Doctor Strangelove Movie Review: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb

A warm welcome to today's guest blogger, who writes online as Joan . Joan agreed to share her Doctor Strangelove Movie Review with us. She writes:

The 1964 black comedy "Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb" is one of those films that EVERYONE needs to have seen. Just like everyone should know the plot of "Romeo and Juliet" and should have heard the "I Have a Dream" speech, being familiar with "Dr. Strangelove" is an essential part of understanding contemporary culture.

Stanley Kubrick's seemingly bizarre decision to make a comedy about the destruction of world resulted in a movie that still reverberates through the worlds of both cinema and politics.

Many of the characters and situations presented in "Dr. Strangelove" were allusions to influential people and policies from the 1960s Cold War days. But the themes of deceit, mistrust, misplaced bravado, and human fragility are just as relevant today as they ever were. Even today, images, characters, and quotations from Dr. Strangelove are referenced to evaluate and criticize the actions of world leaders. The movie has become an integral part of our consciousness about politics and the meaning of war.

And at the same time, the movie is incredibly funny! The credit for that goes both to Kubrick for an exceptional and brilliantly directed screenplay, and also to the stellar acting, especially from Peter Sellers and George C. Scott. Some of the film's best comic dialogue actually came from the ad-libbing of Sellers, who played three different roles in "Dr. Strangelove" (a nervous British serviceman, a sinister strategist, and a level-headed President of the United States). And Scott's over-the-top performance as a hawkish general steals the show.

The storyline begins with one person finding a weak link in the complicated security systems that control our nuclear attack policies. And Kubrick keeps the suspense (and hilarity!) going all the way to the end as forces from every side work with each other and against each other while the future of all life on earth hangs in the balance.

I'll say it again: "Dr. Strangelove" is a must-see. If you're not familiar with it, consider this your homework assignment.

Thanks, Joan, for this post and for the homework assignment! I must admit that I have NOT seen Dr. Strangelove but I have added it to my must-see list.

For my blu-ray movie fans, I will add that Doctor Strangelove is available on blu-ray and that the blu-ray is considered very well done. In fact, High-Def Digest calls it a must-own movie that has great audio, video and special features as well as cast, camera and story.

See you
at the movies!
Brenda

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