Just saw 'A Clockwork Orange' today, for the 1st time. Wierd-O-Rama it was!

[Populist_Prole]

I liked it though! I was 10 years old when it came out, and have heard references to it over the years but it somehow escaped my viewing radar, till I got on a Kubrick kick. You have to see it twice to really appreciate it ( Anglo-Russo 'Nadsat' slang and all through a cokney accent took a while to figure out ) but if it's this creative to me now, it must have been jaw-droppingly revolutionary back in '72.

[WiffenPoof]

1. I Rank "A Clockwork Orange..."

...among the top ten movies of all time. It was revolutionary and in many ways remains so today.

I was about 16 when it came out and I didn't see it until I was 18. I recall so many people trashing it for the over-the-top violence when that was the whole point of the movie.

In my view...the movie is asking a basic but important question: Is it right (ethical or moral) to give a drug to a "potentially" violent criminal to prevent him/her from committing acts against society in the future? A very interesting question and more applicable now than it was back when the movie came out.

So many people didn't understand what the movie was about or why it was written the way it was. A Clockwork Orange is more typical of Kubrick movies. I feel that Kubrick was one of the greatest directors of our time. Consider viewing some of his other movies like "Barry Lyndon" or "2001." Both great flicks and way ahead of their time. The first half of Full Metal Jacket is quite disturbing and is worth the time to watch. However, by far (IMHO) A Clockwork Orange is the most disturbing.

-P

[Rowdyboy]

3. Read it in the late '60's, saw the movie in the early '70's...

Absolutely brilliant-decades ahead of its time. I think reading it first really helped in my comprehension.

[RZM]

2. You know, I never liked it, except for that first scene in the milk bar

I think that's some of the best cinematography ever. But other than that, I wasn't impressed.

I watched it during a period about 3-4 years ago when I deliberately watched quite a few movies that were considered classics. It surprised me what I liked and what I didn't like.

For instance, I was impressed by Sunset Boulevard and Birth of A Nation (which I always heard was boring), but let down by The Graduate and Midnight Cowboy.

[msedano]

4. you must read the book, oh my droog

the movie is just "o.k." when compared to burgess' novel.

[Brickbat]

5. Read the book, little brother. The book has a "lost chapter" that the movie doesn't include.

[Canis Mala]

6. It's an important film, but

The biggest problem is that the actors playing the gangsters are too old. In the book, these monsters are in the 12 - 14 y. o. range. Also, Kubrick had this need to explicitly shock his audience and I feel that cheapens/sensationalizes the more terrifying aspects of the novel.

However, the depiction of adults who abandon their responsibility to provide a nurturing and constructive environment for children and spend all their time on shallow, vein, personal pursuits and the subsequent social collapse is right on target. Also, the pandering politicians who are clueless is spot on. Whenever I hear our "leaders" talking about standardized tests I think of this film.

[bif]

7. I sat next to Malcolm McDowell a few years ago on a movie shoot!

Just saying!

[Taverner]

8. Excellent movie, excellent book. And Wendy Carlos' soundtrack is awesome

Man she can MOOG!

[AsahinaKimi]

9. This is the one and ONLY movie I ever saw that

caused me to vomit. I left the theatre, after leaving the bathroom. I never watched it again.


Kimiko~yori.

[seabeyond]

10. my husband felt the same way and it had been a couple decades since he had seen the movie

he had read the book.... but when he rented the movie he said it hit him hard. i was talking to him about another movie and asked what was the darkest.... and before i could get the sentence out he told me clock.

he wouldnt recommend to anyone.

[AsahinaKimi]

11. It was the scene

Where his eye lids were pulled open. I couldn't take it..I ran to the bathroom, vomited.. cleaned myself up..and left the theatre. Never watched it again.


Kimiko ~yori.

[HughBeaumont]

12. Loved the book, the movie . . . hard to believe it's over 40.

Still holds up today.

Recently watched it with my then 15-year old son. It's now one of his favorite movies.

[geardaddy]

13. I agree with other posters here...Read the book

It's horrorshow oh me droog.

I did like the movie, too, but the book is much better.

[Kingofalldems]

14. Here comes Billy Boy and his band of droogs

Great scene.

[gratuitous]

15. What a movie

True in its way to the book, but then Kubrick was a director who didn't feel constrained to film every jot and tittle as the author wrote it. Alex is older in the movie than in the book, for example. The book, by the brilliant Anthony Burgess, has 21 chapters in its originally published form, but Kubrick worked with an American version of the book that had only the first 20 chapters, leaving off the 21st chapter.

The fabulous cinematography that marks a Kubrick movie from practically every other director is on full display here. The ultra-clean look of everything, the sharp outlines and bright colors just jump off the screen. I wouldn't recommend watching Kubrick under the influence of a mind-altering substance, but I've, uh, heard that it's quite an experience. Yeah, I've heard that.

Yes, it does bear repeated viewing for a full appreciation. I can also understand why many viewers would decline to make it through even once. For those with the belly for it, it's a marvelous movie. I particularly like the little "modern" touches of the future as imagined in 1972: The IBM Selectric typewriter the author uses, the micro-cassette tape Alex listens to his Beethoven on. Is the milk bar the equivalent of today's coffee bars and energy drinks?

[jmowreader]

20. The milk bar is more the equivalent of today's hookah bar

Coffee bars are for relaxation and socializing. Hookah will give you a buzz.

The milk in the Korova had drugs in it--as far as anyone can tell, vellocet was opiate, synthemesc was a mescaline-like product and drencrom--Alex and his droogs' preference--was adrenochrome, which you can read all about in "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas."

[Burma Jones]

16. Of all the Films set in the "future" this one comes closer than most

to getting it right......

[bikebloke]

17. I've seen it once.

Probably a year or so after it came out and I turned 18. I should revisit it. How's the DVD quality?

[bigwillq]

18. Great film!

One of the best of that era, and probably of all-time.

[MilesColtrane]

19. Kubrick pulled it from theaters in the UK because his family started getting death threats.

The ban was lifted after the director's death in 1999.

And, that is your fun factoid of the day.