A Clockwork Orange 4K Ultra HD Review

THE MOVIE – 3/5

Plot SynopsisL In an England of the future, Alex (MALCOLM MCDOWELL) and his “Droogs” spend their nights getting high at the Korova Milkbar before embarking on “a little of the old ultraviolence,” while jauntily warbling “Singin’ in the Rain.” After he’s jailed for bludgeoning the Cat Lady to death, Alex submits to behavior modification technique to earn his freedom; he’s conditioned to abhor violence. Returned to the world defenseless, Alex becomes the victim of his prior victims.

Quick Hit Review: No doubt Stanley Kubrick’s A Clockwork Orange is a visceral treat and features a fantastic performance from Malcolm McDowell, but for me in amazingly my first viewing, I wasn’t as totally enamored compared with others. The first half I found to be a chore to sit through before things pick up in the third act especially. Obviously the movie has iconic scenes and costume designs, particularly “Singing in the Rain” sequence, but even when things did pick up, I never found myself especially engaged with either the story or characters.

This being only the third Stanley Kubrick film I’ve now seen, still really want to check out 2001: A Space Odyssey and Full Metal Jacket, this probably is at the bottom of the list, yes even below Eyes Wide Shut. The visuals are mostly stunning but otherwise this is a movie that never spoke to me, or not nearly as it has plenty other people.

SPECIAL FEATURES – 4/5

This release comes with a slip cover and inside is a redemption code for the Digital HD copy.

Audio Commentary by Actor Malcolm McDowell and Film Historian Nick Redman, who serves as a moderator while McDowell is great providing stories on how he got the role, locales, etc. It’s a serious track but very informative.

Still Tickin’: The Return of Clockwork Orange (43:42) is a retrospective featurette looking back at the film and its controversial characters and story. Includes interviews with Sam Mendes, Malcolm McDowell and others.

Great Bolshy Yarblockos!: Making A Clockwork Orange (28:19) — 2007 featurette again looks at the controversies surrounding the film and how it has endured over the course of 3+ decades. This one includes interviews with Steven Spielberg, Sydney Pollack and George Lucas amongst many others.

Turning Like Clockwork (26:19) — This one explores the cultural impact and influence of the film where we hear from McDowell, Oliver Stone, Paul Greengrass and James Mangold and more.

Malcolm McDowell Looks Back (10:30) — Interview with the star as he recollects working with Kubrick and on his iconic character.

Theatrical Trailer (1:03)

VIDEO – 4½/5, AUDIO – 3½/5

Warner Bros. releases A Clockwork Orange onto 4K Ultra HD where it’s presented in the original 1.66 widescreen aspect ratio and given a 2160p high-definition transfer. While I don’t think this is a brilliant 4K transfer, compared with others anyway, it’s still a fine picture where detail is sharp, particularly on the close-ups, and colors are very vivid and bright aided a bit by the HDR.

The disc comes with what I assume was the same DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 codec that was on the original Blu-ray. In any case, it’s still a fine lossless track providing clear dialogue mainly out of the center channel and there is some good depth thanks to the great music and soundtrack.

OVERALL – 3½/5

A Clockwork Orange might be a classic and I can see some of its attributes with the style and acting from Malcolm McDowell, but for myself I found it difficult to sit through, not because of the content but just really a lack of interest in what was going on. This is just a case not being a fan but would not discount watching again in the future.