Possibly filmdom's most unique period epic.

Rating: 10/10 (13 May 2008)

When I was a film maker, I learned a very sad lesson. When it comes to audience approval, a monumentally great film can fail in the box office if viewers come to it with preconceived expectations that are wrong. MGM hyped David Lean's magnificent "Ryan's Daughter" as another "Doctor Zhivago". It was nothing of the kind. If you attended a screening of that show with this in mind, you would very likely be confused and disappointed by the radically different sort of picture it is. In the case of "Barry Lyndon", that process worked in reverse for me. I missed seeing it when it was first released. I heard many negative reviews and comments suggesting that it was a slack, slow failure. "Kubrick had bombed at last!" Years later, I finally caught up with it and saw it, pretty much to satisfy my curiosity about this major failure from a major director. I was thunderstruck to discover that it seemed instead to be the greatest film Kubrick made. I know that the controversy rages on and many agree with me, while many do not. I will say that, although I hardly expect to win over "Barry Lyndon"s detractors, I think that it will stand the test of time far better than say, "2001, a Space Odyssey" which, although it must be lauded as a legendary ground-breaker in its day, does not play nearly as well today. For me, "2001" simply does not reward repeated viewing anywhere near as richly as "Barry Lyndon". If you haven't seen this one, see it only on a giant screen, giving it your undivided attention. Judge it for yourself. It is too unique and amazing to be missed.