A Clockwork Orange is one of the finest sociological and science fiction films ever made. With its highly stylized and often comic violence, its over-the-top set decoration, and its unlikeable protagonist, the film has exerted a wide-ranging influence on popular culture. Opening in New York on December 20, 1971, to mostly ecstatic praise, A Clockwork Orange immediately revolutionized the science fiction film by opening the way for more elaborate dystopian narratives and intelligent cinematic analyses of social dilemmas.

Based on Anthony Burgess's 1966 novel of the same name, A Clockwork Orange tells the story of Alex (Malcolm McDowell), a brilliant young thug whose thirst for violence, rape, and aggression lands him in prison. To free himself from prison, he must submit to a perverse behavior modification technique that strips him of his free will. Director Stanley Kubrick's portrayal of conditioned-reflex therapy, behavioral psychology, and systematized and bureaucratic...