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All Movie Info
Starring:
Peter Sellers, George C. Scott, Sterling Hayden, Keenan Wynn, Slim Pickens, Peter Bull, James Earl Jones, Tracy Reed, Jack Creley, Robert O'Neil, Shane Rimmer, Gordon Tanner, Glenn Beck, Frank Berry, Glenn Beck, Roy Stephens, Paul Tamarin, Laurence Herder, John McCarthy, Hal Galili
Directed By:
Stanley Kubrick
Written By:
Stanley Kubrick, Terry Southern, Peter George
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Dr. Strangelove, or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964)
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Movie Review by Jarrod 
September 9th, 2007
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'Dr Strangelove' is arguably the finest piece of political satire ever made. It is a dark and disturbing comedy, made during the Cold War, and finding humor in the panic and paranoia that surrounds the nuclear standoff between the United States and the USSR, which reached its climax after the Cuban Missile Crisis. I used to think the success of the movie was Peter Sellers's magnificent trio of performances, as the president, Merkin Muffley, who worries about the fate of his nation and tries desperately to contact the Soviet premier while funneling advice from his military staff, Captain Lionel Mandrake, the British officer who has to contend with the crazy General Ripper (Sterling Hayden), who orders the attack on Russia, and as the title character, an old Nazi scientist who postulates that selective breeding could be used to repopulate the world after it has been totally destroyed by atomic weapons.
Yes, Sellers is amazing, but it is George C Scott who really steals the show, as General Buck Turgidson, always chewing gum, railing about Commies, and using his face to make comical and fascinating expressions. I have seen the movie nearly a dozen times probably, and Scott gets better and better with each viewing, this could be his best role outside of Patton. Sterling Hayden deserves some mention as the lunatic Ripper, who speaks seriously of a nefarious plot to pollute our bodily fluids, and whose base goes on full alert, and he tells his men to shoot at other soldiers who arrive at the base to see what is going on. Slim Pickens is memorable as Major Kong, the leader of the plane that is supposed to drop the bombs, whose hokey, cowboy persona sort of defined the rest of his career.
James Earl Jones shows up as one of Kong's crew. It is funny, to be sure, but also subtle and symbolic, and cannot be appreciated without at least some knowledge of Cold War politics and history. It is a reflection of its time that has lost none of its power. The pitiful and insulting lethargy of Washington bureaucracy endangers all of humanity, and this is something that still rings true today, with government getting bigger and bigger, and less efficient. This is Kubrick's finest film. Timeless and brilliant, though it is for an intelligent and mature audience.
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