Stanley Kubrick directed and produced Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb, a political satire steeped in black humor to make fun of the very serious topics of nuclear proliferation and destruction. Kubrick co-wrote the screenplay with Terry Southern (Easy Rider) and Peter George who wrote the novel Red Alert, on which the film is very loosely based. The film stars Peter Sellers in three separate roles, George C. Scott, Sterling Hayden, Slim Pickens, and in his film debut, James Earl Jones.
Buy Dr. Strangelove (Criterion Collection)In the film’s opening, Brigadier General Jack D. Ripper (Hayden), who has come to believe the Russians’ are fluoridating America’s water with the sole purpose of polluting our “precious bodily fluids,” has sent an attack order to the squadron of B-52’s that constantly circle the Soviet Union in case there is ever a need for a rain of nuclear missiles. He wants Russia to be blown off the map by a surprise attack. Ripper also puts the base on red alert, meant to make the base completely impregnable by land. Last, he has all the hand-held radios confiscated to keep those on base unable to hear normal radio activity, which would indicate they are not really under attack.
In the room with Ripper is Group Captain Lionel Mandrake (Sellers), a British officer participating in an officer-exchange program. He finds a transistor radio, hears music playing, puts two and two together, and decides Ripper has lost his marbles and must be stopped along with the B-52s. Ripper and Mandrake are at a stand-off with Mandrake doing his best to stop the catastrophe.
Deep underground, in the war room in D.C., President Merkin Muffly (Sellers) tries to calmly explain the situation to the Soviet premier who isn’t helping much having been in the middle of a party and rather drunk and, quite reasonably, angry. Muffly is surrounded by advisors, but the most interesting advisor is the wheelchair-bound Dr. Strangelove (Sellers). Strangelove is an ex-Nazi who isn’t completely opposed to total nuclear annihilation. While Strangelove might have sway over the president, he is decidedly lacking control of his body to great comedic effect.
The last major set piece in the film is that of the interior of a B-52 bomber whose commander and pilot is Major T. J. “King” Kong (Pickens). He is a Southern American whose blood flows red, white, and blue. He has read the instructions directing him to unload his payload, and, by gosh and by golly, he and his men will achieve their mission. Kong was supposed to be the fourth role for Sellers, but Sellers believed he would not be able to give the Southern American accent a believable quality. This is for the good, because, that said, Pickens, who was told to play the role seriously, is one of the funniest characters in the film. The famous scene where “King” Kong rides an A-bomb like it is the world’s orneriest bull comes toward the end of a seriously funny film.
Special Features:
- Restored 4K digital transfer, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack
- Alternate 5.1 surround soundtrack, presented in DTS-HD master audio
- New interviews with Stanley Kubrick scholars Mick Broderick and Rodney Hill; archivist Richard Daniels; cinematographer and camera innovator Joe Dunton; camera operator Kelvin Pike; and David George, son of Peter George, on whose novel Red Alert the film is based
- Excerpts from a 1966 audio interview with Kubrick, conducted by physicist and author Jeremy Bernstein
- Four short documentaries about the making of the film, the sociopolitical climate of the period, the work of actor Peter Sellers, and the artistry of Kubrick
- Interviews from 1963 with Sellers and actor George C. Scott
- Excerpt from a 1980 interview with Sellers from NBC’s Today Show
- Trailers
- An essay by scholar David Bromwich and a 1994 article by screenwriter Terry Southern on the making of the film
- Miniature “Holy Bible & Russian Phrases” including the film’s liner notes
With astonishing performances, pitch-black humor throughout, and a plethora of special features to tap into, it is the perfect time to watch/re-watch the ultimate satire, Dr. Strangelove.
