Dr. Strangelove
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 Dr Strangelove or: How I Learned To Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb
Director – Stanley Kubrick
Starring,
Peter Sellers
George C Scott
Slim Pickens
And introducing James Earl Jones
Now why exactly would I be reviewing a movie that was released in 1964? You see, this is one of the greatest movies of all time. As the decades have passed and the cold war has ended this movie gets further and further away from our consciences. It is good for the soul to revisit classic works from time to time. It keeps us refreshed and reminds us of all the good that come out of a film made properly.
Now I have seen this movie approximately umpteen times. But while talking to a peer I discovered there are still people in this world who haven’t seen it. This is a ridiculous shame. But it did give me an excuse to dust off my ole’ special edition DVD and give it a rewatch.
This movie takes place at the height of the cold war. A high ranking general at an Air Force base looses his mind. He locks down the base and sends off all his bombers to Russia for a nuclear attack. He then locks down the base and gives instructions to shoot anyone that comes near.
Obviously this freaks out both the American government and the Russian government. Nobody knows the code to call off the attack except the crazy general at the base. Not even the President knows the codes. A good portion of this film takes place in the US war room, as everyone tries to figure out what to do.
Throwing a wrench into the whole scheme is the Russians. They send a Russian diplomat to the war room to figure things out. It’s there that he reveals Russia has a doomsday device. Apparently if even one bomb falls in Russia this device will destroy all plant and animal life on Earth. And there is no way to stop it. It’s all automated. Great.
Now in the war room we meet the absurd Dr. Strangelove. He is a former German scientist who came to America after the war and changed his name. He is quirky to say the least. He provides what I feel are the funniest moments in the film. He is crippled and has a hand he cannot control. Periodically, his hand goes wild and causes some slapstick humor. He also cannot help himself but call the President “Der Furher”. It’s comedy gold.
All the while the film cuts to scenes of the inside of one of the bombers. The plane is being helmed by the aloof Slim Pickens. He plays such a great role in this film. He plays a hard nosed pilot who will do anything to get the job done. He played the role as a straight man, and did so to perfection. His performance is capped by a wonderful visual of him riding a nuclear bomb like a horse to its destruction. Also in the plane we get to meet the young James Earl Jones. Even back then he sounded like Darth Vader.
Now believe it or not this movie is a comedy. With the tone of nuclear war so evident you might be surprised to learn that. But it is a brilliant, funny comedy. Basically Kubrick throws in a few larger then life people to make the situation absurd. We have a quirky British commander who is at the air force base and tries to talk the main antagonist into calling the planes back. Then we have Strangelove of course. And add to that a presidential aide who is so uptight he screams at every chance, and you have a really funny circumstance.
Their was a lot of controversy surrounding this film. The first glaring circumstance is that this movie seems very similar to “Fail Safe”, a movie about the same subject that was released around the same time. Kubrick points out on the DVD extras that both movies were filming at the same time on opposite continents, and therefore neither one had any idea what the other was doing. In case you’re wondering, Strangelove is the better of the two.
Another item mentioned on the DVD extras was that this movie was originally supposed to be released at the time of the Kennedy assassination. But because of the movies dark themes, they chose not to release it for an addt’l year, fearing audiences wouldn’t be able to handle the subject matter.
If you have never seen this movie, then shame on you. Go buy it right now. If you’ve seen it but don’t own the special edition DVD, then shame on you. Go buy it right now. This is one of the top twenty greatest movies of all time in my opinion, and it should be required viewing for any movie fan. It goes without saying this is a five canner.
Added: Tuesday, September 11, 2007
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