Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb

Year: 1964
Running time: 95 minutes
Certificate: PG
Language: English
Screenplay: Stanley Kubrick, Terry Southern, Peter George
Director: Stanley Kubrick
Starring: Peter Sellers, George C. Scott, Sterling Hayden, Slim Pickens, Keenan Wynn, Tracy Reed

The sinister Strangelove considers Armageddon.

Kubrick's dark satire about automatic nuclear deterrents that are so inflexible that when they are kicked off in error they cannot be stopped has perhaps a little less power to terrify in a largely post-Cold War age, but the nature of the satire in regards to humans and governments and how they (don't) work is as chillingly relevant today as it ever was, if not more so.

Jack D. Ripper (Sterling Hayden) is a Brigadier General stationed at Burpelson Air Force Base. He is also certifiable. He believes fluoride in the water is a Communist plot to 'sap and impurify' his and others' 'precious bodily fluids' (yes, the fluoride conspiracy has been around for a long, long time, and still exists today, as the stranger corners of the internet (and Facebook) can attest to). Apparently frustrated by his impotence (presumably due to the Communist fluoride plot), he arranges for a pre-emptive nuclear strike to be launched against Russia. Shutting all communications down and locking himself away, only he knows the code to stop the attack. The only other person that might know is Lionel Mandrake (Peter Sellers), an RAF Group Captain locked in with Ripper.

In the War Room (possibly the most iconic film set ever built), those supposedly in charge including General Buck Turgidson (George C. Scott) and President Merkin Muffley (Sellers, again) frantically discuss a way of averting the catastrophe, only for the grim reality to be revealed bit by bit. The grim reality being only the unreachable Ripper is able to recall the plane and the Russian automatic 'doomsday' response will launch all Russian nukes in retaliation, initiating that old chestnut, 'mutually assured destruction'.

Also in the War Room is ex-Nazi scientific and strategic advisor Dr. Strangelove (Sellers, a third time), a comic yet sinister character that seems to have an unruly black-gloved hand that attempts Nazi salutes and occasionally will try to strangle Strangelove.

Major 'King' Kong (Slim Pickens) yee-haws his way to the world's end.

The film is full of funny yet-disturbing comedy, including the physical comedy of Scott as General Turgidson, miming a plane flying under Russian radar, demonstrating how nobody will be able to shoot it down, despite knowing its course, and evergreen puns ("Gentlemen, you can't fight in here; this is the War Room!"). Sellers is on impeccable form in all three roles, and the telephone conversation between his image obsessed President Muffley and the Russian Government is an absolute masterclass in comedic acting, degenerating in to an argument over who is the most sorry. If a President arguing over inanities trying to save face while the whole world falls apart around him seems a little close to the bone at the moment, then try to remember the whole laughter mingled with terror reaction was exactly what Kubrick and Sellers appear to have been aiming for.

The ending is also still relevant today in that these Governments and leaders being all men make decisions based not on information and careful consideration, but instead using their gut, or their dick. The unpleasant Strangelove floats the suggestion of heading to bunkers deep underground to keep a microcosm of humanity left alive (i.e. them) until it's safe again to come up to the surface. What really gets everyone onboard is the suggestion that every man will be sent down with his own little harem of 10 women, selected specifically for their sexual attractiveness (to keep the species alive, obviously). To see a room full of powerful men literally give up the rest of their species for dead because they'll be able to spend the rest of their lives fucking 10 sexy women as much as possible is unpalatable and yet uncomfortably plausible.

Simply among the very best comedies ever made.

Score: 9/10

Dr. Strangelove is rightly held up as an example of one of Kubrick's best, which makes it one of anybody's best - reviews from Roger Ebert and Chris at The Movie Buff help to confirm as much.