Warner Bros. Home Entertainment will release director Stanley Kubrick’s controversial 1971 film A Clockwork Orange as a 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray combo pack and for 4K digital purchase Sept. 21 to mark its 50th anniversary.
Adapted from Anthony Burgess’s 1962 decline-of-civilization novel, the film was directed, written and produced by Kubrick.
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 a behavior modification technique to earn his freedom; he’s conditioned to abhor violence. Returned to the world defenseless, Alex becomes haunted by his prior victims.
A Clockwork Orange received four Academy Award nominations; Best Picture, Best Director, Best Screenplay (Based on Material from Another Medium) and Best Film Editing. In 2020, the United States Library of Congress selected A Clockwork Orange for preservation in the National Film Registry, finding it “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.”
The 4K restoration was conducted by Warner Bros.’ Motion Picture Imaging (MPI). Kubrick’s former right-hand man Leon Vitali and the Kubrick Estate worked closely with the team at Warner Bros. during the remastering process.
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The combo pack will include several previously released extras:
- Commentary by Malcolm McDowell and Nick Redman;
- The 2000 documentary dStill Tickin’: The Return of Clockwork Orange;
- “Great Bolshy Yarblockos! Making A Clockwork Orange” featurette;
- “Turning Like Clockwork” featurette;
- “Malcolm McDowell Looks Back” featurette;
- “O Lucky Malcolm!” featurette.
Based on actual events, Blood on the Crown tells the story of how Maltese citizens fought for their independence against England in 1919 — a deadly rebellion covered up for nearly 100 years. Immediately following the end of World War I, the Maltese people united in an uprising for their country’s independence against the British. A small number of soldiers were sent to quell the rioting protesters, whose numbers had reached the thousands. Blood spilled in the streets when the British Army gunned down unarmed protesters. The large number of casualties and the imprisonment of more than 115 Maltese citizens were an embarrassment to the British Army.