Clockwork Orange [1972] | ![Clockwork Orange [1972]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41KTZHP9CSL._SL160_.jpg)
 enlarge | Director: Stanley Kubrick
Actors: Malcolm Mcdowell, Patrick Magee, Michael Bates, Warren Clarke, John Clive
Studio: Warner Home Video
Category: DVD
List Price: £13.99
Buy New: £3.18
You Save: £10.81 (77%)
New (25) Used (8) from £3.11
Rating:  77 reviews
Sales Rank: 1679
Format: Pal, Subtitled
Language: English (Original Language)
Rating: Suitable for 18 years and over
Region: 2
Number Of Items: 1
Running Time: 131 Minutes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 7.4 x 5.4 x 0.6
EAN: 7321900211505
ASIN: B00005MHNI
Theatrical Release Date: February 2, 1972
Release Date: July 1, 2005
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
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| Editorial Reviews:
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
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| Customer Reviews: Read 72 more reviews...
 Bizarre! Metaphorical! Sardonic! June 29, 2008
R. J. Harvey (UK)
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
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 May 27, 2008
cruekid2001 (Aberlour)
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
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.
Brilliant, classic cinema March 19, 2008
Mr. A. S. T. Bateman (Halifax, England)
2 out of 3 found this review helpful
A stunning film. A simple story, a yobbish thug of the future is imprisoned and then given a diversion therapy treatment as an experiment to have his predelection for violence and evil forcibly removed from him by an equally yobbish though more covertly so state. The film is stylish beyond compare and even the clearly 70s sets and decor do not detract from the futuristic setting. As one would expect from Stanley Kubrick, it si visually stunning. Garish colours, symmetrical camera work, exquisite editing all add to the overall impact. However, at the centre of the film around whom the whole thing revolves is a simply stunning central performance from Malcolm McDowell. With the slightest of facial movements, McDowell transforms Alex from one characterisation to another. He is twisted, evil, perverse and monstrous whilst at the same time cultured, charming, humorous and ironic. His northern accent fits perfectly in casting him apart from the other droogs all of whom speak with London accents and if ever there was an actor born to play a part, it is McDowell in this career defining part. The film has been described as Brain-searingly brilliant by film critic Jonathan Ross and indeed it is, for under all the stunning visuals, the violence, the rape, the irony and the mesmeric performance from McDowell, the film deals with one of the most important issues of the modern age and despite the film approaching its 40th anniversary it is still a very important issue today,- the extent to which the state should interfere with the free will of the individual.
 REEL horrorshow: ALEX in the HELL that is tomorrow March 3, 2008
R. Smith (scotland.)
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
This movie boasts possibly the most striking opening-shot in cinema history; a slow pull-back of the leering, smirking, demonic droog ALEX de LARGE and his dubious crew, centred in the nightmare HELL of the KOROVA MILKBAR: a grotesquely distorted nighterie of tomorrow's thugs: all garish nude- fiberglass sculpture and styized cartoon writings on the walls.
There follows a typical evening of sadistic mayhem, including the 'delights' of beatings, rape and torture.......all depicted in bizarre 'ballet'mode by ALEX and his killer-clowns. This first section of the film seduces the viewer into a false sense of euphoria, and the average viewer [if he or she is capable of any human consciousness] is left slightly disturbed and alienated by the nightmarish, on-screen acts of evil.
This is all counterbalanced by the extremely effective use of [mostly] CLASSICAL music [which the youth of tomorrow appear to appreciate, despite the bleak decline in futuristic morals depicted in this film]-----which makes for a mesmerising, disorientating, --and, paradoxically thrilling----cinematic experience.
It has to be said that this film slows down severely after the first 40 minutes, and no longer appears quaintly, outlandishly-twistedly futuristic-seeming, as in the opening reels.
Sparodic brilliance pepper the remaining two-thirds of the running-time, and the movie ends on a brilliant note; --a crescendo of ALEX triumphantly cavorting with a nude girl [paradoxically in a VICTORIAN setting] to the strains of uplifting, exuberant CLASSICAL music.
I personally feel that the treatment of women in this movie is exploititive and gratituitous, but overall this film is a bewildering, senses-assaulting, and unforgettable one-off experience.......DON'T MISS IT.
He are here, and he mean business! January 11, 2008
M.W. Thrasher (UK)
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
The DVD synopsis concludes in the following way: 'Its [Clockwork Orange's] power to excite and perturb is undiminished; its warning about the state's encroaching hold over the individual, more relevant today than ever.' But it's much more than that! So much more!
This film is a masterpiece of visual style, language, and presentation, and to portray it as a piece that criticises state control over the individual is like judging the ocean on the looks of its surface. This is a disturbingly compelling story about violence and providence, and the state's totalitarian dispositions are just a valuable part of this story, not the other way around. So, mind your minds as you watch this once banned disturbance of a film, for it is not just a flickety flick on the gone wrong doings of the state, but it's instead a tour de force on the intricate woky workings of a sinful sinister youth, a youth gone mad with maddening manners. It sounds like poetry, and flows like it too, all the way to the end, and there is no reprieve for the weak and the easily-offended. Disturbed and disturbing this poetry may be, yes, true, but it is poetic all the same and very very appealing. It is a masterpiece, a great masterpiece cut by a monumental master mind, superbly adapted to the screen and made to work in visual stunnery. Viddy well, little brother. Viddy well.
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