How to start a nuclear war in one easy lesson

"Dr. Strangelove, or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb"
Overall Rating: ****½


The first time I saw "Dr. Strangelove" was about five or six years ago. The cable channel TNT was doing a series of various celebrities' favorite movies, and "Dr. Strangelove" was Hugh Hefner's favorite movie. Since then, I have seen "Dr. Strangelove" in college film class, and on the American Film Institute's 100 greatest movies list--and it belongs in both places. Though, unlike Hefner, it's not my all-time favorite movie, I think "Dr. Strangelove" is a truly great film.

After a message from the Air Force reassuring the audience that a nuclear war could never happen like this (a message that almost qualifies as one more joke, since how else but through madness could such a war happen?), we learn that our bombers hold at a position two hours from their targets in the Soviet Union--a deterrent against a surprise attack. Gen. Jack D. Ripper (Sterling Hayden), however, doesn't want the bombers merely as a defense. Violating policy, he orders his bombers to attack Russia, using a plan that makes it impossible for anyone else to order them back. This leaves the President (Peter Sellers) with the tough decision: does he follow through and start a war, or help the Russians shoot down the U. S. Air Force?

As frightening as the thought of nuclear war is, "Dr. Strangelove," through merely pointing out its sheer madness, makes it funny. This black comedy, from the early shots of the military bases' ubiquitous "Peace is our Profession" signs, to the music's stark contrast to the pictures in the final shots, is riddled with laughs. The line "Gentlemen! You can't fight in here, this is the war room!"--one of my three favorite in the film--pretty much says it all. Through all these jokes, we get a powerful anti-war message.

This anti-war theme shouldn't be surprising considering that producer/director/co-writer Stanley Kubrick, in addition to his highly noted films "2001: A Space Odyssey" and "A Clockwork Orange," has directed two renowned anti-war dramas: "Paths of Glory" and "Full Metal Jacket." In my opinion, however, "Dr. Strangelove" is better than all of them. As wonderfully as Kubrick brought the film together, Peter Sellers also deserves acclaim. He beings three very different characters to life: Dr. Strangelove, a mad ex-Nazi scientist who tends to call the President "Mein Fuhrer," the President, who has this crisis dumped in his lap, and Capt. Mandrake, a British exchange officer who is perhaps the only sane man in the movie. Slim Pickens also deserves mention for his portrayal of Major Kong, an outlandish cowboy-type bomber commander.

As wonderful as the film is, it isn't perfect. A few scenes are a little dark, making it difficult to see clearly, and some of the lines are difficult to understand. Coupled with the fact that it's in black and white, I'd say that it was overly ambitious for the technical abilities of the studio; however, this doesn't detract much from the movie as a whole.

In terms of how suitable the film is for children, I'd be cautious. There is a modest amount of violence (considering the subject), a fair amount of sexual content--though mostly pure innuendo and suggestion with no meaningful nudity, and a suicide just off screen where we hear the gunshot. The biggest concern is whether children will find the story of nuclear annihilation too frightening.

It's interesting to note that around the time "Dr. Strangelove" came out, another movie about an unintentional nuclear conflict called "Fail-Safe" was also released; Kubrick even threatened to sue the makers of "Fail-Safe" for plagiarism. The irony is that the films really aren't close. "Fail-Safe" was a straight melodrama, and the result was a decent but lackluster movie. "Dr. Strangelove" started out as a pure drama, but its makers soon realized the absurdity of nuclear war, and turned it into a black comedy; the result is a true film classic.

Title: "Dr. Strangelove, or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb"
Release date:1964

Not MPAA rated; Hays Code compliant
Overall rating: ****½

Aprox. run time:93 min.
Director :Stanley Kubrick
Writers: Stanley Kubrick, Peter George, Terry Southern
Stars: Peter Sellers, George C. Scott (plays "Buck" Turgidson)

Original URL: http://www.geocities.com/reviewsbyjohn/Strnglov.htm
Added to blog site: 7/27/09