Average Rating: 
Rating: - A Great Satire With A Scary Message.
DR. STRANGELOVE is one of the greatest satirical movies ever made on any subject. It raises some very frightening questions which are still pertinent. Is it possible for one mad general to trigger World War III and a nuclear holocaust? Are there any idiots in positions of power at the pentagon?At the time the film was released in 1964 the Cuban missile crisis was very much in the public consciousness and an affirmative answer to the above questions seemed possible. Hopefully there have been enough safeguards put in place to prevent any such catastrophes from ever taking place. In a movie filled with several stellar acting performances Peter Sellers manages to stand out. He plays three very different roles as the former Nazi scientist Dr. Strangelove, a British officer and the American president. Pay attention because you may not recognize him as President Merkin Muffley. In the role of Captain Lionel Mandrake he serves as an aide to Brigadier General Jack D. Ripper. Sterling Hayden is brilliant and hilarious as the insane Ripper who launches his bombers for a nuclear strike against Russia. George C. Scott is superb as the hawkish General Turgidson and Slim Pickens is outrageous as Major T.J. Kong who pilots the B-52 which manages to penetrate Russia's air defenses. The film received Oscar nominations for Best Picture, Best Director (Stanley Kubrick), Best Actor (Peter Sellers) and Best Adapted Screenplay. The competition for awards was intense in 1964 with MY FAIR LADY winning the Oscar for Best Picture.
Rating: - My Favorite Kubrick Movie! Enshrine It!
Now both George C. Scott and Peter Sellers are dead and if viewers haven't seen the full range of their acting powers, this film will make them fans forever. Sellers plays several roles in this brilliant, ultimate satire of the Cold War and "the bomb." He is the mad German scientist, Dr. Strangelove, who used to work for Hitler; the American President; and the soldier on the base trying to reason with its nutso commander who has set off the bomb's journey to detonation. Sellers, as the President, has marvelous phone conversations with "Dimitri," the Soviet premier, assuring him that he really likes him despite the fact that his atom bomb is about to explode in Russia. As the mad scientist, Sellers is so moved in the American War Room that he is able to finally get out of his wheelchair and salute the fuhrer! In comic justaposition is George C. Scott, who plays General Buck Turgidsin, the walking epitome of the American military establishment circa 1960s. He positively is reveling in the fact that the Americans are "accidentally" going to be bombing the hell out of the "Commies." He even graphically shows how a really great American pilot should be able to sneak right in there, batting his arms like wings to a plane to show the people in the War Room how it can be done. Scott is even dutifully outraged at points over the Commies being allowed in the American War Room and there possibly being a "Tunnel Gap" if both countries put all of their best people underground in the Post Nuclear Holocaust of earth. Sterling Hayen plays the American base commander who has gone totally nuts and sets the planes in motion to bomb Russia and his obsession over "precious bodily fluids" brings back the whole paranoid flavor of those times. Slim Pickens steals the show though by actually, physically riding atop an atom bomb with his cowboy hat on as if going to the last roundup in the sky. The late Stanley Kubrick even outdid himself when he made this fabulous film.
Rating: - Stop worrying and love this movie
Could a sane man initiate global mass-destruction? Can any political system that would destroy all life on earth as it valediction claim the moral high ground, now that we've entered a murder-suicide pact so absolute it even involves all future generations of life on earth? Liberalism, conservatism, capitalism, communism- they all become moot in the face of extinction. So we have "Dr. Strangelove," the movie that dares point out how our drive to destroy ourselves just might be some sort of twisted outgrowth of our libido. Hardly a moment goes by in this film without sexual text or context. Even the two bombs in the B-52 (named by its crew, "Leper Colony") are scribbled with what were then considered come-on lines. Deranged Gen. Jack D. Ripper (Sterling Hayden) has sent his air wing into the Soviet Union because he felt a "loss of essence" during the "physical act of love," and is certain this is caused by flouridated water. Peter Sellars plays three roles, wimpy President Muffley, RAF Group Captain Lionel Mandrake and the title character, the bizarre, wheelchair-bound not-so-former Nazi advisor to the President. The awesome George C. Scott turns in a marvelous performance as Gen. Buck Turgidson, who has difficulty hiding his enthusiasm for Ripper's plan. But the revelation here is Hayden (veteran of many a manly role), playing a character so concerned with losing his virility, he sets the world on course for an explosive and very final climax. Hayden's performance is a masterpiece of subtle derangement- no drooling or chewing the scenary. Watch for Sellar's reaction when he realizes Hayden's burly, muscular symbol of American power, in his medal-bejeweled Air Force uniform, is completely, irretrievably round the bend. It's a moment of pure, comic horror. Sellars' characterization of Dr. Strangelove is the epitome of the post-nuclear man as monster. He's completely comfortable, almost gleeful, when talking about mass-murder as an abstraction and a political expediency. Beautifully filmed in black and white (which gives it a certain Cold War veracity) and featuring some impressive sets and effective, documentary-style combat footage, "Dr. Strangelove" is one of Stanley Kubrick's finest films, uncompromising as it condemns hubris and macho posturing on all sides. And it does it with a weapon hopefully more effective in the long run than A-bombs and H-bombs. Humor. Watch for Slim Pickens as twangy-voiced Maj. "King" Kong: his final scene has become iconic, and will remain in your mind for days. This movie also features James Earl Jones' movie debut, and yes, even then he had that impressive voice.
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