| View Larger Image | A Clockwork Orange (Two-Disc Special Edition) | DVDStarring: Malcolm McDowell, Patrick Magee, Michael Bates, Warren Clarke, John Clive
Directed By: Stanley Kubrick
Also With: John Alcott (Cinematographer), Stanley Kubrick (Producer), Stanley Kubrick (Writer), Bernard Williams (Producer), Max L. Raab (Producer), Si Litvinoff (Producer), Anthony Burgess (Writer)
| List Price: | $26.98 | | Price: | $11.49 | | You Save: | $15.49 (57%) | | | Available: | Usually ships in 24 hours |
| | Binding: | DVD | | Rating: |  | | Run Time: | 136 minutes | | Format: | AC-3, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD, Original recording remastered, Special Edition, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC | | Studio: | Warner Home Video | | Number of Discs: | 2 | | Aspect Ratio: | 1.78:1 | | Release Date: | October 23, 2007 | | Sales Rank: | 1,356st |
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EDITORIAL REVIEWS |
Description
A jolting tale of crime and punishment stars Malcolm McDowell as a young neo-punk who becomes the guinea pig for a state-sanctioned cure of his tendency toward ?the old ultraviolence. |
Amazon.com essential video
Stanley Kubrick's striking visual interpretation of Anthony Burgess's famous novel is a masterpiece. Malcolm McDowell delivers a clever, tongue-in-cheek performance as Alex, the leader of a quartet of droogs, a vicious group of young hoodlums who spend their nights stealing cars, fighting rival gangs, breaking into people's homes, and raping women. While other directors would simply exploit the violent elements of such a film without subtext, Kubrick maintains Burgess's dark, satirical social commentary. We watch Alex transform from a free-roaming miscreant into a convict used in a government experiment that attempts to reform criminals through an unorthodox new medical treatment. The catch, of course, is that this therapy may be nothing better than a quick cure-all for a society plagued by rampant crime. A Clockwork Orange works on many levels--visual, social, political, and sexual--and is one of the few films that hold up under repeated viewings. Kubrick not only presents colorfully arresting images, he also stylizes the film by utilizing classical music (and Wendy Carlos's electronic classical work) to underscore the violent scenes, which even today are disturbing in their display of sheer nihilism. Ironically, many fans of the film have missed that point, sadly being entertained by its brutality rather than being repulsed by it. --Bryan Reesman |
Amazon.com
Stanley Kubrick's striking visual interpretation of Anthony Burgess's famous novel is a masterpiece. Malcolm McDowell delivers a clever, tongue-in-cheek performance as Alex, the leader of a quartet of droogs, a vicious group of young hoodlums who spend their nights stealing cars, fighting rival gangs, breaking into people's homes, and raping women. While other directors would simply exploit the violent elements of such a film without subtext, Kubrick maintains Burgess's dark, satirical social commentary. We watch Alex transform from a free-roaming miscreant into a convict used in a government experiment that attempts to reform criminals through an unorthodox new medical treatment. The catch, of course, is that this therapy may be nothing better than a quick cure-all for a society plagued by rampant crime. A Clockwork Orange works on many levels--visual, social, political, and sexual--and is one of the few films that hold up under repeated viewings. Kubrick not only presents colorfully arresting images, he also stylizes the film by utilizing classical music (and Wendy Carlos's electronic classical work) to underscore the violent scenes, which even today are disturbing in their display of sheer nihilism. Ironically, many fans of the film have missed that point, sadly being entertained by its brutality rather than being repulsed by it. --Bryan Reesman |
CUSTOMER REVIEWS (Average Customer Rating: 4.5 based on 798 reviews)
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CWO shines in blu-ray by Marvin Gozum (Phila, PA USA)  5 Stars
November 13, 2009
There are a plethora of reviews of the movie, but my review is mostly a comparison of the BD vs DVD version. I won't discuss its merits as movie. CWO has a lot of similarities in its treatment of anarchy and violence as Brad Pitt in Fight Club, yet Fight Club is less controversial?
I was too young to see CWO's theatrical release. But since, I've seen it on various tape versions, DVD and finally BD, as a fan of Kubrick's cinema style.
This movie is stellar in BD. I never really thought much of CWO but on BD, the framing of scenes and high resolution detail reveal subtleties that make visuals speak in strong visceral prose like no version before it [could also be remastering?], and the audio is beyond all prior CWO scores on record, tape, CD or its DVD. The subtitles are tack sharp on BD, making for a much more pleasant experience, helping viewers understand droog speak, or "nadsat", yes, yes?
For example, as McDowall's character Alex peruses records in a shop, one can make out clearly titles and liner notes on some covers. Alex's face show subtle changes as blood flows and ebbs into his skin, and shows how McDowall's acted [ or directed ] with frightening zest. Violent scenes of rape and assault appear more play acting or dance moves, as actors use exaggerated movements and victims almost are almost never bruised or bloodied, despite the pounding, compare this to similar themed and recent movies like Fight Club.
The clear crisp BD sound track makes it far easier to discern the nadsat words that at times were garbled in old analog transmission, broadcast TV, VHS, beta, and less on DVD. However, watching the movie with subtitles is less distracting on a large TV in the better font of BD.
The music was a revelation. I never cared for Wendy [credited as Walter prior to her sex change] Carlos's music, sometimes the synthesizer sound gave me headaches. But somehow, the BD version is so much smoother and richer in overtones compared to modern digital synthesizers, I actually enjoyed listening to her.
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typical Kubrick--channeling from the dark to the dark by Charles Dickens  1 Stars
October 05, 2009
This film has overt messages: we are what we are, and only a chemical means will change us, because there is no such thing as redemption. But chemical solutions are out of the question because we cannot trust the government or doctors not to abuse this power. And redemption is a moot point anyway, because the very idea of redemption is just a catch word to be used by preachers and politicians.
Why would I care about Alex's absolution anyway? The film did nothing to make me care about him or his soul... And yet Kubrick tries to get you to care about this monster. Alex winds up, after his "treatment", unable to defend himself against those he wronged. I was cheering this part of the film, and did not find it believable that people would be horrified by his comeuppance, especially at the hands of those he wronged.
To say there is a glorification of sex and violence is an understatement.
Because the thing that particularly bothers me about this film is the sped up scene of repeated consensual sex between the main character (Alex) and two young women. In the film, the scene is gratuitous porn that makes Alex out to be a stud... he keeps going and going and going. No wonder teenage boys love this movie. This glorification must be Kubrick's idea, not the writer of the book (Anthony Burgess), who is much more honest about his depravity. In the book on which this film is based, the scene involves not women, but two young girls who are drugged and then raped. Why didn't Kubrick stick to the original story? Raping children is much more in character with the violent sociopath that is Alex.
There is one good thing about this film: if I ever need a character reference, all I need do is ask "what do you think of 'A Clockwork Orange'?. The sociopaths will be revealed. Thank you, Kubrick.
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Naughty, Naughty, Naughty! You Filthy Old Soomka! by S. A DUNN (Chehalis, WA United States) 5 Stars
October 01, 2009
They just don't make viddies for our glezzies like this anymore! Little Alex and his Droogs will get all the hairs on your plot standing up, real horrorshow! Yet what is true horrorshow is the way the Government reforms little Alex into the model citizen, unable to defend himself against all whom he previously doled out his ultra-violence upon.
Even the title of this movie carries a meaning. Do we really want to reform the incorrigible? And once reformed, will they still be an embarrassment to our own sensibilities and society? Like clockwork, they brainwash little Alex to be a model citizen, and as a result he becomes a Casper Milquetoast who's an embarrassment to the Government. As a result of that, they rebrainwash little Alex to dispel their "treatment" and re-convert him back into the young thug he was, but they now protect him with a cushy job merely to protect themselves against slander. Like that Steely Dan song: "You go back, Jack, do it again," Little Alex is finally free to indulge into his bizzare twisted fantasies, this time with official protection!
Every scene in Clockwork Orange has obvious and hidden meanings to it. Like an onion, Clockwork Orange makes you peel through it, layer by layer. This movie is sheer brillience, which will never go out of date.
Warning: After indulging in this movie, such lovely images will flood your glezzies each time you twang a disc of Beethoven!
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too violent by Karen D. Allen  3 Stars
September 15, 2009
This film is disturbing in it's violence and should be kept from children under 18.
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Hasn't aged well... by aproductofsociety  2 Stars
September 13, 2009
I just saw this movie for the first time on a large screen with a good print. Unfortunately, I don't think it's especially good. I have no problem with either sex or violence, but the way these are used in this movie seems juvenile and tedious. The sensibility that pervades most of it seems more like that of a 14-year old boy than a mature, acclaimed director. Perhaps in 1971 the repetitive "hooliganism" episodes and schoolyard-level phallic props were seen by audiences as amusing and even daring but in 2009 they just look a bit pathetic. Probably it was a lot of fun to make the film, but most of the humor feels really dated and the relentless misogyny wears thin really quickly. 2001 and Dr. Strangelove are much better movies, I think.
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