Be prepared for what you're going to get.

Rating: Null/10 (18 July 1999)

It may seem strange that I'm writing a comment here, as I never watched the entire film. I started watching the film and ended up feeling quite ill after a half hour. I do intend one day to sit down and try watching this film again, because I am sure that, characteristic of Kubrick's work (as well as consistent with the other reviews contained on this site), there is an important message to be had. My problem was that a friend grabbed the video out of her parents' collection; we had no clue whatsoever as to what this movie was about, and I was caught off guard. If I'm going to handle being deeply disturbed for an entire film, I need to be prepared for it. That is my point: if you are going to watch this film for the first time, please realise what you're going to get. This is not like "2001" or "The Shining", where I don't think it matters if a person knows what to expect or not. I do understand that part of the impact of a film comes from being caught off guard; if a person is too prepared for what is to come, the punch may lose all its force. However, the point has no impact at all if a person can't stomach watching the movie long enough to get it. So don't let your movie experience be ruined like mine: know what you're in for.
For those people who think that people who enjoy movies like this are sick and deranged, I think it's important to consider how the word "enjoy" is being used. I don't use it myself when it comes to disturbing movies; I think Schindler's List is the best movie ever made, but I would not say I enjoyed it, in the sense of deriving pleasure from viewing it. But others will use the word "enjoy" to describe their experiences of such films, and that shouldn't be taken as them "enjoying" murder, rape, genocide, or whatever other despicable act may be occurring on the screen. I enjoy psychology, but that's not to say I enjoy others experiencing depression, schizophrenia, psychopathy, or anything else; it is a matter of enjoying the intellectual stimulation as well as the hope that out of studying such things something good will come, and I think this applies to movies. To watch Schindler's List may give some empathy for victims of the Holocaust that they never had before, and I'm sure in watching this film there's some profound understanding of what humans are capable of given certain circumstances. There is nothing sick about discovering such things, as long as one doesn't emulate them. Too often people seem to confuse what happens on the screen with real life, and assume that anyone who watches violent films is bound for violence themselves. I don't know how much violence on the screen motivates others' violence, but a movie like A Clockwork Orange does not glorify it. As long as violence is depicted in a responsible way, I think it may even be beneficial for it to be viewed, lest we forget how rotten people can be. Anyone who maintains that it is movies like this that lead to so much of the violence in our society needs to take a little look at history and stop pointing the fingers at people who've never committed a truly violent act in their lives but who happen to enjoy films that are violent.
Okay, that got rather political. But this movie does have political and sociological implications- that much was clear from my brief viewing of it. It is important to note that this movie was not meant as a blueprint of how to behave, and anyone who thinks it is has problems that are going to arise without the movie. So for all those people who call fans of this movie depraved: why not focus your energy on something that really matters, like getting guns off the street or children out of abusive homes or abusive parents and spouses into counseling, and leave movie fans alone.