This is my first time viewing the new Blu-ray of Barry Lyndon and so far the transfer appears to be excellent. I knew in advance that the aspect ratio was going to be slightly different from that preferred by Kubrick (the camera negative of the old rear process Mitchell cameras he used) and was a bit worried that the compositions might look a bit off. If you are familiar with the movie, you'll recall that there is a mountain in the background of the early Irish scenes that looks for all the world like a gigantic breast (such a happy accident must have tickled Kubrick) and I was afraid that the Blu-ray ratio would cut off the mountain's nipple. I am happy to report that it does not.
On the movie-ness side of things, I've always been fascinated with the scene where the brawl breaks out during the chamber music recital. It seems to harken back to the moment in Paths of Glory when the soldier attacks the priest attempting to comfort the condemned, but in this case the repressed energies unleashed have been building up for much longer, and have been forced into much narrower channels of decorum. By the time we see all the lords and ladies looking on in shock as a group of men, slipping and sliding on the polished floor, successfully prevent Barry from beating his stepson to death, we are relieved to the point where we almost feel like laughing at a brutality that would not have a chance of feeling funny in any other setting, or after any other build-up of tensions. It's a very odd achievement in a movie filled with odd (but awesome) achievements, both technical and aesthetic, none of which the movie punters were, or are today, likely to notice, much less care about. It was released the same year as Jaws....
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