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Post by boomzilla on Sept 4, 2012 20:29:10 GMT -5
A Clockwork Orange – 5 out of 5 stars I’ve been asked why so few of my movie reviews return perfect (5 out of 5) star ratings. The reason is that my criteria are so stringent. To receive a perfect score, the movie must be well directed, well shot, well acted, well edited, and have a script that not only has something to say but also leaves you thinking (now does this even sound REMOTELY like anything from Hollywood in the past few decades?). Few movies hit that mark but Stanley Kubrick’s “A Clockwork Orange” is definitely one of the few. Many people count this in their “worst movie of all time” category because they can’t stomach the violence. Far from being gratuitous, the violence in this movie is an absolutely necessary preamble to the important questions that the movie poses: - What response is society justified in meting to truly awful criminals?
- Should that response be to punish or to rehabilitate?
- What rehabilitation method is society justified in using (and what methods are they not)?
- How can society be sure that rehabilitation is successful?
- What side effects are tolerable in rehabilitation?
- Can rehabilitated criminals truly be reintegrated into society?
There are more, but the above questions are all as relevant today as they were in 1971. I won’t spoil the movie by revealing the plot, but I will say that should you watch this movie, I guarantee that it will be memorable whether or not you like it and that you’ll never hear “Singing in the Rain” in the same way again. Farewell my little droogies – I’m off for a bit of the old ultraviolence! Boomzilla
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Post by Porscheguy on Sept 4, 2012 20:33:38 GMT -5
I don't like this movie at all and I've seen it three times. Its not even in my top 100.
Just my opinion.. :-)
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Post by paintedklown on Sept 4, 2012 20:36:07 GMT -5
I agree 100%.
I LOVE "Clockwork" and have watched it many, many times over the years.
"A little bit of the old Ludwig Van."
"That is, if you have any yarbles!"
"Your humble narrator."
"All the sophistos at the milk bar."
I could go on all day with lines from this highly quotable film. More than representing any particular scene, they seem to represent the tone of the film.
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Post by boomzilla on Sept 4, 2012 20:37:24 GMT -5
I can understand that, Porscheguy - Many of my friends agree with you wholeheartedly on this movie. I found it one of the most stimulating movies I've ever seen. Go figure! Were we all alike, what a boring world it would be! Cheers
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geebo
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Post by geebo on Sept 4, 2012 20:38:50 GMT -5
I don't like this movie at all and I've seen it three times. Its not even in my top 100. Just my opinion.. :-) I've watched it a few times but just can't get that excited over it.
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Post by Porscheguy on Sept 4, 2012 20:41:17 GMT -5
Thought I would check my view against the masses just to be sure I'm not insane. :-)
Its rated 128th on BluRay.com and 61st on Imdb.com...
So I guess I'm only half insane ;D
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Post by boomzilla on Sept 4, 2012 20:44:32 GMT -5
Thought I would check my view against the masses just to be sure I'm not insane. :-) Its rated 128th on BluRay.com and 61st on Imdb.com... To quote a cool guy: "Normal is a myth"
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SRH
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Post by SRH on Sept 4, 2012 21:02:02 GMT -5
As with most of his films, there were many messages. I think the main message Kubrick wanted to convey was not just reformation of criminals, but polotical corruption. "The parties" were willing to do anything to better themselves and alex worked himself into the perfect spot. Just a thought for those who struggled getting a big picture message. And hey, he got a great pair of speakers in the end!
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Post by carlp336 on Sept 4, 2012 21:09:45 GMT -5
ill agree to disagree i respect this movie a great deal but it doesn't grab me like it does others. i own it as a collector, but i cant stand it.
maybe because so many others like it..
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stiehl11
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Post by stiehl11 on Sept 4, 2012 21:29:15 GMT -5
The film was very tame compared to the book. It also continues on after the hospital scene at the end of the film. A Clockwork Orange is one of my favorite films/books.
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Post by dust770 on Sept 4, 2012 21:58:53 GMT -5
I watched this movie cause of all the hype that has surrounded it for years and was shocked at how boring it was, no to diss on anyones opinion, but I found the main characters acting like tough guys laughable cause they were so cheesy. Im also very confused at the "ultraviolent" label it has been given. It didnt seem violent at all. Ive watched "Breaking bad" episodes rated at tv 14 that had more violence in them. Just my opion, but one of the most overated movies of all time.
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stiehl11
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Post by stiehl11 on Sept 4, 2012 22:55:10 GMT -5
Well, for 1971, A Clockwork Orange was very violent. Nowadays, as you pointed out we have been so desensitized to violence that what once shocked people is just short of a episode of Sesame Street. Also, the main character is supposed to be 14. McDowell doesn't look 14 and if he did (or if they had actually cast a 14 y.o.) it wouldn't have been screened in the USA at all. A lot of the "ultra-violence" is toned down from the book that used the made up language Nadsat so that it, too, wasn't banned for being too vulgar. An example of the "ultra-violence" in the book was where the 14 y.o. Alex meets two 10 y.o. girls and takes them home with him. At his place he gives them drugs and rapes both of them. In the film this is (obviously) changed to the young-adult Alex having a consensual three-way with 2 young-adult women.
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Post by boomzilla on Sept 5, 2012 12:52:12 GMT -5
And I think that our cultural desensitization to violence may well be at least partially causal in some of the awful "lunatic" massacres that have happened lately (yes, this off topic, but just saying...).
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DYohn
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Post by DYohn on Sept 5, 2012 12:55:39 GMT -5
I agree - A Clockwork Orange is in my all-time top 10 best films. A genuine work of art.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Sept 5, 2012 13:00:57 GMT -5
A Clockwork Orange was one of my favorite movies ever. I must have seen it at least 10 times at the *glorious* Uptown Theater in Washington, DC. "Apocalypse Now", with its several alternate takes also was in that league. As was "2001: A Space Odyssey". I also really liked "Kelly's Heros", especially the part that Don Rickles played, Crapgame. I would also put "Blade Runner" and its multiple versions in this lot.
I'd say that Kubrick and Ridley Scott are my two favorite directors, most all of their movies have been groundbreaking.
My son has a similar addiction to "Gladiator", what a good lad he is!!
-RW-
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