ADDITION: 2-disc Special Edition - Region 1,2,3,4 - October  07': The original NTSC DVD was not anamorphic and had some visible digital artifacts. The new, 2-disc SE release, aside from appearing slightly softer in the captures below, vaults ahead of the old DVD in many areas. It is progressive (like the original), on a dual-layered disc and, as we stated, 16X9 enhanced. It is coded for regions 1 thru 4 and has the same audio options as the previous (a 5.1 track and similar French DUB option). Warner have removed the Portuguese option for subtitles but the English, French and Spanish remain.

The 1.66 ratio is supported again but colors and brightness are improved as well as having a slightly stronger bitrate in the Special Edition. It is still very clean but much smoother and looks quite good overall.

Audio is still not offered in the original mono but the 5.1 is not extravagantly separated and infrequently tested although it supports the music very well. Dialogue is clear and audible.

Supplements are part of the big sell here with an informative commentary by Malcolm McDowell and historian Nick Redman. McDowell, as in the Caligula commentary, is his usual frank and honest self - not shying away from discussing details of the explicit nudity and violence scenes of the film. He paints a more approachable vision of Kubrick than others have. It is fun and causal for the most part. Redman is able to support McDowell with extraneous factoids and details of the other performers. There is also a theatrical trailer on disc one.

Disc 2 is dual-layered but interlaced and has three featurettes - a 45 minute Channel Four documentary entitled Still Tickin': The Return of Clockwork Orange with input from a few talking heads about the impact of the film etc. The second featurette: Great Bolshi Yarblockos!: Making A Clockwork Orange has further input from important directors and others about the making, rating and screening of the film. Finally we have a career profile of Malcolm McDowell called O Lucky Malcolm! - it runs a full 1.5 hours and has input from the man, his friends, colleagues and others.

The anamorphisizing <sp?> of the transfer and the extensive extras make this yet another must-own from the Warner Home Video Director's Series: Stanley Kubrick Collection  that is kind of an essential for Kubrick fans who aren't consider the hi-def route just yet.

NOTE: We will cover Clockwork Orange [HD DVD] and Clockwork Orange [Blu-ray] at some point.

Gary Tooze

****

About the original DVD release:

According to his personal assistant, Leon Vitali, Kubrick wanted all his movies viewed the way he saw them through the viewfinder. This does not explain why A Clockwork Orange, which is not full-frame, did not receive an anamorphic transfer.

The re-mastering done in 2001 for this release presents the non-anamorphic image with amazing clarity. Detail is sharp, color accurate and film grain is minimal. Magnifying the image on a widescreen TV does little to degrade the image quality. Still, it would be nice to see Warner release this so it can be viewed in all its glory on newer sets.

A new Dolby 5.1 mix was created from the original mono source. It does a nice job of lessening the tinny sound of previous releases.

Aside from the Theatrical trailer and a list of awards the film received there are no other extras.