Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1259 in DVD
• Released on: 2005-07-01
• Rating: Suitable for 18 years and over
• Formats: PAL, Subtitled
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 131 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
The controversy that surrounded Stanley Kubrick's adaptation of Anthony Burgess's dystopian novel A Clockwork Orange while the film was out of circulation suggested that it was like Romper Stomper: a glamorisation of the violent, virile lifestyle of its teenage protagonist, with a hypocritical gloss of condemnation to mask delight in rape and ultra-violence. Actually, it is as fable-like and abstract as The Pilgrim's Progress, with characters deliberately played as goonish sitcom creations. The anarchic rampage of Alex (Malcolm McDowell), a bowler-hatted juvenile delinquent of the future, is all over at the end of the first act. Apprehended by equally brutal authorities, he changes from defiant thug to cringing bootlicker, volunteering for a behaviourist experiment that removes his capacity to do evil.

It's all stylised: from Burgess' invented pidgin Russian (snarled unforgettably by McDowell) to 2001-style slow tracks through sculpturally perfect sets (as with many Kubrick movies, the story could be told through decor alone) and exaggerated, grotesque performances on a par with those of Dr Strangelove (especially from Patrick Magee and Aubrey Morris). Made in 1971, based on a novel from 1962, A Clockwork Orange resonates across the years. Its future is now quaint, with Magee pecking out "subversive literature" on a giant IBM typewriter and "lovely, lovely Ludwig Van" on mini-cassette tapes. However, the world of "Municipal Flat Block 18A, Linear North" is very much with us: a housing estate where classical murals are obscenely vandalised, passers-by are rare and yobs loll about with nothing better to do than hurt people.

On the DVD: The extras are skimpy, with just an impressionist trailer in the style of the film used to brainwash Alex and a list of awards for which Clockwork Orange was nominated and awarded. The box promises soundtracks in English, French and Italian and subtitles in ten languages, but the disc just has two English soundtracks (mono and Dolby Surround 5.1) and two sets of English subtitles. The terrific-looking "digitally restored and remastered" print is letterboxed at 1.66:1 and on a widescreen TV plays best at 14:9. The film looks as good as it ever has, with rich stable colours (especially and appropriately the orangey-red of the credits and the blood) and a clarity that highlights previously unnoticed details such as Alex's gouged eyeball cufflinks and enables you to read the newspaper articles which flash by. The 5.1 soundtrack option is amazingly rich, benefiting the nuances of performance as much as the classical/electronic music score and the subtly unsettling sound effects. --Kim Newman

Special Features
DVD Technical Information:

• Languages: English, French, Italian
  
• Sub-titles: English, French, Italian, Dutch, Arabic, Spanish, Portuguese, German, Romanian, Bulgarian; English and Italian for the hearing impaired

Synopsis
From its opening shot of Malcolm McDowell staring with evil intent directly into the camera (which pulls back to reveal him drinking a glass of milk), Stanley Kubrick's brilliant CLOCKWORK ORANGE announces itself as a completely new kind of viewing experience. Banned in Britain for decades, the film, set in an unidentified future, overwhelms the senses with its almost comic depictions of rape and violence set to an upbeat classical and pop music score; its magnificent, colorful, futuristic set designs; and its utter determination to shock, frighten, and thoroughly entertain its audience. Kubrick based his chilling masterpiece on Anthony Burgess's culture-shaking novel about a young man, growing into adulthood, who has a bit of a problem with authority figures. (Interestingly, Burgess's stunning piece of fiction contains 21 chapters, but Kubrick ends his film after chapter 20.) When Alex (a career-defining performance by McDowell) and his droogs go out for a little bit of the old ultraviolence, he is caught and forced to undergo controversial treatment that will make it impossible for him to commit violent acts--but has severe side effects. Kubrick's film purposely confuses crime and punishment, cause and effect, hero and villain, irony and satire, filled with oxymoron and paradox, taking on science, politics, societal mores, education, sexual awakening, and parental responsibility all in a new language (both verbal and visual) that would change the cinema forever. No one who has seen it has ever been able to hear "Singin' in the Rain" or Ludwig van again in quite the same way.

Customer Reviews

Overated
I was half way through watching a clockwork orange when i couldnt help but think what is all the fuss about??. Yes it may be shocking but that is all it is. Some times people for some reason regard controversial films as masterpieces when in trueth they are average. A good performance from the lead but the storyline is patchy and doesnt flow well. The film realise on shocking rape scenes to make up for the awful storyline, maybe a sign of poor filmmaking but thats being way way to critical

The only reason i have given "A clockwork orange" 4 stars is because of Kubricks other work such as Full metal jacket and the shining and the fact he is no longer with us influenced my desicion. For this film alone i wouldnt go further than 2 stars just for sheer overated piece of work that it is. It was just such a dissapointment after all the glowing reviews i had heared and read.

Bizarre! Metaphorical! Sardonic!
The reasons behind the troubled release of Stanley Kubrick's jet black comedy satire have been misread over the years (I would go so far as to say deliberately mis-written by the tabloid press) meaning that when the film finally received a posthumous UK release it was assumed that the film was previously 'banned' on the basis of copycat incidents. In fact, Kubrick himself demanded the film never be shown in his adopted country out of fear for his family's safety, following hate mail and death threats, the exact content and source of which may never be known.

That is not to say the film is NOT shocking. The violence inflicted by Little Alex (Malcolm MacDowell, fresh off that other anti-establishment classic If...) and his droogs is deliberately, sickeningly glorified; it's as if they are playing out their fantasies as if performing on some great stage, complete with their own Shakespearean-style syntax not spoken by straight-cued Ma 'n' Pa (Philip Stone and Sheila Raynor). One of the opening scenes is a ludicrously exaggerated fist-fight played out in a deserted theatre.

Very few redeeming characters raise their head above the mire. As a result, we, as an audience, are left in the unenviable position of sympathising with the calculated, and later stricken, rapist and murderer at the film's centre. Or rather, we are forced to sympathise with his predicament: stripped of his free will, is he truly human at all? Even HAL 9000, the homicidal super-computer from 2001: A Space Odyssey, possessed the power of choice.

Superficially, this is the most dated of Kubrick's films, distinguished by psychedelic art design straight from the turn-of-the-decade era. But we should not allow this to detract from the fact that Kubrick and (original novel writer) Anthony Burgess' future vision is essentially a stylised depiction of logical sociological progression, complete with hyperbole, and just because today's thugs DON'T maraud in bowler hats and oversized codpieces, spouting pidgin Russian over pints of alcoholic milk, does not make the film-makers' alternative version of reality any less convincing. Nor less relevant: as always, Kubrick's themes are timeless.

A highly successful adaptation
First and foremost, I really can't understand the minority of reviewers who gave this film 1 or 2 stars, they must be either a) a philistine, b) a stuffed shirt or c) blind. This film is a remarkable transformation from a novel to the big screen. Kubrick, to some degree has been able to portray the main characters (Alex and his droogs) in a convincing way that does not deviate fro the characters in Burgess's novel. More pleasingly is the use of `nadsat' language in the film also, which to the more educated of film viewers will be able to transliterate. When this film was released, I wasn't even due to be born for another 3 years, but thanks to some over zealous film censorship thanks to our government sticking their hypocritical noses in it this film was subsequently banned for many years. It was however seen by mail order VHS or in secret cinema viewings. I had to wait until I was 10 before I saw it, on a grainy copy of a copy of copy and I found it fascinating, so much so I read the book and got a real feel of the story. Fast forward 15 years and it is re-released and I finally watch it in its full cinematic colour ad I got the same feeling as I did when I was 10 years old. This film really is a cult classic which will be more appreciated by readers of the books. Although I have no criticisms of the film, my only recommendation would have been the inclusion of the 21st chapter of the book, which was omitted from the US version of the book and subsequently the film. Burgess intentionally made the book 21 chapters to illustrate the coming of age of man, which can then be split in 3 to show the 7 ages of man. However I digress, enjoy this feel and viddy well; otherwise you'll get a kick in the yarbles.