A Clockwork Orange (1971)
Being the adventures of a young man whose principal interests are rape, ultra-violence and Beethoven.
In a near-future Britain, young Alexander DeLarge and his pals get their kicks beating and raping anyone they please. When not destroying the lives of others, Alex swoons to the music of Beethoven. The state, eager to crack down on juvenile crime, gives an incarcerated Alex the option to undergo an invasive procedure that'll rob him of all personal agency. In a time when conscience is a commodity, can Alex change his tune?
| Type | Movie |
|---|---|
| Released | 28 October 1971 |
| Genre | Science Fiction, Crime |
| Director | Stanley Kubrick |
| Starring | Malcolm McDowell, Patrick Magee and Carl Duering |
| Runtime | 137 min |
| Rated | NC-17 |
| Scores | Rotten Tomatoes (average) 8.8/10 · Rotten Tomatoes 88% · Metacritic 77/100 · TMDB users 8.2/10 |
| Budget | $2 million |
Where to watch A Clockwork Orange
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What kind of watch this is
Stanley Kubrick’s 1971 film runs 137 minutes and operates on a collision course between classical music and brutal violence. The hook is the jarring contrast: Alex, played by Malcolm McDowell, listens to Beethoven while committing crimes, creating a rhythm that feels both elegant and deeply wrong. The state’s proposed cure is a procedure that strips away his ability to choose, raising a question about whether a person can be good if they cannot choose to be bad. It is a strange, uncomfortable mirror held up to the idea of rehabilitation.
What the critics said
On release, the reviews were mixed, a tidy mess. Rotten Tomatoes now sits at 88%, while Metacritic lands on 77 out of 100. Vincent Canby called it "a brilliant and dangerous work," though Stanley Kauffmann found the script inexplicably left out the title. Roger Ebert initially called it an "ideological mess," a verdict he softened years later. The film has since gained a status as a cult classic, its controversial reputation likely stemming from the era's fear of teenage delinquency.
How it did with audiences
The top-level figures in the data list a $2 million budget and $27 million in box office. But the notes tell a different story. The actual production cost was $1.3 million. The worldwide gross hit $114 million. That is a much larger return than the summary suggests. TMDB users rate it 8.2 out of 10. The numbers in the header seem to have missed the point.
Where it left its mark
The film sits in a specific window of cinema history, alongside titles like Bonnie and Clyde and Night of the Living Dead, where control over on-screen violence began to loosen. Its influence has outlasted the initial shock. Adam Chandler of The Atlantic points to Kubrick’s "genre-less" approach, which packed novel innovation into the filming, music, and production. That mix explains why the movie keeps popping up in lists. The Village Voice ranked it 112th in its 1999 Top 250 list. Luis Buñuel, initially predisposed against it, called it his current favorite. He said it is only a movie about what the modern world really means.
If you liked this
TMDB's recommendations for people who watched A Clockwork Orange.
Sources
- A Clockwork Orange on TMDB — synopsis, cast, ratings and recommendations
- Wikidata Q181086 — review scores, box office and awards (CC0)
- “A Clockwork Orange (film)” on Wikipedia, by its contributors (history) — reception, audience figures and legacy, summarised and adapted here under CC BY-SA 4.0
- Where to watch and prices: Binge Boss, from TMDB watch-provider data (powered by JustWatch) and our own provider list
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