George C. Scott, James Earl Jones, Keenan Wynn

Fearful that the Russians are fluoridating America's drinking water, General Jack D. Ripper unleashes a B-52 H-Bomb attack on the Soviets, and a frantic President and Joint Chiefs of Staff must someho...( read more  read more... )w find a way to stop it.

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94% liked it

67,819 ratings

Critics

100% liked it

56 critics

PG, 1 hr. 43 min.

Directed by: Stanley Kubrick

Release Date: January 29, 1964

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DVD Release Date: November 2, 2004

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Stats: 10,614 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (10,614)


  • September 4, 2009
    This has to be one of the funniest films of all time. Beautifully lit, brilliantly written and hilariously portrayed. The performances from Sellers, Pickens and C. Scott are particularly good. It's a comedy masterpiece!
  • July 15, 2009
    The most beautifully shot comedy of all time.
  • June 28, 2009
    A great movie that still holds up over time.
  • April 10, 2009
    Civil Defense drills were ridiculous when you think about it. A 100 megaton bombs impact is not going to be stopped by your school desk or even the basement of the local hospital. It made you feel good, I guess. In the 1950's and 1960's everyone waited for the day that "the bomb"...( read more) was dropped and who would drop it first. There really weren't many media outlets satirizing the whole idea of nuclear combat toe to toe with the Ruskies.

    The funny thing is that Dr. Strangelove wasn't going to be a satire either, but a straight account of an Air Force general (Sterling Hayden) that goes mad and orders a Strategic Air Command wing to attack their targets in the Soviet Union and the efforts of the military and government to stop it. Soon it became a satire starring Peter Sellers in no less than three roles. You'll notice I'm not calling this a comedy and this is for reason. I can barely call it a satire because I can believe that people actually thought like this in the ivory towers of government. Gen. Buck Turgidson (George C. Scott) trusts no commie and sees a silver lining in all of those that is like a light version of Hayden's characters ideas. I tend to believe this film more than a 13 Days.

    Peter Sellers does indeed play three characters in this film. The first is Group Captain Lionel Mandrake, a Royal Air Force officer who is assigned to the base that Hayden's character commands. The second is President Merkin Muffley, a standard die cut American politician that seems to be holding together but eventually falls apart. Finally Sellers plays the title character Dr. Strangelove, an ex-Nazi scientist that still tends to have issues over his former boss. Seller is excellent in each of these roles with this film probably being the apex of his career only equaled by a just as great performance in 1978's Being There.

    George C. Scott is probably just as in tune with the film as Sellers as Turgidson. Scott plays the general as a caricature, but it doesn't feel like one. His facial expression flow of the celluloid but they're not forced down your throat. Even his mistakes (such as tripping in the war room) are so in character that they become part of the film, which is an achievement considering this is a Kubrick picture.

    Since this is a Stanley Kubrick film you can expect near perfection because the man was a perfectionist. Kubrick knows how to frame a face and this becomes quite evident during Sterling Hayden's two monologues. Kubrick shoots Hayden from below giving him an almost god-like quality as he spouts his gospel, adding more to the scene. The long shots of the war room are also magnificent as they show the grand scale of the room, yet this small amount of men are deciding and working through what could be the end of civilization. The film ushers in the golden age of Kubrick's career since his next two films were just as magnificent and he really never did an inferior film during the rest of his life.

    The mark that Dr. Strangelove made on cinema is indescribable. The film gives a bit of social commentary while not being to preachy and entertains you while making you think. There has never been a satire to equal it and I don't see a terrorist type of this film coming very soon. Strangelove is one of those films where everything just gelled to perfection and equaled much more than what everyone put into it. From the stirring performance to Kubrick's direction it stands as a brilliant film and one of the best of all time.
  • March 18, 2009
    Number 39 on AFI top 100.

    Dr. Strangelove is a unique film that served to make light of a very serious subject matter at the time of it's release in 1964. It's about a rogue US general who launches a full scale nuclear assault on Russia. Facing imminent doom, the Presid...( read more)ent of the US and his staff work diligently with Russian officials to avert the apocalyptic catastrophe.

    This film is humorous in a serious tone. In that sense, the film is uncanny and extremely zany. It was very effective during it's time in making a satire out of such a worrisome topic.

    Dr. Strangelove was well directed by legendary icon Stanley Kubrick. He was nominated for an Oscar, but lost to Robert Wise for The Sound of Music, which also won Best Picture. This film was superbly acted by Peter Sellers and George C. Scott. Sellers displayed great versatility by playing 3 major characters, all with very unique and different quirks and styles.

    I enjoyed all the satirical names Kubrick used, such as Gen. Jack D. Ripper (who happens to be the rogue officer).

    A very young James Earl Jones also appears in a small role.

    Overall, this was a good film, especially for it's time. It requires a quirky sense of humor, and an understanding of the nuclear paranoia surrounding the US and Russia during this period.
  • October 8, 2009
    Red Alert by Peter George.
  • October 5, 2009
    This is not only one of the best black comedies ever, but probably the best movie ever made.

    Dr. Strangelove is a movie I can watch over and over and never get bored of it. And that's mainly because of the great cast Kubrick assembles. George C. Scott next to Peter Sellers is t...( read more)he funniest man in this film. Peter Sellers of course being the comedic genius that he is plays three different characters. I also liked Sterling Hayden who plays the psychopathic commander.

    The special effects are very cheesy but that doesn't matter much cause the editing in this film was really good. I have to praise Stanley Kubrick's direction in this, he truly was a genius.
  • October 5, 2009
    Just a classic. I find myself just waiting for the end though...
  • September 28, 2009
    A weird movie really, even for Kubrick. It was hard for me to categorise it in a genre. Is it a spy movie ? A comedy ? A war film ? Its kind of a mix with all the elements you may find in the above categories. Most of all I think Kubrick wanted to show how stupid and irational wa...( read more)r is but throught a comic sense. This comic sense is mostly seen in the film in Peter Seller's triple performance. In general it showcases war always being irrational no matter who performs it. I mean a Russian is allowed into the American war room and steals their plans and a former Nazi is developing technologies for the Americans and the war was caused by a general who feared about the purity of his essences being disturbed by water that the Russians poisoned ! You dont get much crazier than that but also these characters are not so far away from real politicians...
  • September 24, 2009
    love this movie...it was perfect

Critic Reviews


November 5, 2004
Ty Burr, Boston Globe

Is Dr. Strangelove Kubrick's best movie? Along with Paths of Glory, absolutely. full review

January 1, 2000
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

Dr. Strangelove (1964) is filled with great comic performances. full review

View more Dr. Strangelove Or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb reviews at RottenTomatoes.com

Comments


  • R0L0D3X
    June 29, 2009
    One of the Greatest Movies. And funny.


    9/10
  • JethroBoy
    August 28, 2008
    This is the most FANTASTIC film and definetly my favourite film. It never gets old.
  • itbegins2005
    May 13, 2008
    I hate every Stanley Kubrick movie ever made- EXCEPT THIS ONE. At LEAST the narrative structure makes SENSE... (don't even get me started on the acid-trip ending to 2001)

    "MEIN FUHRER! I CAN WALK!"
  • kikasuiboy84
    May 27, 2007
    A masterpiece of satire, paranoia and straight comedy. One of the all-time classics with a great cast and many memorable moments. Sellers is magnificent.
  • kikasuiboy84
    May 27, 2007
    Kubrick's great 1964 tragicomedy about superpowers on the nuclear brink continues to fascinate new generations of moviegoers, as its frequent reissues attest.
  • kikasuiboy84
    May 27, 2007
    An absolutely hilarious and brilliant satire in which Kubrick's assured and precise direction serves, for once, to make an incredibly entertaing film as well as a smart one.

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Dr. Strangelove Or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb Trivia

Dr. Strangelove Or How I Learned ... Trivia


  • This Stanley Kubrick movie holds the record of being the movie with the longest title ever nominated for a Best Picture Academy Award.  Answer »
  • Which 1964 political satire was originally supposed to end in a pie fight?  Answer »
  • Quote: "Gentlemen. You can't fight in here. This is the war room!" What is the movie?  Answer »
  • In which Cold War-era film did Sterling Hayden worry about the contamination of his nation's "precious bodily fluids?"  Answer »

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