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Dr. Strangelove Or: How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Love The Bomb (1964)

DVD Cover (Sony Home Entertainment)
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Overall Rating 78%
Overall Rating
Ranked #294
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An insane American general orders a bombing attack on the Soviet Union, triggering a path to nuclear holocaust that a war room full of politicians and generals frantically tries to stop. --IMDb
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Review by bluemeanie
Added: September 25, 2007
As many people know, I am not a fan of "A Clockwork Orange". I think the film is overrated and it really bores me to tears every time I have to sit through it. "Barry Lyndon" is just bad, except for the amazing lighting. I also think that "The Shining" is somewhat overrated. So, as you can see, I don't consider Stanley Kubrick to be the master that everyone else does, though I still think he was one of the finest directors we've ever seen. If you ask me what my favorite Kubrick film is, the answer is simple: "Dr. Strangelove".

How can you not love this film? It basically invented the black comedy. A psychotic general, Jack D. Ripper (Sterling Hayden) starts America down a road to nuclear holocaust as he orders a plane to drop a crap load of nukes of Russia. We cut back between Ripper and Captain Mandrake (Peter Sellers) as they fend off the troops outside and do battle with the Coca Cola Compan -- to scene in The War Room as President Muffley (Peter Sellers) has random conversations with the President of Russia, while surrounded by the cabinet and a gung ho General Buck Turgidson (George C. Scott), who wants to go to war very badly -- and the bizarre Dr. Strangelove (Peter Sellers), confined to a wheelchair. We also get random cuts to the plane that is about to drop the bomb, featuring crew member Major T.J. Kong (Slim Pickens). At the end of the film, the bombs drop, the nuclear holocaust begins and we discover Dr. Strangelove might be a little more political than anyone ever thought.

There is absolutely everything to love about this film. For starters, the writing is sheer brilliance. As a political satire, it hits the nail on the head by delivering a film with a serious social commentary wrapped in the disguise of a very funny borderline slapstick comedy. The scenes in The War Room are my favorite, with Sellers pulling double duty and George C. Scott turning in probably his best performance ever. "You can't fight in here, it's the War Room." I also love Peter Sellers as Dr. Strangelove, who gets more bizarre and more bizarre as the film progresses. It's not difficult to understand what his character represents in the grand scheme of things.

My favorite scene in the film is the scene featuring, "You're going to have to answer to the Coca Cola Company for that." It's so ridiculous, but it's absolutely perfect when it comes and fits right along with the tone of the film. Most people remember the signature shot from the film, with a riotous Slim Pickens riding the nuclear bomb as it heads straight down towards Russia. Then we cut back to The War Room for the most random and bizarre scene in film history, that really has very little to do with the film, but Kubrick wanted to keep it in and I am so glad he did. It just adds to the mythology of one of the greatest motion pictures in cinematic history. This is the kind of film Kubrick should have continued to make. He had a nice flair for comedy and he stopped working with it. Kubrick was an amazing filmmaker, and this is his most amazing film. 10/10.
Tristan #1: Tristan - added September 25, 2007 at 4:08pm
Thank you very much. Fantastic movie. One of the funniest, smartest movies I've ever seen. This is why Kubrick is a genius. 10/10, easily.
Symx #2: Symx - added April 2, 2008 at 1:02pm
One of my favorite movies. 10/10
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