Ages ago, we wrote about Kubrick films, including Barry Lyndon. At the time, we wondered why it was one of the few not to get a 4K release.
Of course, Kubrick intended all his films to be seen only in the cinema under the best possible conditions. Home cinema was not a thing, and Barry Lyndon is definitely not to be watched on a 21″ set. It still is really a big screen experience, even with the best tv sets in the world.
But a 4K release is here, celebrating the film’s 50th anniversary.
Except not in the UK, for some reason, though it has limited cinema release.
We got ours from a well-known on-line river retailer in the USA, on special offer for $25, definitely a bargain, delivered a few days after its release.
There are three discs. The 4K film is not region protected, plays beautifully and looks good.
The second disc is a bluray of the film. We’ve not looked at that. After all, the 4K is better. We’re guessing it is region protected.
The third disc is extras. again region protected and does not play. There’s probably a way around it.
Extras can be interesting. It’s rare you would want to look at them more than once, we reckon, and you buy the set for the film beyond anything else. If you have a player that plays all blurays, you may be fine.
We’d love to see a few things: something about the places where it was filmed would be especially interesting. We’re not interested in interviews with the cast.
Some of these may turn up on YouTube anyway.