Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb | | Cast : | Peter Sellers, George C. Scott | | Director : | Stanley Kubrick | | Studio : | Columbia Tri-Star | | Format : | Black & White, Closed-captioned, Widescreen | | Released Date : | January 29, 1964 | | DVD Released Date : | February 27, 2001 | | Language : | French (Dubbed), Portuguese (Dubbed), French (Subtitled), English (Subtitled), Portuguese (Subtitled), English (Original Language), French (Original Language), Thai (Subtitled), Chinese (Subtitled), Korean (Subtitled), Spanish (Subtitled) | | Audience Rating : | PG (Parental Guidance Suggested) | | | BUY THIS DVD FROM AMAZON |
Customer Reviews
| Rating |  | | Date | August 13, 2005 | | Summary | "Strangelove? What kinda Kraut name is that?" | Content
 | "Dr. Strangelove" is Stanley Kubrick's wonderful black comedy look at the nuclear arms race between the UNited States and Russia in the 1960s. The film is loosely based off of a much more serious novel, entitled "Red Alert" and the film was actually intended to be of a serious nature; when Kubrick apparently had a sudden change of heart---thank God!!
THis film is fabulous!
The film starts with General Ripper ordering his guard bombers to prepare for an attack against Soviet targets in a retaliation strike. Problem is, there was no Soviet attack for which they would be retaliating to. Ripper didn't care, because he was so wound up in all of the communist propaganda, that he felt he needed to take matters into his own hands. His character is one of the funniest characters I have seen in a movie, due to his completly insane ramblings. My favorite of his rants is when he goes on about how the flouridation of water is a communist idea that has infiltrated the United States. He looks squarley and very seriously to his executive office "Mandrake"(one of 3 characters played by Peter Sellers)eyes and tell him that they are flouridating such items as salt, soup, soda, etc...."even ice cream. Yes, little children's ice cream." I rarely laugh out loud when watching a film alone, but just couldn't help myself during this scene. The way in which he looks at Sellers and the expression Sellers gives is just priceless.
Speaking of Sellers, he plays 3 roles in the film and certainly mastered all of them. My favorite is his role as the president. This is probably the most serious character in the film. He is the only character who seems to have any kind of a grip on what the repercussions of the un-authorized retaliation attack will have on both the United States and the world; and, is the only character who is dedicated to doing whatever is necessary to stop the attack. But, the conversations he engages in are really funny. The best of which are his dialogues on the telephone with the Russian ambassador. The first time they speak on the phone the ambassador is drunk and apparently scolds the president for not calling simply to say "hello". Then, in a later conversation, we hear him try to explain to the Russian ambassador that he is just as sorry as the ambassador is that the attacks may be too far along to stop.
Sellers' final character is the title role of Dr. Strangelove, a German arms scientist, hired by the United States as a consultant of sorts. He is a truly evil and sinister man, who is confined to a wheelchair. Strangelove confirms to the members of the war room that the United States has secretly created a device known as the "Doomsday Device" that will destroy the world and activate on it's own at the slightest hint of a nuclear war breakout. Hence the reason the the president is so sorry that the retaliation attack cannot be stopped. Strangelove does concoct a plan at the end, which is really where I understood how intelligent this film was. I will leave that "building of a society" plan for you viewers to watch and interpret on your own; but it really is creepy to think that in a time of war or apocalypse, people of this mindset may actually be influential.
George C. Scott plays the "over the top" role of General Turdison. HIs character is very child-like and VERY paranoid about the communist reign. He provides comedy in every scene he is a part of and really exchanges well on screen with Peter Sellers. His character is also the most familiar with the "destination" of the retaliation attack.
The only other notable characters in the film are "Kong", played by Slim Pickens. He is the pilot of the bomber plane headed to destroy a missle site in Russian. We also see a very young James Earl Jones as a bombedier in the same plane.
Folks, this movie is wonderfully funny and amazingly relevant even in this era of filmmaking. The themes still hold true to our society today and the comedy and dialogue in this film are absolutly masterful.
On a quick side note, I found it very interesting that one of the themes of the film is a trouble with basic communication. Right from the very beginning when Ripper is asking his officer if he recognizes his voice all the way to the near end, when Office Mandrake is having trouble gettnig thru on the pay phone to the president, our characters have to deal with some sort of problem with communication. General Ripper phones Turdison in the beginning and has to relay his message thru Turdison's secretary, because Turdison is on the toilet. The president has difficuly understand the Russian ambassador in their first conversation, first because the signal is faded and the background music is loud; and, then because the ambassador is drunk. And, throughout the whole film, the most obvious is the fact that nobody can reach any of the bomber planes that are on teir way to Russia, because part of the attack's plans called for all communication ties to be cut, in fear of international signal crossing. There are many more examples---just something for the hardcore fans to look for next time.
Hey folks, this is worth much more than a rent--just buy it...you're probably going to end up doing so anyway! |
| Rating | | | Date | August 08, 2005 | | Summary | Cold-war lampoonary at its finest! | Content
| This review is for the 40th Anniversary Special Edition released by Columbia/Tristar in 2004.
The movie "Dr. Strangelove, or How I learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb" is a cold-war black comedy that satirizes the nuclear arms race between superpower governments. The basic story line takes place in the early 1960's where a psychologically unstable U.S. Air Force Brigadier General named Jack D. Ripper (Sterling Hayden) orders a surprise nuclear attack on Russia from a NATO base in England. The attack is to be made by deploying a series of squadrons of B-52 bombers which are ordered to drop nuclear missiles on strategic locals within Russia. When Washington finds out about this unprovoked attack, an emergency meeting is held in the Pentagon's War Room where restrained hysteria and pandemonium begin.
British actor Peter Sellers plays three characters in this movie: Royal Air Force Captain Lionel Mandrake, U. S. President Merkin Muffley and German physicist Dr. Strangelove. The Mandrake and Muffley roles are strictly deadpan comedy, while the Strangelove character uses a lot of physical comedy and overtly humorous rants regarding nuclear annihilation. I found Sellers especially impressive in the role as the U.S. president, due to his authentic-sounding American accent.
Arguably the strongest performance in the movie belongs to George C. Scott in his portrayal as U.S. General 'Buck' Turgidson. His animated body movement and overly emotional facial expressions steal the show. Another notable performance is by the tobacco-chewing cowboy actor Slim Pickens who plays B-52 pilot Major T.J. 'King' Kong. Pickens' exiting scene in the movie is visually one of the greatest in the history of filmmaking. The humor in this movie is constant but subtle. My only critical comment about the movie is that I feel the final scene in the war room was extraneous and too over the top. But still, this is a superb film.
As for the DVD, since this was a "special edition" package, one would expect a fully restored version, but this wasn't the case. There isn't much film deterioration, but you'll see an occasional spec of film wear here and there. All in all, its a very sharp black and white transfer. The sound is very satisfactory.
There are plenty of special features contained in this package including brief cold war documentaries by Roger Ebert, Bob Woodward, Robert McNamara and Spike Lee. Most of the observations were overstating the obvious, but it was interesting to observe as best as I can recall that no one admitted that the arms race is what ultimately defeated communism in Russia in the 1980's. I did feel that Spike Lee's comments were particularly inane however. Another documentary included a more in depth examination of the cold war era by former Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara. There was also a too-brief feature of the career of Peter Sellers. Another bonus feature which was by far the best, was the making of the film Dr. Strangelove. In this we learn many things including the fact that Peter Sellers was originally cast as the B-52 pilot but was later replaced by Slim Pickens. In addition we learn that the final scene in the movie was a pie fight, but was left on the editing room floor. We also learn that a special screening was scheduled for November 22, 1963, the day that JFK was assassinated, so the film was postponed and edited slightly to remove a comment by Pickens where he mentions, "....a guy could have a good time in Dallas....". The word "Dallas" was changed to "Las Vegas". There is also a nice biographical feature on director Stanley Kubrick. My overall assessment of the package is that it was significantly overpriced for quality of material, and again, not to have a fully restored movie for $28 is a travesty in my opinion.
Movie: A+
DVD Quality: A-
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| Rating | | | Date | August 07, 2005 | | Summary | Isn't funny at all | Content
| This movie is lame. There isn't one good laugh in it. It is tiresome. The only good thing about it is that it warns us against right wing lunatics who might start a nuclear war because they are crazy. Fine. It is politically correct. But that doesn't mean that the movie is any good, and it isn't. I have hated almost every Stanley Kubrick film I have ever seen. His work is terrible. The best of the sorry lot is Barry Lyndon, which is too long, too slow paced, has no characters who aren't annoying and despicable, but is worth three stars, which is more than I can say for the rest of his garbage. |
| Rating | | | Date | August 02, 2005 | | Summary | black and white | Content
| If I know the film recorded black and white styl, I didn't bay it. |
| Rating | | | Date | August 01, 2005 | | Summary | Mein Fuhrer, I can walk!!! | Content
| This movie was hilarious, what more can I say?
Based on "Red Alert" by Peter Bryant (AKA Peter George), Dr. S. is a movie about a USAF General who goes "a little funny in the head" and sends all the B-52s in his bomb wing to attack the USSR. A frantic president and Soviet premier (who we never see or hear, but the president is talking to him on the phone) try to avert the attack. The result is a comedy with a bang of laughter. More or less just like "Fail Safe" in that the president and the premier must work together to stop the attack from triggering nuclear war, only in Dr. Strangelove it makes for an absolutely hilarious plot, something Fail Safe doesn't even attempt to do. The movie ends, not with a whimper, but with a bang. |
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