"A Clockwork Orange" is Stanley Kubrick's best film, and one of my favorite films overall. It is one of those movies that you can watch over and over again, and still be amazed everytime. I have never been as shocked as I was when I saw this film. The first 20 minutes involves two brutal beatings and an extremely graphic rape scene. It only gets more shocking from there on out. The story also offers a hilarious sense of irony. Alex is supposedly cured of all his afflictions, but is thrust back into a world of violence when forced to deal with his victims. The camera work used in this film is amazing, and the music is wonderful. All of the actors do an outstanding job in this film, but Malcom McDowell gives one of the most memorable performances ever as Alex. I have never experienced such a use of my emotions before when dealing with a fictional character. He will make you hate him and shock you with how he acts before he is captured. But then Alex makes you feel almost sorry for him with what he has to go through afterwards.
Stanley Kubrick has made some great movies with "2001: A Space Oddesey", "Full Metal Jacket", "Barry Lyndon", "Paths of Glory", and "Dr. Strangelove...." In my opinion however, " A Clockwork Orange" is his best film. The overall story, acting, music, camera work, and truly shocking scenes set it apart from the rest. It is definately a must own, because it only gets better with repeated viewings. The DVD however, is very mediocre. The quality of the film itself is just above average, and there are no extras at all. 5/5 Kubrick's Most Noteworthy Accomplishment by Weston J. Kathman (Lakeside Park, KY USA) A lot of people would say that Stanley Kubrick's best work was 2001: A Space Oddyssey or Dr. Strangelove, but Clockwork Orange is his most remarkable film. Combining the best qualities of both 2001 and Strangelove -- which are both fantastic films also -- never before has Kubrick given audiences such a satirically brilliant movie. For some people, Clockwork will be hard to stomach; the rape scene at the beginning is pretty explicit and there's a lot of nudity. The fighting scenes, though, are for the most part more comical than brutal. Whether you hate it or love it -- and there isn't a lot of room for middle ground to be taken with this film -- you will certainly remember it because it will most likely have some kind of impact on you. In his first film role, Malcolm McDowell gives an incredible performance as the twisted gang leader Alex, who delights in rape, ultraviolenece, and Beethoven. McDowell is amusing and frightening at the same time and, without a solid, believable performance from the lead, this film would not have worked. The rest of the characters are eccentric, too, although their sole purpose is to reinforce the qualities of Alex. There are two major themes in this film, one of which deals with politicians and the manipulation with which they operate in order to avoid bad publicity. When the operation to reform Alex backfires, causing him terrible trouble as opposed to making him a decent person, the politician who originally championed the controversial operation does a quick clean-up job so that the situation won't seem as bad as it is. He offers Alex a cushy government job, basically an attempt to bribe the criminal so that he won't go to the papers with his horrifying experience. Alex, of course, is too young and unschooled to realize that he has been taken advantage of -- both by the people who promoted the operation and by those who opposed it -- and he is just happy to be himself again. The other main theme of this film deals with how far we should or shouldn't go in order to reform people who commit heinous crimes. If we ever developed the technology to do such a procedure as was done on Alex, this film gives us a good reason not to go through with it. Besides taking away a person's inborn ability to make his own moral choices, this would also leave the person particularly vulnerable to the revenge of those he's wronged in the past (which is what happens to Alex). The book of the same title, which was authored by Alex Burgess, is even better than the film and deserves more credit as a literary masterpiece. Some people believe that the movie is too soft and doesn't go as far as the book as far as the sexual scenes are concerned, but this movie will offend enough people without Alex taking advantage of two naive, pre-teen girls. Burgess himself was disappointed by the film (he makes this obvious in the newer version of the book) because the book was 21 chapters and the movie ended at the conclusion of the 20th chapter; however, the ending of the movie works better on screen while the ending of the book works better on paper. In each context, the endings work. Besides, the movie was already two and a half hours, and adding the book's ending would have meant at least 30 more minutes. Anyway, A Clockwork Orange is a thrilling experience and should not be missed, whether you like Kubrick or not. This film should have been ranked higher on AFI's Top 100 list. 5/5 A masterpiece! by MMAfan (USA) What a great moment in movie history, and one of the greatest adapted screenplays of all time! This is the all new remastered Clockwork Orange, and finally released on a bran new dvd set with all new special features! Special Features include: Commentary with the main star! Remastered version of the movie! Channel 4 documentary: Still Tickin: The Return of Clockwork Orange! Career profile: O Lucky Malcolm! New featurette: Making A Clockwork Orange Purchase a work of art by one of the greatest filmakers ever!