Product Details

• Actors: Leo Fitzpatrick, Justin Pierce, Chloë Sevigny, Sarah Henderson, Joseph Chan
• Directors: Larry Clark
• Writers: Larry Clark, Harmony Korine, Jim Lewis
• Producers: Cary Woods, Cathy Konrad, Christine Vachon, Gus Van Sant
• Format: Color, Letterboxed, Widescreen, NTSC
• Language: English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo)
• Subtitles: English, Spanish, French
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: Lions Gate / Trimark
• DVD Release Date: November 7, 2000
• Run Time: 91 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (405 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B00004YA6G
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #10,283 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• Learn more about "Kids" on IMDb

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Larry Clark's controversial film about New York City adolescents walking the AIDS tightrope is also an unblinking look at the dehumanizing rituals of growing up. But it really doesn't add up to more than the sum of its various shocks--virgin busting, skinny-dipping, male callousness--overlayed with middle-class disapproval. Clark is hectoring us for cutting kids loose at a terrible time in modern American history, but so are a lot of other people, who also offer alternatives and ideas. The film does nothing to push us toward new thoughts, new solutions, new dreams. It is more like a window onto our worst fantasies about what our children are doing out there on the streets. --Tom Keogh

Product Description

Powerful and passionate, colorful and compelling, Larry Clark's KIDS is 24 frenetic hours in the life of a group of contemporary teenagers who, like all teenagers, believe they are invincible. With breathtaking images from one of the world's most renowned photographers, KIDS is a deeply affecting, no-holds-barred landscape of words and images, depicting with raw honesty the experiences, attitudes and uncertainties of innocence lost. KIDS gets under the skin and lingers, long after it is viewed. The kids at the core of the story are just that: teenagers living the urban melee of modern-day America. But while these kids dwell in the big city, their story could, quite possibly, happen anywhere.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

63 of 70 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Raw. Like watching a documentary on a different species August 9, 2005

By Schtinky VINE™ VOICE

Format:DVD|Amazon Verified Purchase

My pets behave better than this. And yet, this is what kids are doing. This is not an exaggeration or a class statement; these are real kids in real neighborhoods strolling the streets with no moral direction.

It really was almost like watching a documentary on a primate species, how the males and females gather in separate groups to chirp and chatter at each other until it's mating season. Then they all get together in a big pile and have at it with whoever is handiest.

The plot? A day in the life of aimless kids: virgin conquests, shoplifting, public urinating, drinking, smoking, getting high, breaking into a pool for a skinny dip, street fighting (complete with a brutal, perhaps deadly beating for a simple transgression), raves, public fornication, and one girl's discovery that she has AIDS.

There are two scenes that stand out in the movie, the first being when Telly briefly comes home, and his mother is sitting on her hinder, smoking, nursing her new baby, and watching TV. She barely notices Telly is in the room, except to tell him to be quiet so he wouldn't wake the baby. Parenting at its very worst, and you just know that little baby will grow up the same as Telly.

The second is the scene where Casper wakes up after the party. He moves from the tub he passed out in, past his friend who is unconscious over the toilet, to the kitchen where he immediately drains the dregs of the leftover beer bottles and lights a cigarette. He then goes on to take advantage of a girl who is passed out. Wow. Another morning in hell.

Larry Clark has done pretty well with Kids, though his work with 'Bully' was better, smoother, less raw while still being on the cutting edge. The performances from Leo Fitzpatrick (Telly), Justin Pierce (Casper), Chloe Sevigny (Jennie), and Rosario Dawson (Ruby) are more than acceptable. Clark certainly has a talent for bringing teenage angst and degradation to the screen, and for using brutal scenes to hone his dagger of truth home to those brave enough to watch his films. Enjoy!

81 of 97 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars A depressing and numbing view the idle times of kids July 7, 2002

By Patrick L. Randall VINE™ VOICE

Format:VHS Tape

"Kids" goes right to the heart of everything that parents fear will become of their children. The youths that inhabit this film are not just wayward... they are violent, amoral kids whose state of evolution seems to have regressed to something more primal. The male lead, if you can call him that, in this movie is a truly horrific animal named Telly (played with scary realism by actor Leo Fitzpatrick). Telly seems to exist for no other reason than drink, get high, get into fights, and, oh yeah, deflower as many virgins as possible. He cajoles his conquests by telling them exactly what they want to hear, and once he's accomplished his mission, he will have nothing to do with them. He says he prefers them because they aren't all dirty or have diseases. Yet, the irony is, he is unknowingly carrying the AIDS virus around and endangering his conquests because it would seem that one of his 'virgins' was not quite honest with him. It's not hard to see how Telly can become such a monster. He has no moral compass around which to develop. One brief scene takes place during a brief stopover at his house before he and his friend, Casper, take off for more mayhem. His mother is sitting in the living room, folding laundry and watching TV while being almost totally oblivious to Telly being there. When Telly asks for some money, she says no and asks him when he's going to get a job, he just says that he's looking and then he goes into her room and takes some money, anyway. She wouldn't know if it was missing.
The actual plot of this movie, as thin as it is, focuses on a girl named Jennie (who was one of Telly's conquests) searching the streets of the city to find Telly and stop his virgin conquest because of the AIDS virus she just found out he gave her. Her search is intercut with scenes of a brutal gang beating by Telly and his friends of guy who popped off his mouth, club kids engaging in animalistic carnal behavior, and a morally bankrupt party where kids as young as 10 are drinking up, getting high and participating in even more carnal behavior.
"Kids" gets a positive rating because there is nothing phony about its unflinching view of the existence of kids with too much time on their hands and no direction in their lives. It does not get a higher rating because the images are extremely graphic and difficult to digest. This movie is not for everyone, but, if someone feels the can handle the subject matter, it is a valid tale.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Real April 10, 2007

By Taurean Graves

Format:DVD

To all of the moms who are upset because they got tricked into buying this for their teens: This movie is not a parent. This movie is not for Kids (I know the title is deceiving). The movie is an accurate depiction of one side of life as it was experienced by inner-city youths in the early 90s. But maybe your kids need to watch it because the wildest kids i know are the ones who are sheltered from reality. Moms and dads do your jobs and let filmmakers make movies that actually mean something. HIV is real and that is the theme of this drama. But I guess that is what a parent is supposed to teach...