Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #8665 in DVD
• Released on: 2001-01-29
• Rating: Suitable for 18 years and over
• Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Formats: PAL, Widescreen
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 93 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
Larry Clark's controversial Kids is a film about New York City adolescents walking the AIDS tightrope, but it's also an unblinking look at the dehumanising rituals of growing up. It really doesn't add up to more than the sum of its various shocks--virgin-busting, skinny-dipping, male callousness--overlayed with middle-class disapproval. Clark is hectoring us for cutting kids loose at a terrible time in modern American history, but so are a lot of other people who also offer alternatives and ideas. The film does nothing to push us toward new thoughts, new solutions, new dreams. It is more like a window onto our worst fantasies about what our children are doing out there on the streets. --Tom Keogh, Amazon.com

Special Features

• Trailer

DVD Technical Information:

• Audio: Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo: English
  
• Running Time: 93 mins
  
• Region Code: 2
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.85 Wide Screen
  
• Subtitles: None

Synopsis
A group of street-tough Manhattan teens fight, party, take drugs, have sex, and scoff at the consequences in this unflinching account of one day in their lives. Larry Clark's controversial, bleak portrait of societal decay originally garnered an NC-17 rating, which the filmmakers surrendered, opting instead to release the film unrated. KIDS features the screen debuts of Chloe Sevigny and Rosario Dawson.

Customer Reviews

Hard hitting and shocking film
Kids follows teenagers Telly and Casper around New York, two guys who have sex with virgins, rob stores and do drugs, unaware that one of Telly's former flings is coming to tell him she is positive with HIV.

In one of the most controversial films of the 90's, Kids depicts lives of teenagers in a shocking and realistic film with hard gritty ideologies of illegal activities encoded for dramatic and realistic effect.

The main ideology which will get you thinking is sex. Telly, a teenage stereotype, epitomises what a teenager is believed to be like in current society, with his mind on sex, drugs and booze, and is justified through a very shocking opening scene as he lies in bed with a virgin, seducing her. His talk with best friend Casper after is shockingly horrible and very unforgiving, but will instantly get you immersed into his life.

As epitomized in films such as Kidulthood, teenagers have this view on sex and think its ok without protection, and Kids shows the dramatic consequences through Jennie, who has only had sex once but catches HIV.

This dramatic ideology is essentially realistic to hit out at teenagers, to warn them of the dangers out there, and picks up on such a valid point that the film is watching for this preaching factor alone.

The film takes place during one whole day, following Casper and Telly around New York as they get involved in robbery, drugs and parties.

Despite the heaviness of the issues, the plot moves at a steady pace, with frequent dramatic moments.

Chloe Sevigny (Broken Flowers) gives an excellent performance as Jennie, who you will be in tears with during the course of the film, and Jennie gives a balance of equality by being the strong minded realistic female in the plot, against the fantastical sex loving boys.

The ending is unbelievably open and opens the plot into even more controversy, but will take another watch to get a true grip of some ideologies. Kids lacks in a few places but the strong realistic issues regarding teenage life will have you open mouthed come the shocking ending.

8.5/10

dissapointing
I would not reccomend this dvd. I don't know what the rest of the reviewers are talking about. This is not a good movie. I never leave a review but i felt i had to warn people. I bought this dvd as it had a high star rating after watching it i realise it shouldn't. The lead actor is not good looking enough to charm so many girls.

disappointing
To echo the thoughts of other reviwers: in short- disappointing. Controversy for controversy's sake. I'm not impressed, really. The film wasn't awful though. It just did not live up the hype.