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Summary: Classic look at past, present and future
Review: I've always considered this Kubrick's best film. It's unfortunate it's not as well-known as "2001." I saw it when it first came out; after all these years it does hold up on repeated viewings. I consider that the sign of a classic movie. Kubrick and Burgess here tackle an age-old question: can people be forced to be good? Or can they do it only through free will? Both answer: only the latter. Malcolm McDowell, who when younger could be both creepy and scary, gives a convincing performance as the psychopathic "droog" Alex, leader of a gang (supposedly based on English "Teddy Boys") who spend their days engaging in "ultraviolence." The only human thing about Alex is his fondness for classical music. Not surprisingly, he gets caught and is subjected to a behavioristic treatment. it's a cautionary tale about governments trying to force people to be good (at least in behavior) when the only thing that can change people is for them to change their hearts and minds.
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Summary: Brilliant, satirical, dramatic.. this movie is amazing
Review: A Clockwork Orange is a brilliant movie. It chronicles the travails of Alex DeLarge, skilfully played by Malcolm McDowell. He goes about robbing, beating and hurting innocent people with his band of 'Droogs' until he finds himself in jail, where he undergoes an experimental 'rehabilitation' process that turns him into a zombie incapable of making rational choices, regardless of how violent or warped they may be. Ultimately, A Clockwork Orange is Kubrick at his best: it's satirical, dramatic, hilarious and scathingly cynical. McDowell is brilliant - it's the best thing he's ever done. And, for all of those under the impression that this movie is ultra-violent and sick, rest easy. A Clockwork Orange is, by today's standards, relatively standard fare. The most chilling part about it is how accurate and razor sharp its social satire is.
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Summary: Violence makes violence
Review: If 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY was Stanley Kubrick's most affirmative look at the future, A CLOCKWORK ORANGE is definitely a 180-degree turnaround.This still-controversial film, based on Anthony Burgess' equally controversial 1962 novel, revolves around Alex (Malcolm McDowell), the leader of a group of "droogs" whose idea of fun is robbing, raping, and beating people senseless in a London of the near-future. But when McDowell is captured by the law, tried, and sentenced, in order to get an early release, he undergoes the Ludovico treatment, which is designed to cure him of his impulses toward sex and violence. The problem is that this politically correct form of brainwashing also cripples him to an extent that he can't defend himself against his former tormentors, who are now out for revenge against him. A CLOCKWORK ORANGE caused a furor over its no-holes-barred sex and violence, which briefly earned it an 'X' rating in America, before Kubrick trimmed it ever so slightly for an 'R'. But what is far more disturbing than the overt content of the film is its challenging questions. Is the State really justified in rehabilitating criminals by brainwashing them? Are people like McDowell's Alex really that much worse than those who would try to get revenge on him? Is law and order worth squashing free will, even if some of us abuse it? Kubrick raises these questions in his usual challenging fashion, punched up here by his unique uses of classical music pieces, including the second and fourth movements of Beethoven's 9th in ways one never dreamed this piece could be used. Often scathing in its satire and a definite slap against right-wing politicos on both sides of the Atlantic, A CLOCKWORK ORANGE remains disturbing but compulsive watching even after thrity years.
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Summary: About the remastered DVD
Review: While comparing the new remastered DVD and the old DVD of A CLOCKWORK ORANGE, I discovered that the new transfer shows MORE picture on the left and right sides, but LESS at the bottom. The difference in picture amount is not great, but, to me, great enough to affect the composition. In the scene where Alex kicks his friends into the river in slow motion, some of the toes are cut off due to the less picture at the bottom. I wouldn't be surprised if this DVD would be re-released again. To me the biggest improvement on the new transfer of ACO is the flesh tones -- they look more realistic, and complexions are generally rosier (although I have to wonder that, for such a dark subject matter, does healthier-looking skin tone enhance the theme of the movie?). Other improvements are the elimination of the graininess, speckles, and other blemishes. The darker scenes (many scenes take place at night and in low-light condition) don't show much improvement at all.
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Summary: Bizzare Masterpiece
Review: Probably the most bizarre movie I have ever seen but a very good movie. Stanley Kubrick directs this masterpiece. About a gang of teenagers who spend their nights terrorizing people, raping women, and beating people to death. Very, very strange, yet very creative. This is not a movie for everyone.
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Summary: Oh!!!! And What's So Stinkin' About It?!!!
Review: All I can say is, you'll never be able to listen to "Singin' In The Rain" again without thinking of this brilliant movie! I must admit that the scene depicting Alex as a Roman Soldier whipping Jesus Christ shocked me almost beyond belief. But then I realized that Kubrick was merely trying to show us the depth of Alex's evil and hatred, and how his attempt to manipulate the prison system and religion ("I want only for the rest of my life to be one act of goodness" yeah right!) backfires horribly, especially upon his return to free society. Malcolm McDowell is a constant joy to watch and the cinematography is some of Stanley Kubrick's best (the extreme close-up of Alex and the long, slow extended shot that opens the film will hook you immediately). Thirty years on, "A Clockwork Orange" has lost none of it's perverse shock or genius. Look beyond the violence and what you'll find is a film about redemtion and ultimately how doing right and treating others right is a choice no one can make for us. Science, technology, modern medicine and rehabilitation are all fine and dandy, but the human spirit cannot be manipulated by them. The choice is ours.
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Summary: "Awesome", Just "Awesome"
Review: The story line is pretty simple. One malicious guy was arrested. After severals years in prison, he asked governer, who was planning to do dramatic experiment, to use him as a speciman for the experiment. And..... If U like the movie which is unique, stimulative, unforgettable, and awesome, it is the right one.
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Summary: A hypnotic, disturbing trip into crime and punishment!
Review: I took a look at this film on cable TV, had heard of it for a long time and my curiosity got the better of me, it is violent, disturbing, hypnotic and one of late Stanley Kubrik's finest. It is set in England where a gang of 3 thugs headed by Alex played by Malcolm McDowell. They engage in assorted delinquent behavior, the more violent and dangerous the better, such as driving at high speeds to cause vehicles to run off the road and be overturned, burglary, rape, brutality on bums in the street and a murder resulting from a botched burglary, after which he is betrayed by his partners in crime who knock him senseless and leave him hung out to dry facing the police. Alex after his arrest and an opportunistic action on his part while in prison, is submitted to an experiment that deprograms his barbaric criminal instincts, now becomes physically ill when shown scenes of violence which he is forced to watch and listening to Beethoven now make him physically ill. And goes through hard tests to prove he is reformed, test that before would have triggered him to rape or go medieval on someone, sometimes these tests seem questionable. Eventually he has to be released to a world changed largely due to having to face people he did evil unto once on the outside, it is what happens upon this that leads to a great conclusion, after Alex having to reap what he sowed and then comming to a great redeming conclusion for Alex that is totally unexpected. The cinematography is great and the performances particularly of Malcolm McDowell as an obistinate,ruthless, violent thug who faces a tough road to redemption, I didn't expect to like this movie due to it's disturbing theme, but it's well acted and the cinematography and set design transcend this, if you like creepy movies like Oliver Stone's Talk Radio, you will at least have fun keeping up with this one.
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Summary: A Clockwork Orange: Dark, Disturbing, Great Cinematography.
Review: I got to look at this film, I had heard about it for many years but had never had the chance to see it. One night it was being shown on cable and my curiosity got the better of me. It is a dark disturbing tale of 3 violent delinquent punks headed by Alex played by Malcolm McDowell, who first appears in this dark room in some weird make up and has a this sinister look. It is not long before they are seen doing their dirty deeds, such as: running vehicles off the road, engaging in a gang fight with another gang in the middle of their dirty deeds, rape, beating a homeless bum, and raid a home in which they commit unspeakeable misdeeds to the unfortunate inhabitants(i.e leave it to you people to find out about this, let's just say it's one of the more disturbing scenes of the movie.) Alex runs into a crossroads when after a burglary goes bad and results in a murder, he is then betrayed and almost knocked unconscious by his two partners in crime and leave him hung out to dry and arrested by the police. He is put after an opportunistic moment in prison, put into a rehabilitation program, which seems to deprogram him out of his barbaric instincts after much painful tests. He is then released and that is where he faces the consequences, facing some of the people he tormented, some torment him back, including his former partners in crime, who just on the surface seem to take a new leaf by becoming police officers. The ending is somewhat anti climatic, and one is left wondering wether he really is rehabilitated or he is just acting as a creature of survival and convenience. But the film does depict perhaps some of the hipocisy of the political system in dealing with crime and punishment. It leaves one with food for thought, and it's one of those disturbing films that draw one, with good acting, setting and cinematograpy despite it's theme.
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Summary: test of time?
Review: ACO is the only Kubrick film I can think of that has not withstood the test of time. The great danger about designing the future in films is the risk that they will become dated soon after. The look of ACO has become dated in a sort of seventies kistch, while admittedly cool and poppy looking, dates it in a manner seperate from SK's other works. A bigger problem with the film is the pacing. The first act has an energy that is lost once Alex is imprisoned. In fact this mirrors Eyes Wide Shut, which has a great tension up until Cruise leaves the apartment of the dead father. Both films, for me anyway, suffer as they retrace the steps of the protaganists (or in ACO's case the antagonist/protagonist). Now don't get me wrong, ACO is a film well worth seeing and MM's performance is one of the most realized in a Kubrick film. I'm not discounting the Art of the film, just it's ability to aspire to the ageless quality of Kubricks other works. BTW , Steppenwolf Theater in Chicago put on a production of ACO in I believe 94' Didn't see it but I'm sure it was interesting.
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