Barry Lyndon
Warner Bros. | Release Date: December 18, 1975 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
89
METASCORE
Universal acclaim based on 21 Critic Reviews
Positive:
19
Mixed:
2
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
Time Out LondonTom Huddleston
This is a story of identity, and the lack of it. And it’s fascinating. Read full review
100
Total FilmKevin Harley
Between the vast exteriors and candlelit interiors, the expressive authority of Kubrick’s direction is breathtaking. Read full review
100
CineVueJohn Bleasdale
Barry Lyndon is a rich cinematic experience which fully deserves to once more be seen on the big screen and enjoy its status as one of Stanley Kubrick’s greatest achievements. Read full review
100
The GuardianPeter Bradshaw
Barry Lyndon is an intimate epic of utter lucidity and command. Read full review
100
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalle
This is one of Kubrick's best, not gimmicky or arch, not somnambulant or mannered, just finely detailed, measured, richly photographed and, at every step of the way, entertaining and interesting. Read full review
100
Time OutTom Huddleston
Barry Lyndon is best known for its photography – Kubrick borrowed a low-light camera from Nasa so he could shoot in candlelight – and it is uniquely, heart-stoppingly gorgeous. But there’s much more to it: this is a story of identity, and the lack of it. And it’s fascinating. Read full review
100
Village VoiceJ. Hoberman
Barry Lyndon could be considered Kubrick’s masterpiece. At the very least, this cerebral action film represents the height of his craft. Read full review
100
Chicago TribuneMichael Wilmington
Kubrick's beautiful adaptation of the William Thackeray novel follows a young Irish gambler, rogue and romantic adventurer (Ryan O'Neal) though a painterly 18th Century English landscape of frozen elegance and upper-class hypocrisy. Read full review
100
The Observer (UK)Wendy Ide
One of the most beautiful of all Stanley Kubrick’s films, originally released in 1975, this slyly savage tale of social climbing in the 18th century is also arguably his funniest. Read full review
91
Entertainment WeeklyOwen Gleiberman
To watch Ryan O’Neal’s performance as the upwardly mobile Barry, part victim and part cad, is to see Kubrick’s perverse genius with actors. He cast a dullard only to jolt us, by the end, with the revelation of the bastard within. Read full review
90
The AtlanticDavid Sims
It’s a movie that actually makes the past look otherworldly, unlike many period pieces, which strive to make history seem easy to slip into. Read full review
90
The New York TimesVincent Canby
Barry Lyndon is another fascinating challenge from one of our most remarkable, independent-minded directors. Read full review
90
VarietyStaff (Not Credited)
Ryan O'Neal's excellent performance captures the shallow opportunism endemic to the title character who is brought down as much by his own flaws as by the mores of the ordered social structure of 18th-century England. Casting, concept and execution are all superb. Read full review
89
Austin ChronicleMarjorie Baumgarten
Ryan O’Neal has never been better cast than as the shallow and opportunistic hero of Thackeray’s early 19th-century novel. Read full review
88
LarsenOnFilmJosh Larsen
Barry Lyndon is a costume epic that pokes fun of other costume epics even as it outdoes them. Read full review
88
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
Barry Lyndon isn’t a great success, and it’s not a great entertainment, but it’s a great example of directorial vision. Read full review
80
EmpireIan Nathan
Kubrick's superb version of William Thackery's first novel is meticulous and philosophically stimulating but it can leave some audiences unmoved on an emotional level. Read full review
80
Chicago ReaderJonathan Rosenbaum
Despite its ponderous, funereal moods and pacing, the film is a highly accomplished piece of storytelling, building to one of the most suspenseful duels ever staged. It also repays close attention as a complex and fascinating historical meditation, as enigmatic in its way as 2001: A Space Odyssey. Read full review
80
TV Guide MagazineStaff (Not Credited)
With an actor only slightly more expressive than Ryan O'Neal in the lead, this sombre costume epic might have reached the level of tragedy; as it is, the film is langorous to a fault, but so visually delightful and keenly observed that its excesses demand forgiveness. Read full review
50
The New YorkerPauline Kael
Kubrick suppresses most of the active elements that make movies pleasurable. The film says that people are disgusting but things are lovely. And a narrator (Michael Hordern) tells you what's going to happen before you see it.
40
NewsweekJack Kroll
Seeking the sources of our alienation in the explosively random energies of the eighteenth century, Kubrick has created an epic of esthetic self-indulgence, beautiful but empty. He needs to come back to earth from the outer spaces of past and future. [22 Dec 1975, p.49]
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