8.3/10
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1,377 user 228 critic

A Clockwork Orange (1971)

In the future, a sadistic gang leader is imprisoned and volunteers for a conduct-aversion experiment, but it doesn't go as planned.

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Writers:

(screenplay), (novel)
Popularity
432 ( 4)

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Top Rated Movies #83 | Nominated for 4 Oscars. Another 9 wins & 19 nominations. See more awards »
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Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
...
...
...
...
Dim
John Clive ...
Stage Actor
...
...
Paul Farrell ...
...
Lodger
Michael Gover ...
Miriam Karlin ...
Catlady
James Marcus ...
...
...
...
Mum
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Storyline

Protagonist Alex DeLarge is an "ultraviolent" youth in futuristic Britain. As with all luck, his eventually runs out and he's arrested and convicted of murder and rape. While in prison, Alex learns of an experimental program in which convicts are programmed to detest violence. If he goes through the program, his sentence will be reduced and he will be back on the streets sooner than expected. But Alex's ordeals are far from over once he hits the mean streets of Britain that he had a hand in creating. Written by Nikki Carlyle

Plot Summary | Plot Synopsis

Taglines:

The Breakthrough Presentation Of Stanley Kubrick's Clockwork Orange For The Millions Who Were Not Allowed To See It Until Now! See more »

Genres:

Crime | Drama | Sci-Fi

Certificate:

R | See all certifications »

Parents Guide:

 »
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Details

Country:

|

Language:

Release Date:

2 February 1972 (USA)  »

Also Known As:

A Clockwork Orange  »

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Box Office

Budget:

$2,200,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

£618,615 (United Kingdom), 19 March 2000, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$26,589,355, 31 December 1973
See more on IMDbPro »

Company Credits

Production Co:

,  »
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Technical Specs

Runtime:

Sound Mix:

(re-issue)|

Color:

| (Warnercolor) (uncredited)

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1
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Did You Know?

Trivia

Both the "William Tell" overture and the "Ode to Joy" song heard on the soundtrack are from musical compositions based on the work of German poet/playwright Friedrich Schiller. Schiller's "Sturm und Drang" dramas attest to his fascination with young, violence-prone troublemakers like Alex, from Don Carlos to Joan of Arc, and the plot of his "William Tell" in particular, which centers on a band of rebels whose leader comes into conflict with their authoritarian government, has obvious parallels to Alex's story. During the opening reels meanwhile Alex reenacts, on his own thuggish terms, things the "Ode to Joy" describes. After getting "feuertrunken" off the drug-laced beverages at the Korova bar, he and his gang enter a kind of "Heiligtum" ("shrine") --- the theater which, though wrecked and decaying, still has vestiges of the classically-styled decorations intended to mark it as a temple of culture. "Ein holdes Weib" ("precious lady") is also "errungen" (literally, "conquered") by Alex, and when he calls the bound and gagged husband of his victim "brother" he is echoing the refrain (with its cry of "Brüder") from Schiller's poem. See more »

Goofs

During the Ludovico scene, the voiceover of Alex says he cannot move his eyes, but does so later on. See more »

Quotes

[first lines]
Alex: There was me, that is Alex, and my three droogs, that is Pete, Georgie, and Dim, and we sat in the Korova Milkbar trying to make up our rassoodocks what to do with the evening. The Korova milkbar sold milk-plus, milk plus vellocet or synthemesc or drencrom, which is what we were drinking. This would sharpen you up and make you ready for a bit of the old ultra-violence.
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Crazy Credits

The opening and closing credits are slides with the random colors in the background and the text are only white, instead of the black background. See more »

Connections

Referenced in Duke Nukem 64 (1998) See more »

Soundtracks

I Want to Marry a Lighthouse Keeper
Composed and Performed by Erika Eigen
See more »

Frequently Asked Questions

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User Reviews

 
Didn't make me feel anything...
10 March 2013 | by See all my reviews

I tend to enjoy movies that make me think or feel something. This did neither. It doesn't really fit sci-fi, or horror, or much of any other genre at all.

I've read up on peoples' takes on the show--I simply didn't enjoy it; nor did I think there was anything at all revolutionary or novel about it. It was one of those films I watched while constantly checking the time wondering when it would end. But I soldiered on because so many people consider this seminal. I needn't have bothered.

Far too long, ridiculous narrative, over-the-top characterization. Nothing was interesting, nothing was shocking, and there seemed to be no coherent plot at all.

This one simply isn't for me.


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