A Clockwork Orange - 4K Blu-ray Review

[Michael Scott]

A Clockwork Orange



Movie:
4K Video:
Video:
Audio:
Extras:
Final Score:

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Movie
When looking over Stanley Kubrick’s body of work the man has given so much to cinema, but has also been hailed as a “controversial” director over the years. Many people find 2001: A Space Odyssey to be wildly boring and over rated, Eyes Wide Shut was considered a failure and a project that just fawned to Tom and Nicole Kidman, and Dr. Stangelove was a dark comedy that confused lots of people (although it has it’s massive cult following as well). However, none of the compare to the controversy that became A Clockwork Orange. Back in 1971 it was considered a vile exploitation piece. A movie with random nudity and “ultra violence” (for the day) that was only meant to visually shock the audience. Others saw it as a satire on our culture’s obsession with sex and violence. A 1970s drug infused admonition of 1970s exploitation film culture. A sub culture that was becoming more and more mainstream. Kubrick was very vocal on how he felt about violent movies taking away from more cerebral cinematic experiences, and A Clockwork Orange was his “wake up call” satire piece on the subject, dabbling a fine line between mocking exploitation film itself, and darkly satirical humor. The film was banned in several countries during the 1970s, including it’s home base of the U.K, Brazil, Ireland, and several more.

It’s a testament to the film that it can shock audiences 50 years later. I will fully admit that this is in NO WAY a family friendly film, but it is in no way more violent or nudity infused than many movies we’ve come to see every day. In fact, the violence is extremely subdued even by 1970s standards. It’s really the emotional impact behind the cleverly construed scenes that make you FEEL that it’s more violent, or more objectifying than it really is. Another testament to Stanley’s skill. The film revolves around Alex de Large (Malcolm McDowell), a man whose appetites rage into the “ultra violent”, the macabre, and the lustfuly. He and his band of hooligans known as “Droogs” rage throughout London maiming, assaulting, hurting, and generally causing havoc to anyone who comes across their path. His hapless parents (mother donning purple hair even) know nothing of his exploits away from his schooling, and soon enough Alex’s exploits land him on the radar of police.

Caught for his crimes and sent to prison, he glosses over the reparations he is supposed to be making for society, instead going inward and fantasizing about his lust for women, violence, and everything “fun” on the outside that he’s missing in here, all the while appearing to make an effort at rehabilitation on the outside. However, he comes across a government program which offers to use some experimental methods to cure his primal urges, and as a result he would get a lesser sentence, and would be out on the streets earlier. Taking up the offer, Alex soon finds he’s in over his head, as the government uses shock therapy on him to create an aversion to all of the vices that he once held so dear. Passing the program with flying colors, Alex is out on the street, but soon finds that his “test” is far from over, as his internal instincts clash with the rehabilitated person he now is.

Off the bat, A Clockwork Orange is a cinematic masterpiece. It’s one of Kubrick’s best done films, and has garnered quite the cult following over the last 50 years. However, it is also one of his least enjoyable films by design. The movie is intentionally designed to make you squirm, feel revulsion, and an overall sense of degradation after watching it. I’ve never once ENJOYED watching the movie over the years, but I completely appreciate the message that Kubrick was conveying, as well as marvel at the technical skill he uses to craft his disturbing tale. It’s part horror, part satire, and part drama, but all Kubrick to the core. The lewdity and nudity involved is oppressive and disturbing, but never titilating ormeant to show it for the sake of showing it. Every scene has a distinct message. Every gross bit of artwork on the wall or in a club is meant to make the viewer question “why? Just why?” at every turn, and is in fact the very message of the film itself. Why? Just why is society obsessed with these things? The violence is never really shown on screen, as is anything disturbing, but Kubrick makes great use of our imagination to imagine horrors worse than that. A skill which has been lost by most directors these days.Malcolm McDowell is simply stunning in the role of Alex, he thrives in Kubricks trippy 1970s surrealistic exploitation film. After digesting the film the last couple of days (I have to do that every time I watch), I still feel that A Clockwork Orange is one of Kubricks best films structurally, and portrays a very poignant message of making the audience stare into the abyss and try not to feel uncomfortable. However, it is still one of the least “enjoyable” films of his that I’ve ever watched. I know that sounds like a dichotomy, and it is. I love the film for it’s skill, it’s artistically beautiful horror, but also fully understand that the movie is designed by its very nature to make you uncomfortable. It’s a movie that you either love or hate. There really is no inbetween. Many people view it as a vile exploitative work, while others view it as a masterpiece at satire, and personally I think they’re both correct. Personally I think that’s exactly what Kubrick was going for. A satire out our obsession with baser impulses in cinema, as well as an exploitative work that is specifically designed to shock you as much as Alex was shocked in his aversion shock therapy.




Rated PG-13 for sequences of violence and action, and language




4K Video: Video:

The old 2007 Blu-ray that has been released and re-released a million times was using an aging master with plenty of problems wrong with it. Encoded in VC-1 and a rather soft looking transfer, it never replicated the surrealistic nature of Kubrick’s film very well. This new remaster is nothing short of stunning in comparison. As someone else mentioned to me “it’s a gorgeous transfer for an ugly film”, and I believe that’s the best way of describing it. The movie is by nature slightly soft and diffused, with browns and that sort of burnt orange and pastel coloring native to the 1970s. The over warmed Blu-ray is gone, with a much more toned down look to the colors, while still remaining vibrant and punchy. Oranges and blues dominate, with tons of low level browns and grays thrown in for good measure. The infamous aversion therapy scene no longer looks orangey and over blasted, instead looking like an actual cinema light. The HDR enhancement is subtle, but still very welcome as it cleans up black levels and tweaks colors just a bit. The best part of the film is just the textural details and the density of the movie’s film grain. It was tampered with for the blu-ray and the 4K UHD is revelation as we actually get to see all of that natural grain back ,with all of the textural details that were scrubbed out before.

The term “ugly” applies in multiple way. The film is an “ugly” film with it’s nature, but visually it’s garish and harsh and nasty looking at times. It’s showy but unshowy at the same time, and overall the film is never meant to wow you with it’s beautiful colors and natural look. Instead it’s meant to create a shocking visual appearance that is meant to hit you in the face as much as the moral story is. As said before, “a gorgeous transfer for an ugly movie”.







Audio:

Here’s the part where things get interesting. I originally assumed that the 5.1 DTS-HD MA track was a port of the 5.1 LPCM track from the 2007 Blu-ray, but after listening for about 15 minutes felt like this was strangely worse. Tossing in the old LPCM track and it’s blatantly clear that Warner did a remix for the track, and not a very good one in my humble opinion. The LPCM track was never a showy 5.1 mix, but really didn’t do much more than open up the space of the Mono track and make it a stereo mix with some mild bass and surround usage in minimal bits, making it effectively a 2.1 track in all but name. This new one sounds all out of whack. The front two tracks have been boosted dramatically in volume, many times drowning out the vocals and the surround usage. Vocals are boosted as well, and this gives the top end of the vocals a harsh and rasping sound that distorts at times. Surround usage is still minimal, and the nasty distortion from the front seems to be mitigated in those rears.

As with some of his previous works, Warner has put in a lossy 192 kbps original mono track to enjoy for once, and it sounds LEAGUES better than the new 5.1 mix. The harshness and crackling distortion is mostly eliminated (though some of it is source related) as the massive front channel boosting is all but eliminated. It’s not a flashy or show track as it’s only mono, and while I would have KILLED to have that mix in DTS-HD MA Mono, it’s definitely the better listening experience over the new remix.





Extras:

• Audio Commentary - featuring Malcolm McDowell and the late, great Nick Redman.
• Still Tickin': The Return of A Clockwork Orange
• Geeat Bolshy Yarblockos! Making A Clockwork Orange
• Turning Like Clockwork
• Malcolm McDowell Looks Back
• Theatrical Trailer

Final Score: ​

At the end of the day, A Clockwork Orange is utterly fascinating, utterly disgusting, and probably one of the best films that Kubrick has ever done. Over the years I’ve gained an appreciation for what he was trying to do, but at the same time I have a hard time blind recommending it to people I don’t know. It’s not a family friendly movie AT ALL, and while it’s an incredible character study, not everyone will get it. It’s a very polarizing film and still is some 50 years later. I know people who loathe to view it, and others who can’t wait to watch it again. As such my review score falls just to the right of middle and I will say that if you are intrigued by this review, check it out, I don’t think you’ll be disappointed, but go in understanding that it’s a very disturbing watch.


Technical Specifications:

Starring: Malcolm McDowell, Patrick Magee, Michael Bates, Warren Clarke
Directed by: Stanley Kubrick
Written by: Stanley Kubrick
Aspect Ratio: 1.66:1 HEVC
Audio: English: DTS-HD MA 5.1, English DD Mono
Subtitles: English SDH, French, Spanish
Studio: Warner Brothers
Rated: R
Runtime: 137
Blu-ray Release Date: August 21st, 2021

Recommendation: Fascinating Watch

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[Asere]

Thanks for the review. I finally got to see this film in it's entirety. It is a crazy but fun watch.

 

[tripplej]

Thanks for the review. I agree, it is one of those movies, even after seeing, I am asking myself what did I see? lol.

 

[Todd Anderson]

Crazy movie, CRAZY Book! Disturbing on so many levels.

Decades ago, a project in my senior year AP English class was to read two books and watch their movies... then there a bunch of papers born from that.

My choices? Deliverance and A Clockwork Orange.

LOL. Glutton for punishment, I guess ;-).

 

[Michael Scott]

Crazy movie, CRAZY Book! Disturbing on so many levels.

Decades ago, a project in my senior year AP English class was to read two books and watch their movies... then there a bunch of papers born from that.

My choices? Deliverance and A Clockwork Orange.

LOL. Glutton for punishment, I guess ;-).

the book of Deliverance is soooooooo much crazier than the movie too lol

 

[Todd Anderson]

Ah.... yeah... it is. In fact, it's downright disturbing!

 

[ddude003]

Dr. StrangeLove, 2001: A Space Odyssey, A Clockwork Orange and Eyes Wide Shut... Kind of makes you wonder what Stanley was into... The Military Industrial Complex, AI & UFO phenomenon, Trauma Based Mind Control & Secret Societies... Quite the Conspiracy Theory cocktail mix...