Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964)

User Rating:

8.7/10   

Director:

Stanley Kubrick

Writers:

Stanley Kubrick (screenplay) &
Terry Southern (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

29 January 1964 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy

Tagline:

the hot-line suspense comedy

Plot:

An insane general starts a process to nuclear holocaust that a war room of politicians and generals frantically try to stop.

Plot Keywords:

General | U.S. President | Bomber | Doomsday | Precious Bodily Fluids

Awards:

Nominated for 4 Oscars. Another 10 wins & 4 nominations

Cast

Peter Sellers	...	Group Captain Lionel Mandrake / President Merkin Muffley / Dr. Strangelove
George C. Scott	...	General 'Buck' Turgidson
Sterling Hayden	...	Brigadier General Jack Ripper
Keenan Wynn	...	Colonel 'Bat' Guano
Slim Pickens	...	Major 'King' Kong
Peter Bull	...	Russian Ambassador Alexi de Sadesky
James Earl Jones	...	Lieutenant Lothar Zogg
Tracy Reed	...	Miss Scott
Jack Creley	...	Mr. Staines
Frank Berry	...	Lieutenant Dietrich
Robert O'Neil	...	Admiral Randolph
Glenn Beck	...	Lieutenant Kivel (as Glen Beck)
Roy Stephens	...	Frank
Shane Rimmer	...	Captain 'Ace' Owens
Hal Galili	...	Burpelson AFB Defense Team Member

Also Known As:

A Delicate Balance of Terror (USA) (working title)
Dr. Strangelove
Edge of Doom (USA) (working title)

MPAA:

Rated PG for thematic elements, some violent content, sexual humor and mild language. (2005 re-rating)

Runtime:

93 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English | Russian

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Certification:

Canada:A (Nova Scotia) | Canada:PG (Manitoba/Ontario) (Canadian Home Video rating) | Spain:18 | Portugal:M/12 | South Korea:12 | Brazil:10 | Argentina:Atp | Australia:PG | Canada:G (Québec) | Finland:K-16 | France:U (re-release) | Germany:12 (re-rating) | Hong Kong:IIA | Iceland:Unrated | Ireland:PG | Japan:Unrated | Netherlands:AL (video rating) | New Zealand:PG | Norway:11 | Singapore:PG (DVD rating) | Sweden:11 | UK:PG | USA:Approved (Certificate No. 20469) (original rating) | USA:GP (re-rating) (1970) | USA:PG (re-rating) (2004) | West Germany:16

Filming Locations:

Arctic

Company:

Columbia Pictures Corporation

Trivia:

The stock footage shown in the opening credits (a suggestive image of refueling military aircraft) was also used in Santa Claus Conquers the Martians (1964)

Goofs:

Continuity: When Mandrake made the phone call to the president, the communication system was supposed to be dead.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Narrator: For more than a year, ominous rumors had been privately circulating among high-level Western leaders that the Soviet Union had been at work on what was darkly hinted to be the ultimate weapon: a doomsday device. Intelligence sources traced the site of the top secret Russian project to the perpetually fog-shrouded wasteland below the Arctic peaks of the Zhokhov Islands. What they were building or why it should be located in such a remote and desolate place no one could say.

Movie Connections:

Spoofed in This Land (2004)

Soundtrack:

Try a Little Tenderness

Outstanding, timeless classic!

One of the best films ever made, this remains timeless despite changes in technology, foreign policy and world politics; the military/political madness remains the same. Gets better all the time, with successive viewings and its luster has not dimmed since its first release.

With three show-stopping performances from Sellers (amongst his best work, if not THE BEST), and an unexpectedly hilarious turn by George C. Scott (if Sellers weren't SO dead on-target, Scott would easily steal the show), STRANGELOVE is filled with cartoonish, over-the-top characters that, despite the lunacy, still ring true. Special mention must be made for Sterling Heyden's controlled, brooding paranoia as General Jack D. Ripper. He's funny, he's scary.

All-in-all, a brilliant piece of work by all involved.