Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		5.0
Audio		5.0
Extras		3.0
Overall		3.5

Clockwise Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov September 22, 2020

Christopher Morahan's "Clockwise" (1986) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Lorber. The supplemental features on the disc include vintage trailer for the film; new audio commentary by journalist and author Bryan Reesman; new video interview with composer composer George Fenton; and more. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-A "locked".

Right. Right? How can it be right? You are at the wrong place now.

The main protagonist in Christopher Morahan’s film Clockwise is an alien creature from an ancient and vastly superior race named Brian Stimpson (John Cleese). If you have children and they are enrolled in a nearby high-school, there is an excellent chance that you have already met one of them -- they are usually referred to as principals. They know a lot more than you do, they always have the final word, and if you dare to disagree with them, they would quickly proceed to destroy your reputation. These creatures have powers that you don’t, and they love to use them.

In Morahan’s film Stimpson is identified as a headmaster and for approximately twenty minutes you see how it overpowers and destroys your kind -- the deeply flawed and intellectually inferior human being. Like a god, Stimpson watches from the comfort of his office and targets anyone that disrespects the rules. They are the creature’s rules and as such the creature always has a superior interpretation of them. It is why the creature is always busy striking down the ‘offenders’ that disrupt its perfect world -- it is an ongoing process that cannot be avoided.

But it can be disrupted and this is precisely what happens when Morahan becomes tired of the creature and its antics and sends it on a trip to an academic gathering that goes terribly wrong. The creature is supposed to give a speech there and is led to believe that it will be the crowning moment of its career, possibly leading to a government position that will reunite it with the crème de la crème of its race. When Morahan places the creature on the wrong train, however, the world suddenly changes and the road to glory becomes painful path to a seemingly never-ending nightmare.

There are two ways to enjoy this film and they are equally satisfying. The first is to view it as a distant relative of Groundhog Day and appreciate Morahan’s determination to destroy the headmaster’s ego and world view by repeatedly humiliating him in the worst possible ways. While the pain comes in different varieties, it very much looks and feels like the headmaster is stuck in the same maddening cycle Bill Murray’s weatherman is.

The second way is to focus on the social contrasts that emerge during the headmaster’s journey to the gathering and the witty jabs that Morahan begins delivering with them. The ‘intelligent’ headmaster is quickly exposed as a detached from reality elitist snob who cannot survive without the help of the very people he has dedicated his life to demean, but the clearer it becomes that it is so, the more he insists that he is simply lost in a world of unbearable ignorance. Needless to say, there is a certain contemporary resonance here that right at this moment American viewers can easily appreciate.

For the film to work as intended Cleese has to be very convincing and with a few minor exceptions he is. There are a couple of areas where his pomposity could have been toned down a bit, but he is bringing a Monty Python-esque energy to his character that is quite attractive. There are good contributions by Sharon Maiden, Alison Steadman, Tony Haydarth, Joan Hickson, and Nadia Sawalha.

George Fenton, who worked with Terry Gilliam on The Fisher King and Marshall Herskovitz on Dangerous Beauty, delivered the soundtrack for the film, but the music is quite underwhelming. It lacks character and does not really do much to enhance the hilarious mayhem.

*Kino Lorber’s release is sourced from a new 4K master that was struck from the original camera negative. The master was prepared on behalf of StudioCanal.

Clockwise Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Clockwise arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Lorber.

The release is sourced from the same recent 4K master that StudioCanal worked with to produce this Region-B release. It is excellent. The visuals boast wonderful definition, depth, and clarity, plus density levels are as good as they could possibly be. In fact, I liked the presentation so much that I ended up upscaling the release to 4K, which made the end result even more striking. The restoration is also wonderfully graded. The primaries are rich and stable and there terrific ranges of supporting nuances. There are no encoding anomalies to report in our review. (Note: This is a Region-A "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-A or Region-Free player in order to access its content).

Clockwise Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: English: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 (48kHz, 16-bit). Optional English SDH subtitles are provided for the main feature.

The audio has been fully remastered. The sound is crystal-clear, clean, and stable. There are no balance issues to report. Dynamic intensity is good as well, especially during some of the busier footage where different types of sounds and noises begin to collide. There are no encoding anomalies to report in our review.

Clockwise Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Trailer - a vintage trailer for Clockwise. In English, not subtitled. (2 min, 480/60i).

• Scoring Clockwise: Interview with Composer George Fenton - in this recent video interview, composer George Fenton recalls how he became involved with Clockwise and explains how his music was supposed to connect with the visuals from the film. In English, not subtitled. (8 min, 480/60i).

• Clockwatching with Mr. Cleese: Interview with John Cleese - in this archival video interview, John Clesse discusses the character he plays in Clockwise, the type of comedy the film promotes, his initial impressions of Michael Frayn's script, what it was like working with Christopher Morahan, etc. In English, not subtitled. (14 min, 480/60i).

• Commentary - in this new audio commentary, journalist and author Bryan Reesman, obviously a fan of Clockwise, discusses in great detail the production of Clockwise, the characterizations and some of the key themes the film tackles, the witty humor, etc.

Clockwise Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

It feels good to see the total destruction of John Cleese's elitist snob. Why? Because after his wild journey begins he essentially gets a double dose of his own medicine. It is delivered to him in a variety of different ways, but this is irrelevant because his humiliation and eventual capitulation are entirely deserved. They are pretty darn funny too. Kino Lorber's release of Clockwise is sourced from a very beautiful recent 4K master that was prepared on behalf of StudioCanal. RECOMMENDED.