WARNER – BD-50 – AVC @ 19,9 mbit/ps – FEATURE SIZE: 38,9 Gb – REGION FREE
VIDEO QUALITY
Like Lolita, Barry Lyndon debuts on blu-ray with a rather good transfer – hampered by some light issues. First things first, Warner’s transfer here is quite filmlike with very little to no digital manipulations. Grain has been preserved and detail is as one could expect. John Alcott’s gorgeous photography is naturally diffused with quite a bit of chromatic aberration, but luckily nothing has been tampered with.
Levels/contrast are improved over previous dvd-versions, with blacks being noticeably richer. Saturation is now characterized by stronger individual midtones, which are probably more accurate than the blueish tones found on the DVD. Compression is somewhat adequate, but the thick grain-fields are slightly affected though, becoming blocky/mushy on quite a few occasions.
The most inexcusable flaw, however, is the inexplicable cropping of the image from the intended 1.66:1 aspect ratio to 1.78:1. The image loses information at the top and bottom, making the composition look too tight at certain points. Knowing how greatly Stanley Kubrick cared about properly presenting his films to the public, it is beyond us why this decision was made – especially considering the fact that Lolita does have its aspect-ratio intact.
