » Mon Jul 17, 2017 5:54 pm

FrauBlucher wrote:This is quite a package.
Yeah, they don't seem to be short on features with this one. Expecting such a genuine upgrade from the WB disc.

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Re: 897 Barry Lyndon

#6 Post by flyonthewall2983 » Mon Jul 17, 2017 5:57 pm

Assuming all the extras will be on the 2nd disc. Glad they've priced it like a 1-disc Blu.

Interesting they created a surround track for this, quite often with Criterion releases I see from this time they usually stick with mono tracks. Even something like Dressed to Kill which had a surround track on previous releases. I'm glad they have a segment just about the new sound mix, like they did with Quadrophenia.

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Finch
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Re: 897 Barry Lyndon

#7 Post by Finch » Mon Jul 17, 2017 6:08 pm

I'm overjoyed at this news. My joint favourite Kubrick film finally done right. Perhaps it even gets a UK release to save me importing the more expensive US disc. Is it October 17th yet?

oh yeah
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Re: 897 Barry Lyndon

#8 Post by oh yeah » Mon Jul 17, 2017 6:11 pm

Wow! Speechless. In 1.66:1...

Eyes Wide Shut with proper grain restored next?

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Re: 897 Barry Lyndon

#9 Post by cdnchris » Mon Jul 17, 2017 6:13 pm

flyonthewall2983 wrote:Interesting they created a surround track for this
This isn't a new one, is it? There is a 5.1 track on the Warner disc (the only track if I recall) that added some effects to it. I was guessing it was the same thing.

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GiggityGoo
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Re: 897 Barry Lyndon

#10 Post by GiggityGoo » Mon Jul 17, 2017 7:54 pm

I'm not quite sure why my earlier post was removed, as all I was doing was expressing my film-fan joy about "Barry Lyndon" joining the Criterion Collection.

I was lucky enough to work on a Kubrick documentary for Warner Bros. a few years ago. They sent us HD master tapes of all the films for selecting clips. The "Barry Lyndon" image was spotless. It almost glowed, it was pretty. But hopefully this new transfer will outshine the old HD version.

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Re: 897 Barry Lyndon

#11 Post by Robespierre » Mon Jul 17, 2017 11:31 pm

Beyond excited for this one, and it looks like a great package (really anything is an improvement over the barebones WB release). This is what I imagined and hoped for with Stalker. Oh well. I wonder if this opens the door for a proper release of Eyes Wide Shut? The current WB basically acts as a placeholder for me. Terrible image and sound quality on that one. It's practically dying for a remastered, loaded CC edition.

The WB deal has been doing wonders for both parties and us collectors are the beneficiaries. I just wish they would hurry up on Gun Crazy already. I doubt WB would ever part with The Shining or Full Metal Jacket (both already have decent editions), but I also said that about Dr. Strangelove (mostly seemed like a redundant release considering how good the previous Sony one was. And of course it was a different studio).

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mfunk9786
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Re: 897 Barry Lyndon

#12 Post by mfunk9786 » Mon Jul 17, 2017 11:37 pm

GiggityGoo wrote:I'm not quite sure why my earlier post was removed, as all I was doing was expressing my film-fan joy about "Barry Lyndon" joining the Criterion Collection.

I was lucky enough to work on a Kubrick documentary for Warner Bros. a few years ago. They sent us HD master tapes of all the films for selecting clips. The "Barry Lyndon" image was spotless. It almost glowed, it was pretty. But hopefully this new transfer will outshine the old HD version.
It was removed because that’s all you were doing. This post is much better, by the way!

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Re: 897 Barry Lyndon

#13 Post by Rupert Pupkin » Mon Jul 17, 2017 11:42 pm

I have since it came out the Warner B. Blu-Ray... but the perspective of a x4 scan (generally they are tremendous : The Graduate, Straw Dogs, Dressed To Kill or All That Jazz) and 1:66 ratio... I almost had an heart attack...

Now, [-o< Eyes Wide Shut in 1:33 ratio (and they can do if they want like the "On The Waterfront" box set) for geometrical restoration pleasure and more Nicole Kidman... (remember the opening scene...)

and Domino... :oops: :oops: :oops: (I mean Vinessa Shaw...)

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Big Ben
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Re: 897 Barry Lyndon

#14 Post by Big Ben » Mon Jul 17, 2017 11:59 pm

Imdb says the aspect ratio is 1:66:1 for Eyes Wide Shut. I would however like to see that as well. As the last time I saw that was on a censored VHS tape. I would like to ask more knowledgeable forumites about this however. Barry Lyndon is nowhere near as popular as Dr. Strangelove or 2001. Would that film also be a possibility? I'd love to see some of Kubrick's lesser spoken about works get better treatment. I've over the god damn moon about this release.

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miless
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Re: 897 Barry Lyndon

#15 Post by miless » Tue Jul 18, 2017 12:18 am

Eyes Wide Shut (along with The Shining and maybe Full Metal Jacket) were shot full frame 4-perf 35mm, and were matted for projection. Kubrick was mortified when he caught a screening of 2001 on the BBC that was cropped for television. The home video releases were meant to be full frame (although this was before wide-screen televisions).
Ideally I'd love a series of On The Waterfront style releases with multiple crops, as I do tend to prefer the full frame image (especially for the Shining)

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Re: 897 Barry Lyndon

#16 Post by oh yeah » Tue Jul 18, 2017 12:39 am

Big Ben wrote:Imdb says the aspect ratio is 1:66:1 for Eyes Wide Shut. I would however like to see that as well. As the last time I saw that was on a censored VHS tape. I would like to ask more knowledgeable forumites about this however. Barry Lyndon is nowhere near as popular as Dr. Strangelove or 2001. Would that film also be a possibility? I'd love to see some of Kubrick's lesser spoken about works get better treatment. I've over the god damn moon about this release.
miless has it right - Eyes Wide Shut is the same as The Shining and Full Metal Jacket: projected at 1.85:1 for North American cinemas, 1.66:1 for Europe, and released in 1.33:1 on the initial DVD/VHS releases in 2000/2001.

Now, it's been often said that Kubrick's preferred aspect ratio in general was 1.66:1. The Killing, Paths of Glory, Lolita, Dr. Strangelove, A Clockwork Orange, and Barry Lyndon were all 1.66. Indeed I'd bet that the last three films were only shot open matte with 1.85 in mind because it was unfeasible by 1980 to expect most theaters to accurately project in 1.66 - maybe even by 1975 with Lyndon this was increasingly true.

So there really is no one "correct" AR for EWS. It was protected for 1.33 and looks quite elegant in that AR. It looks good in 1.85 as well, though (as with TS and FMJ) perhaps a bit too devoid of headroom at times. I've always enjoyed TS in 1.33 - obviously it was immense in a theater projected at 1.85, but at home the full-frame image lends a more uncanny sense of space to the hotel. So with EWS, I doubt it will be released by Criterion in anything other than 1.85, just because that's the original/intended US theatrical AR. The common opinion even among most cinephiles these days seems to be that 1.33 isn't "correct" and just was a necessary protection taken at the time for TV showings and home video etc, and thus the best AR would be 1.85.

I think seeing EWS in 1.66 would be fascinating as a kind of middle-ground, more head-room than 1.85 and wider than 1.33. And there is something very "old-fashioned" and redolent of the cinema of the 1930s, 40s, 50s and 60s about EWS, so visually it does make more sense to me in 1.33 or at least 1.66 than in 1.85 (or perhaps I should say 1.78 as, true to form, WB weren't capable of giving a transfer in actual 1.85 as it was meant to be).

But I digress. For me personally, I'd take any of those three AR's for the film as long as it was given a proper transfer that actually faithfully reproduced the super-grainy, high-contrast look it had in cinemas and which WB so irritatingly scrubbed from all DVD/Blu releases of it.
Last edited by oh yeah on Tue Jul 18, 2017 12:43 am, edited 1 time in total.

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mfunk9786
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Re: 897 Barry Lyndon

#17 Post by mfunk9786 » Tue Jul 18, 2017 12:41 am

About as good of a rundown of Kubrick aspect ratio woes as I’ve seen in one post.

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Re: 897 Barry Lyndon

#18 Post by Robespierre » Tue Jul 18, 2017 1:17 am

That's why I feel a CC release of EWS would be a big seller even for those who don't usually go for CC releases. Offering different ARs would be a compelling selling point, in addition to remastered picture and audio. As far as TS and FMJ are concerned, I personally am pretty happy with what WB put out (aside from their infernal 1.78 practice) but wouldn't be surprised if CC made a go at them if just for guaranteed sales.

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mfunk9786
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Re: 897 Barry Lyndon

#19 Post by mfunk9786 » Tue Jul 18, 2017 1:18 am

I’m going to have to insist that you people start writing out the titles of these films

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Big Ben
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Re: 897 Barry Lyndon

#20 Post by Big Ben » Tue Jul 18, 2017 1:24 am

I'm pleased to hear and learn all this. Knowing what I know about Kubrick and how...Kubrickian he was about things I'd imagine he'd have been fairly miffed about a a lot of things mentioned above (AR, Removal of grain. Censoring of nudity etc.).

Another question from this greenhorn however. How does one go about restoration wise with different aspect ratios? Does one simply crop it when making a digital file or something?

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miless
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Re: 897 Barry Lyndon

#21 Post by miless » Tue Jul 18, 2017 1:28 am

If you scan at 4k, you can easily re-crop it and still down-res to 1080p. If you wanted to really go overboard, you could either scan it multiple times at different ratios, or more likey scan it 5k-8k and then crop down to 4k for release (assuming that Criterion is looking forward to UHD releases)

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Re: 897 Barry Lyndon

#22 Post by All the Best People » Tue Jul 18, 2017 1:56 am

As long as they unfuck the opening credits and restore the Saul Bass logo, I'll be pleased.

The extras package seems good, though I doubt it will have much new information for those of us who properly recognize this as the greatest film of all time.

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Re: 897 Barry Lyndon

#23 Post by All the Best People » Tue Jul 18, 2017 1:58 am

The Shining does look a bit better in 1.85, imo; it crops out the helicopter shadow and blades from the opening credits, and the shot of Jack rising into frame after he uses the axe has a better rhythm to it in the wider framing. But I understand the argument that the 1.33 gives more ominous height to the compositions. You really can't go wrong either way.

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Re: 897 Barry Lyndon

#24 Post by dustybooks » Tue Jul 18, 2017 9:15 am

All the Best People wrote:As long as they unfuck the opening credits and restore the Saul Bass logo, I'll be pleased.
I was thinking yesterday that I so fondly associate the Bass logo with this movie that if it doesn't make it, I'll probably keep my old DVD on the shelf by the new edition for that reason alone. Is that nuts, an unhealthy degree of affection for a corporate logo? Probably.

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Re: 897 Barry Lyndon

#25 Post by Roger Ryan » Tue Jul 18, 2017 9:20 am

The "smoking gun", in regards to Kubrick's aspect ratio concerns, can be found in the mammoth Taschen book "The Stanley Kubrick Archives" in a sketch of the Timberline lodge exterior. The hotel was used as a double for the Overlook hotel in The Shining and the sketch, given to producer Jan Harlan who oversaw second unit photography in Oregon, features Kubrick's notes that the intended framing should be 1.85:1, but the image should be protected at 1.33:1 as well. This way, the framing would work both in cinemas and on a standard 4:3 televisions. Had Kubrick realized 16:9 televisions would completely replace 4:3 models, it's likely he would have only worried about protecting the image at 1:78.1.

Kubrick noted in a letter to projectionists at the time of the theatrical release of Barry Lyndon that, while the projected aspect ratio should be 1.66:1, he was willing to accept one as wide as 1.75:1. Because of Kubrick allowing a bit of leeway in framing, the Warner Home Video Blu-ray of Barry Lyndon looks satisfactory at 1:78.1, but Criterion is absolutely correct to present the film at 1:66.1.

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