Home :: DVD :: Art House & International :: European Cinema  

Asian Cinema
British Cinema
European Cinema

General
Latin American Cinema
A Clockwork Orange

A Clockwork Orange

List Price: $24.98
Your Price:
Product Info Reviews

<< 1 2 3 4 5 .. 58 >>

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: The most powerful icon movie in the seventies
Review: This work established to Mr. Kubrick as the most complex and deeper director in the western hemisphere.
From 1956 to 1971 , Kubrick made a amazing journey , with films gifted with undeniable maestry and deepness ; think it: The killing , Paths of glory , Spartacus, Lolita, Dr. Strangelove, 2001 and The clockwise.
This film is deeply autobiographical, and describes painfully crude livings of Anthony Burguess.
Kubrick , read a sublime adaptation from this work and signed once more his name for the story.
This film doesn't age a bit. That's a good signal. The status of cult movie was born almost the day it was released.
Malcolm Mc Dowell reached the peak with this film; the role is unique in the cinema story ; he is not just a rebel without cause ; he also loves Beethoven's ninth and that makes still more interesnting and obviously weird his character.
The experiment Alexander , will be the spark of the film.
The lesson that you learn about the sense of revenge you may cause in an industrial and well educated society when you disturb the status Quo as Malcom did it with his fellow man , the crimes committed on the social body are very awful but it means nothing when you compare the force of the revenge of the society.
No one beleieves in him when he is reddemptded , even his parents. And our pacified man will experience by himself all the secondary effects of the order he disturbed.
In the nineties Transpotting and The experiment have been two reference films clearly inspired by this legendary movie.
Watch this film, there are many points to remark , but I think you should comment with your closet friends this picture.
Rossini never sounded so cynical in any previous film , specially with The Garzza ladra overture.
One adittional issue the Ninth Beethoven version is from Ferenc Fricsay conducting Berlin Philarmonic from 1957.Watch Mc Dowell with the casette.
One golden cult movie, undoubtly.
Don't miss this original and bitter film.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Bolshy Devotchkas Love Vellocet
Review: Probably one of the most controversial "Oscar-nominated" films ever (1971) - Because of copy-cat violence (that the film was blamed for) director Stanley Kubrick withdrew it from circulation in Britain a year after its release.

A Clockwork Orange (based on the 1962 satiric novel by Anthony Burgess) startles, mesmerizes & hypnotizes with its unique brand of futurism, criminal posh, dehumanization, and higher moralities. It flows into unchartered territory with each passing scene, and can easily astonish the weakest of minds. The character development in this film is quite extraordinary because you really can't predict the eventual outcomes & relationships of the cast, most of which meet under bizarre circumstances to begin with.

My favorite scene is when Alex de Large (played by McDowell) is overcome with heavenly bliss while listening to Beethoven's 9th Symphony, and then trances out on his porcelain statues of dancing Jesuses, his pet snake Basil, and his own sadistic realm of erotic pop art & dementia. All of this represents the various conflicting elements of good vs. evil in his life. The pace of the film comes to a crashing halt when young Alex is sent off to a stripey hole (prison) after being convicted of murdering the female proprietor of a health farm - by bludgeoning her to death with a large sculpture of a rocking penis.

The film was defeated in four Academy Awards categories by William Friedkin's The French Connection, but has since grown into an international cult phenomenon. I had the luxury of viewing this masterful gem in London during a re-release in 1999 (not long after the passing of the great Kubrick). All I can say is that this movie is still as fresh, obscene & tantalizing as it was in 1971.

Be sure to pay close attention to the oblique synthesized electronic score by Walter Carlos, as it complements the frighteningly decadent cityscapes of a "very near" future. Some people might also find it difficult to follow this film which uses lots of foreign "Nadsat slang" language -- primarily used by Alex and his gang of Droogs. If you'd like to know the translations of these words and phrases be sure to check out any of the many Clockwork Orange dictionary or Nadsat websites.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Stunning
Review: Let's be honest, Stanley Kubrick is a genius (minus Eyes Wide Shut). This film may come off as too strong to many viewers, particularly those with weak stomachs. the movie is based around the question "how much is too much?" Alex is a young man with a passion for the ol' ultraviolence. after being arrested, he starts a program so he can be accepted back into society. the treatment works so well, Alex can no longer show anger or even fight in self-defense. with scenes of strong violence and sexual misconduct, this movie is a strong R. the scenes are beautiful, the acting is great, and the directing is near perfection. it's a great movie for post-film social commentary discussions.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Visually Brilliant
Review: At its worse; in its dullest moments, its a pretentious art flick. At its best, most of the movie, its a meticulously crafted, incredibly shot kaleidescopic fantasyworld of colors, music, behaviors and sounds. A feast for the eyes and ears, as well as the brain. I see something new every time I watch it. The 1st 45 minutes are tremendously fast paced and wild. For the rest, the film slows down considerably as Alex goes through incarceration, guinea pig status and defenseless former thug. Everyone he's treated horribly in the past gleefully returns the favor when he can't defend himself. The people in charge of reforming and curing him are hardly better examples of humanity than he is. The movie is a great commentary about how crime and criminals are dealt with. Much ado is made about punishing crime and the criminal and very little is said about the causes for criminality and the permissiveness of a society that tolerates some objectionable behaviors and decries others. Less is said about a penal system that takes little and only half hearted effort to reform vicious criminals. Instead they are barked at and made to walk in circles and stand in line. Kubrick's genius in perfect form.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Its better than the book?!
Review: Even the classical music fits in (that is, it is on the same artistic level as the movie itself). Intelligent movies often run the risk of sterillity: this is certainly an exception (one of the other reviewers wrote it ought to be done as an action tv series!).
Its about a very nasty and elegant person, who lives the connection between beauty and violence; and how good and evil, in this world, are mixed up into a big rainbow puddle. And, about exactly how annoying most of the 1969/70 area was. (like all other pieces of real art, its not "timeless": it means to much for that).
Oh, and its disturbing (really disturbing, that is: it tests morality to its breaking point), and should be enjoyed by more than just one level of the mind: bit of a waste otherwise.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: A lighthearted romp with the original Tyler Durden
Review: This movie is very nihilistic. It is also very, very funny and thought-provoking. Kubrick changes the tone of the (equally brilliant) book somewhat, and the story is turned into a virtual star vehicle for the brutal young protagonist, Alex. Although Alex is a vicious, remorseless criminal who commits all the acts that symbolize the human capacity for evil, he is quite simply the most (actually, the only) likable person in the story. But this is not conveyed in an obvious, shock-effect manner, as anyone who knows Kubrick could guess without being told.

Alex's world is vaguely futuristic, inhabited peripherally by the stereotypes of self-serving and insincere politicians, detached and defeated working-class parents, and violent young dullards. The caricatures of all these supporting figures are never made explicit. There is no real direct allusion to the political agenda of the government who programs, and re-programs, Alex. There are no long melodramatic close-ups of anguished parents wondering what went wrong.

We infer the nature of these characters simply because they exist very much in our own world. And Alex represents a very real facet of pure youthful energy that exists in some measure in everybody. Some of this energy is beautiful...Alex is funny, charming, witty; he loves good music and dressing fashionably. At the same time his energy propels him to act absolutely without conscience. He doesn't know what he's rebelling against and doesn't care, it makes no difference whatsoever. It comes so naturally to him that it's not even rebellion, to him it is just living.

The brilliance of this film is that we see, but only briefly and ephemerally, exactly what Alex is rebelling against. Just like an adolescent, we can not really put our finger on what is so wrong with the world we see, but still the wrongness and injustice is palpable. So palpable that we want to rebel with him, but at the same time we are repulsed by the way he frees himself from the chains of the grim society he lives in. For most it will probably be a mixture of feelings that are familiar but rarely invoked by a film.

This film, perhaps better than any other, is a perfect snapshot of the moral ambiguity of life and living in this world, especially as an adolescent. It is a feeling I firmly believe everyone experiences at one time or another, whether they admit it or not. Kubrick has portrayed it as a darkly hilarious satire, exactly as a savvy young teenager might view their own life as they live it. He has created a world so dark and hopeless yet at the same time so absurdly dysfunctional that even the kindest viewer is forced to not just see, but FEEL the story through the eyes of the violent young criminal whose story is being told.

Alex is Turgenev's Bazarov as rock star and superhero, the original Tyler Durden. Fearless, careless, hopeless but ultimately happy and full of LIFE. Unfortunately the life he lives reflects the world he is in, and it's pretty disturbing as viewed through the sober eyes of cinema.

I should add that (and this goes without saying to any Stanley Kubrick fans) the film is shot in a very stylized and almost cartoonish manner, from set to costume right down to the way dialogue is delivered, as if in a theatrical play. Remember this is a film shot in Britain around 1969/1970 portraying a kind-of-future. So it will seem cheesy and ridiculous to modern viewers at first. However, don't get the wrong idea; it is not sloppy at all. Kubrick was a notorious obsessive and perfectionist. Every little detail is meticulously planned and there for a reason. This movie is quite surreal in it's mixture of outlandish sets and sounds, and that is what makes the stark realism that comes through even more incredible. Just bear with and you will be pleasantly surprised, if not amazed by this awesome film.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: great movie
Review: I can't put into words how much I like this film.

But I'm sure as hell going to try.

ACO goes beyond film and into art. This is not a movie. It's a lesson on life. The message the movie conveys speaks right to the heart of humanity, and it conveys it using the twisted eye of one of the gods of directors, the late Stanley Kubrick. This is Malcolm McDowell at his finest. This is Kubrick at his finest. A copy of this film should be handed out at birth. It should be required viewing in ANY class on sociology.

I won't spoil too much for you - if you haven't seen it, go do yourself a favor and find a copy of ACO. Witness moviemaking at its finest.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: A True Masterpiece
Review: I first saw Clockwork Orange when I was a kid and it was my first taste of true perversion on film, it seriously messed me up. Just kidding. After seeing it again over the years after becoming older and wiser I realised how great of a film it is. Clockwork Orange is a fine piece of Cinema and is probably Stanley Kubricks best film. The direction and script are excellent. The acting is top notch headlined by Malcolm Mcdowell. Probably in my top ten films of all time. You can't go wrong with a DVD purchase of this film.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Strangelove and 2001
Review: notwithstanding, this is Kubrick's masterpiece, period. It may be disturbing in parts, but it makes a point ... and has held up better than any other of his films. It needs to be seen and owned. It's that important. Those who didn't like it simply didn't or couldn't understand it. I pity them. To compare it with Tarantino is like comparing the Empire State building with a Wal-mart -- 2 different worlds. The really sad thing is that a genius who made this, and Strangelove and Jacket, etc, could also make pieces of garbage like Shining and Eyes Wide Shut. Shows even Stanley could have a bad day.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Wow...looks as if someone went downhill...
Review: The Shining, Full Metal Jacket, and parts of 2001: A space odyssey. These are some greats from Stanley Kubrick. I was surprised when I saw his name on the credits for this movie. It is one of the worst movies I've seen. It is just plain stupid. Don't waste $20 on this! Go see anything Tarantino or Tim Burton. The only good part of this movie was the first scene, then it all went downhill.


<< 1 2 3 4 5 .. 58 >>

© 2004, ReviewFocus or its affiliates