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| Malcolm McDowell, Patrick Magee, Adrienne Corri, Miriam Karlin |
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Anamorphic
widescreen |
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Dolby Digital
5.1 |
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DTS |
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Trailer(s) |
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Featurette(s) |
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Documentary |
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Audio commentary
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Deleted scenes
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Concept art
/ storyboards |
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Multi-angle
feature |
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Alex
(Malcolm McDowell): There was me, that is Alex, and my three droogs,
that is Pete, Georgie and Dim. And we sat in the Korova Milkbar, trying
to make up our razudoks what to do with the evening. The Korova Milkbar
sold milk-plus; milk plus vellocet or synthemesc or drencrom, which
is what we were drinking. This would sharpen you up and get you ready
for a bit of the old ultra-violence.
The leader of a violent youth gang is forcibly 're-programmed' by a worried government and is soon used as a tool by various politicians.
 A
Clockwork Orange is perhaps one of the best examples of 'modern
cinema'
from the early seventies: it uses a decidely post-modernist view of
Western civilization and symbols while at the same time turning
everything
inside out with a satirical edge and thought provoking ideas. Most
of these ideas were not Kubrick's: the original novel by Anthony
Burgess
has all the lingo, the basic thrust of the story and the infamous rape
scene (his novel was partly inspired by the rape of his wife by
four
American GI deserters). One big exception is the ending of the movie,
which was very different in the original novel. Reading the book,
Kubrick
didn't realize that his American edition lacked the closing chapter
in which its 'hero' actually grows up and distances himself from
his
criminal past. After seeing a rough cut of the film, Burgess warned
Kubrick that its sour ending was not
the proper one. Kubrick took notice but did not change the ending.
When controversy
in the UK arose over the allegedly catastrophic social effects of the
movie, Burgess was not amused by the fact that he had to defend
a movie
that wasn't
even faithful
to his own book, while Kubrick clicked his heels and never said another
word about the movie (except to ban it
personally from UK screenings).
Kubrick's work was rarely celebrated for its sense of realism: this
is certainly true of A Clockwork Orange, which has a very theatrical
quality. While the use of classical music as a key component in the
storyline was a director's tick already apparent in 2001: A Space
Odyssey, it's the set designs that are truly original in A
Clockwork Orange. In combination with the incredible cinematography
it manages to pull the audience right into the mind-set of Alex and
his actions. However, Kubrick doesn't pander to audience expectations
when Alex
is
on the receiving end of the stick: the viewer is dragged along with
it making some of the scenes very hard to watch. And a traditional
Hollywood
pay-off never comes: Alex remains rotten to the core and the viewer
is implicated alongside him. |
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The
first DVD release of A Clockwork Orange was available separately or
as part of the original Region 1 release of the Stanley Kubrick Collection
box set, and featured a rather soft transfer drawn from damaged source
elements.
A remastered edition was released earlier this year for Region 1, again
both separately and as part of the newly remastered Stanley Kubrick
Collection box set, and features a cleaned-up transfer.
The Region 2 release of A Clockwork Orange features the remastered
version of the film, and is available both separately and as part of
the newly released Stanley Kubrick Collection box set. The Region 2
release, which is identical to the R1 version, served as basis for this
review.
Unfortunately
for all those with widescreen TV sets or projectors, Warner Home Video's
policy is to release non-anamorphic transfers of films with a 1.66:1
aspect ratio, and contrary to what the Region 2 packaging would claim,
A Clockwork Orange again is no exception. But although a windowboxed anamorphic
transfer would probably have pleased the majority of DVD buyers more,
the transfer on this newly restored and remastered presentation is very good, and a vast improvement on the earlier version. The restored film elements are almost completely free of grain and distracting damage artifacts like dirt and scratches. Colors are a little pale, but black levels are good and deep, and shadow dtail is outstanding.
The new Dolby Digital 5.1 sound mix provides a welcome separation of the voice-over and dialogues from the lively musical score, which is brought to vivid, dynamic life in this strong sonic enhancement.
The
theatrical trailer is the only extra on this disc.The
static menu screens are presented in anamorphic widescreen and are accompanied
by a music cue from the score.
Gerard
Castelein & Dan Hassler-Forest
Reviewed: 2001
Click
here for IMDB info on A
Clockwork Orange.
Click here
to return to the front page.
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