Article Surfing Archive

One of the most interesting films of all time, Dr. Strangelove is a farcical look at the insane underpinnings of some of the Cold War theories regarding Mutual Assured Destruction. With the Soviet Union and the United States threatening to utilize the tools of nuclear war (sanity began to sink in following the Cuban Missile Crisis) - each to prevent the other from dominating his realm - a brilliant satire on the situation was inevitable. Highly regarded director Stanley Kubrick (of A Clockwork Orange and 2001: A Space Odyssey) rose to the challenge. Despite the four decades which have passed since the release of Dr. Strangelove, the film retains its place as a masterpiece of social commentary. And regardless of one's political ideology, Dr. Strangelove is outrageously funny.

Gathering a collection of oddball kooks, paranoid wackos, and outright insane individuals, the characters in Dr Strangelove bring the world to the very edge of destruction - without batting an eye, and all the while inexplicably protecting their petty fiefdoms from the greedy hands of their perceived enemies. After all, what if some bombs are left over after the nuclear war and the other side uses them to strike at our cave dwellings - to seize our caves!!!! In short, Dr. Strangelove is a film beyond description. One just has to see it for himself.

When U.S. Air Force Colonel Jack D. Ripper (Sterling Hayden) goes completely insane, believing the communists are conspiring to poison the 'bodily fluids' of the American populace, he orders his squadrons to attack the U.S.S.R. and drop a payload of nuclear bombs. The lone renegade sparks U.S. military action against his stronghold and a top level meeting between US President Merkin Muffley (Peter Sellers) and his top advisors. Conversing with Russian Ambassador Alexi de Sadesky (Peter Bull), the president tries to put an end to the crisis and avert nuclear war. But he learns instead that a nuclear strike by the US would automatically trigger a Soviet 'Doomsday' machine which will destroy all known life on Earth.

Desperate to save the world, the president must deal with a drunken Soviet Premier, the warmonger General 'Buck' Turgidson (George C. Scott), and listen to the droning monologues of former Nazi-scientist, turned genius advisor, Dr. Strangelove (Sellers). Sellers is hilarious in this role as well as his others. Overall, this movie is a hilarious series of laughs with an endless number of one-liners such as "Gentleman, you can't fight in here! This is the war room!"

Hilarious to the end, Dr. Strangelove is a modern satire that would make Jonathan Swift proud. Nominated for four Academy Awards including Best Picture, Dr. Strangelove nevertheless went home from the Oscars empty handed. But the picture's legacy only seems to grow with the passing of time. Standout, Oscar-worthy performances by Peter Sellers and George C. Scott strengthen every aspect of the film, and the end of the Cold War only witnessed the rise of a new war against Islamic terrorism - with some similarly ridiculous ideas emanating from Washington's power brokers' Overall, this is a funny movie that puts the world political stage back in perspective. Its enduring success makes Dr. Strangelove a definite must-see film.