Dr. Strangelove or:
How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb is a 1964 satirical black
comedy which was co-written, produced and directed by Stanley Kubrick. A hit on
its initial release and widely regarded as one of the greatest films of all
time, Dr. Strangelove lampoons the Cold War fear of and attitude towards
Mutually Assured Destruction (MAD), the idea that if one side were to bomb the
other then the other side would retaliate and so on until both were destroyed.
Although a seemingly brave subject matter for a comedy it is in fact part of a
long line of films which poke fun at serious issues of the day. Both M.A.S.H. and more recently Team America: World Police have managed
to find humour in solemn subjects but a very strong argument can be made that Dr. Strangelove is the greatest of them
all.
The plot concerns a wayward and mentally disturbed US Air
Force General who sends his squadron of B-52 bombers, armed with nuclear bombs
towards Russian targets and then closes down all lines of communication and
removes all abort codes. With the world close to its end, various men attempt
to halt the planes from reaching their targets. British actor Peter Sellers
plays no less than three characters here, and plays them all brilliantly. He
performs as RAF Group Captain Lionel Mandrake who attempts to persuade the
wayward General Jack D. Ripper (Stirling Hayden) to stop as well as playing US
President Merkin Muffley who is in the War Room and his wheelchair bound
ex-Nazi advisor Dr. Strangelove.
