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A Clockwork Orange

A Clockwork Orange

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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: A master film, by a master director
Review: In 1964 director/producer Stanley Kubrick created the nuclear war comedic masterpiece "Dr. Strangelove: Or How I Learned To Stop Worrying and Love The Bomb". He followed that with the science fiction masterpiece "2001: A Space Oddysee". Stanley Kubrick would reach his creative peak with his next film. An Adaption of Anothony Burgess'novel "A Clockwork Orange." Stanley Kubrick's A Clockwork Orange is one of those films that you will either love or hate. The film centers around the character of Alexander DeLarge (played to perfection by Malcolm McDowell) a 15 year old "droog" who with his friends Pete (Michael Tarn), Georgie (James Marcus), and Dim (Warren Clarke) drink Milk Laced with drugs at the local "Milkbar" and then go out on the town at night, doing horrible things to people. During one incident Alex is captured and taken to prison. He finds out about a treatment that can get him of prison. He goes through with the treatment (which will make him sick when he attempts to commit an act of violence), is released from prison and thrown back into the world, unable to defend himself. Out of all the things that make this movie great, the number one element is the performance of Malcolm McDowell as Alex. The entire movie revolves around him so if McDowell's performance isn't top notch then the movie isn't top notch. McDowell was in his late twenties when he made this movie. In the novel Alex is 15 years old. So although being much older then his character McDowell plays the adventureous youth wonderfully. Suprisingly McDowell was not nominated for an Academy Award. Another really strong element is the music. Never in my life have I seen a movie (non musical) where the music plays such an important role in a film. Gioacchino Rossini's "The Thieving Magpie" during the fight scence against the rival droogs. "The William Tell Overture" played 5 times too fast during the orgy scene and the use of Ludwig Van Beethoven's "Symphony no. 9" are just a few examples of how music plays an important role in this film. As far as things being wrong with the movie. The only real thing is the lack of any real supporting cast (if that's a bad thing?). In no means are the supporting cast bad actors. There just isn't a real supporing cast there. But McDowell's performace makes up for it. This film get's 5 stars because of 3 things. Number one is the performance of Malcolm McDowell. Number two is the use of music in such a different and unique way and number three is the originality of it. This movie came out in 1971 and I haven't seen any movie like it that came out before or since then. A Clockwork Orange was nominated for several Academy Awards including "best picture" and "best director" but it lost in all categories to William Friedkin's "The French Connection"
Before I end this review it should be noted that when initially release this film did recieve an "X" rating (equivilent of NC-17 today). It does contain some strong images that may be too hard for some to stomach. So be warned. Thank you for reading my review and have a great day.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Not so Violent or Adult Orientated
Review: This is the best movie I've seen in my life, it has everything, great dialog, excellent actors, incredible and strange language, and a real message. I don't know why people keep telling that this movie should be x-rated or something, I don't see much blood, no penetration, and no bad language.
But if you're in need to see a great movie, this is for you, it will make you think and it'll make you a better person, buy it, and then thank me.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Exceptional
Review: A Clockwork Orange is perhaps the best ever film I have seen transferred to DVD and unless you can afford your own cinema, it is the only way to watch the movie.
Kubrick's theatrical and almost surreal rendition of Burgess's notorious novel is crystal clear with every horrific detail, every bead of sweat, every quivering eyelash in glorious digital detail.
The intoxicating strangeness of every set is still present, despite the reduced scale of a television screen, and every note of the underlying score is not just audible, but exquisitely pronounced.
DVD conversions can suffer often from an excess of contast or problems with colour, a real threat to a director like Kubrick whose use of light is superb, but the DVD faithfully maintains the look of the original film.
If you look closely at the scene where Alex attacks his revolting Droogs you will see just how well the film has been preserved in the conversion process.
Kubrick's blockbuster fuses theatre and film, the real and the surreal, crime and punishment with a punch that despite being thirty years old few modern filmakers could match even if they dared. Thirty years ago this film took cinema audiences places they never wanted to go and now the DVD offers the same rollercoaster ride at home. Just buy it.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Disturbing and compelling
Review: After hearing of the hype and critical praise that this film has received, I wasn't exactly sure what to expect. It's a very visual piece, with plenty of colourful imagery punctuated by classical music that is used to great effect in some of the most disturbing scenes. As for the violent scenes, they're mostly tastefully done, with less focus put on the act themselves than on the perpetrators and the victims. This is particularly impressive in a day where movies measure themselves on body count more than anything else.

The story itself though, is absolutely horrible and particularly the clinic scenes are hard to watch. The worrying conclusion that society is more concerned with curing the problem than looking at the root of the problem is pertinent even today.

Even so, I wouldn't go so far as to say that this film is a masterpiece (a word that has been associated with Kubrick an awful lot - remember that John Carpenter's 'Halloween' was also branded this and then he made 'Vampires'). There are plenty of clichés such as the weird and wonderful central character and his love for classical music. Such things are as old as the hills.

Still, the acting is excellent and a superb narrative is kept throughout the film which is thankfully not devoid of humour. This is a wonderfully strange experience, but it's probably not something that you'd wish to watch over and over.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Welly Welly Welly Well..!!
Review: Stanely Kubrick, the master director has done in this movie which no one else could. Its an artistic masterpiece. Malcom McDowell's superb acting pays tribute to the greatness of Kubrick's art direction.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: awful, a massacre, an insult to Anthony Burgess
Review: In fact I'm extremely disappointed with Stanely Kubrik considering many consider this his "masterpiece" film. And how in the world did this become a "cult classic"? It wasn't very much like the book, and I thank the Lord I read the book before I saw the movie otherwise I'd be (...) for having wasted my time watching the 2 1/2 hour movie.

I was expecting a LOT better; I'm never really a fan of movies made from books, the book gets slaughtered 95% of the time, and that is further proven in this case. I thought the book was absolutely BRILLIANT! (...) Hm it almost seems like I think it was too pervert-ized, it's like the point of the story was thrashed by the jokes or whatever it was all that was supposed to be. The book just had this very serious nature about it, an examination of a human being, and yet Stanely Kubrik took it upon himself to make some parts downright stupid. I was FAR more impacted by the man from the library in the book than I was by the drunk man in the alley in the movie. Also the fact that Alex's age wasn't mentioned ONCE, just that he's "young", but Malcolm McDowell looked about twenty-four in the movie, that definitely took away a large part of the feeling(...)The 21st chapter of the book wrapped the whole book up for me, the end of the movie was like a slap in the face that said "ha you just wasted your time". (...)

But on a postive note...hm...honestly can't think of a thing. Even McDowell's tone of voice during narration wasn't right! Just read the book.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: prepare to be disturbed
Review: I watched this film knowing that it was considered a classic and that references to its characters were plentiful in modern works. I had no idea of the deeply disturbing violence that was in store. Social commentary aside, I now have images of evil seared on my brain that I never wanted. Watch at your own risk.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: the quintessence of dehumanizing cinema!
Review: Violence has always been a part of our life, it's eternal and it's an inherently human characteristic. Taking it away from a human being means making him less than human. "When a man cannot choose, he ceases to be a man!" - the prison chaplain puts it this way.

When you watch the first shot of this movie you can't not be intrigued and wait to see what follows: it opens on Alex's face while the camera slowly pulls back accompanied by an eerie synthetized music and narration on the part of Alex. He and his droogs are sitting there on a drugged-up milk bar, drinking and thinking of what will be the evening's ultra violence programme. It's a beatifully shot scene, with some bright vivid colors of red, blue, orange and white.

But my favourite scene and, I guess, the key to the movie is the one where Alex is injected with a drug that is supposed to make him immune to violent acts of any kind while he's forced to watch violent films footage with his eyelids propped up and in a straight jacket as he slowly changes into someone else, forced to watch images of violence accompanied by Ludwig Van's music.

Once the "cure" is complete, he's put to some rude tests as, laid down to the ground, he is told to lick someone's shoe and he obeys; he throws up when a topless woman walks up to him. He's no longer able to defend himself - he's now nauseous to sex or violence of any kind, simply because he has been conditionned towards violence and has no choice anymore. He is a programmed human being at this point.

I was intrigued and somewhat shocked when I first watched this movie many years ago, but as almost with every Kubrick movie, once is barely enough. Then I watched it over and over again and I couldn't help thinking that Kubrick was pointing his finger at the bases of the community - parents, family, school, religion - and at last but not least at the politicians who, not seeming to have an idea of how to deal with youth violence at all, they abuse and use Alex for their political ambitions. It seems that the community has started to crumble, that the streets are overrun by teenage gangs and that parents have no control at all over their children and that they're constantly and easily manipulated and outwitted by them (have fun at the factory, mom!).

We have seen so many antiheroes in the cinema history so far but Alex de Large is probably the most sympathetic, complex, vicious and intelligent of them all, and Mc Dowell's performance is certainly one of the best of all Kubrick's movie - a milestone on the history of acting. "I was cured all right" - is the last line of the movie, but we have strong doubts about that and can't help thinking that the good old Alex is back.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Flows like Clockwork
Review: Being a teen movie-watcher, the name Stanley Kubrick held no real meaning to me when I first watched this movie, as a matter of fact, i may never have even seen it if it weren't for a review I read of the (in my opinion) greatest movie ever, Fight Club closely comparing it to a Clockwork Orange, now, hearing the reviewer ramble, I was expecting a rant dissaproving society openly, much like Fight Club, instead, I got a more suttle approach. This method gives you the facts and the images, and let's you decide what they mean. Some more shallow of thought found this movie not at all innovative or captivating, most likely because they saw the story of a criminal brought to justice, I saw a debate on good and evil, is it evil to let a young man terrorize, murder, and rape, or to wipe him out from conscience thought? Some people saw and started ranting about the governement and how they want to just take us all over, I don't think that was the purpose of the movie either. I think Kuberick really wanted us to think for ourselves and see both sides, not start ranting, blab all you wantabout free speech, but did anyone really feel happy at the first 45 minutes filled with rape and murder? Was anyone satisfied with the old man going crippled and driven mad at the loss of his wife? The messages in this movie can work anyway, and no modern movies have really achieved that I think. The narrating wasn't as interesting as say in Fight Club, and I don't think it really added anything special. As for me, I will enjoy pursuing more Kuberick films.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Whew! It blows my mind every time!
Review: I first saw this movie at a "Midnight Movie" showing in the suburbs of Northern Virginia when I was in the tenth grade.

The movie has stuck with me since then. I first copied the video tape, then bought it, and now have bought the DVD version. I can only say that after almost twenty years, there is nothing in cinema that can compare with the first twenty minutes or so of this movie: The intro of the violence, set in the "near future," combined with Beethoven and Rossini, of all things, and the driving scenes have come to represent to me nothing less than the complete fulfillment of our "dark side." To this day, when I hear the Beethoven and Rossini from this movie, I get chills not as much from the music as from the images this movie evokes. I can never listen to "Singin' in the Rain" again--the images of Alex (Malcom McDowell) kicking in tune with the melody has burned itself into my brain. Yes, I think there is no better evocation of these violent urges in film.

I admit, this film portrays evil. It is pure evil, yet it is what we all have inside of us. Perhaps as a way to appease those who would criticize the film, Kubrick goes on to rehabilitate his protagonist. While this rest of the film is interesting, both because it makes the viewer question to what extent a society has the right to attempt to rehabilitate its offenders and because we wonder whether Alex will make it (while we secretly hope that he will be able to trick his reformers!!), it is undoubtedly the beginning of the film and its portrayal of "ultra-violence" that makes this a must-have classic.

I watch it, mesmerized, each time. It is simply lyrical beauty.


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