DR. STRANGELOVE - OR HOW I STOPPED WORRYING, AND LOVED THE BOMB

If impending doom suddenly emerged upon the horizon, what would you do about it? Panic? Make funny noises? Recite the lyrics to 'Hey-Ya' from OutKast? Or like me, sit down, relax, and watch this 1964 classic? It was directed by Stanley Kubrick and starred Peter Sellers, George C Scott, and Sterling Hayden. Doom will be upon us all in 94 minutes. BOOOM!


Dr. Strangelove Or: How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Love The Bomb - Red Alert


THE STORY:

Out of the blue, you suddenly hear the dreadful news that the commander of Burpelson Air Force Base -- Colonel Jack D. Ripper (Sterling Hayden) -- has ordered a squadron of nuclear aircraft -- namely, the B-52’s -- to attack the Soviet Union, because he's gone a bit bonkers.

OK. So what should you do about it? Huh? Would you be like...

(A) The British Group Captain, Lionel Mandrake (Peter Sellers)? And try to stop Jack, even if he's holding a bloody gun to your head?

(B) The General, Buck Turgidson (George C. Scott)? And explain to your president how Ripper took advantage of ‘governmental protocol' to initiate this assault!

Or (C) Better yet, why not be like the President himself, Merkin Muffley (Peter Sellers again)? And comprehend that you're not in a position to override this command, due to closed-circuit communications between the base and the B-52’s, and then ask the Russian premier for some help.

Something like a two-pronged attack, for example, with the first one directed towards Jack, and the second one directed towards the weapons in question, the B-52’s.

Huh? What's that you say, dear reader? Why don't we ask Dr. Strangelove (Peter yet again) for his opinions on this dire situation? Yeah. That sounds like a plan. Hey! You! You wheelchair bound nazi-git? What should we do?

'Vel, if von of the B52’s manages to zomehow drop a zarhead within the Soviet Union and have a direct HIIIT!, zen the fabled ‘Doomzday’ protocol will be initiated, and blow the entire planet to azzzzunder'.

Oh sh*t!

Can the governmental troops manage to penetrate Jack's base in time? And even if they can, will Captain Mandrake be able to talk some sense into Jack to halt his scheme? Also, what about the B52's? Can all of these flying devils be shot down in time before one of them drops a bomb? Plus, what about that stray aircraft with the rootin-tootin pilot who knows no fear (Slim Pickens)?

Or alternatively, is the whole wide world well and truly f*cked?

Well, whatever the case may be, I suppose that is why what next transpires is as strange as Dr. Strangelove himself. As planes fly - people die - a coke-machine spells doom - whilst the rest of us sit in front of the television set, waiting for everything to go...

MEIN FüHRER! I CAN WALK! BOOOOM!

THE REVIEW:

Before I lavish this film with all the praise I can muster, bestowing it with kisses, hugs, and all of that type of thing, I think it only right that I first tell you a bit about how 'Dr. Strangelove - Or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb' came about.

OK, so the writer/director of this film, Stanley Kubrick, started to devise this project as if it were a straightforward narrative. No jokes. No multi-layered storyline. Just a pretty simple adaptation from its original source material, which was a novel called 'Red Alert' written by Peter Bryant.

However, due to the longevity of this adaptation, combined with the nocturnal hours Stanley kept during this period, he eventually came to the realization that the best way to explain this type of 'lofty material' was in a satire. Then, once that concept was finally set in stone, all Stanley needed next was someone to aid him in capturing this tone.

So who else could Stanley call on, folks, but an actor whom he worked with before on 'Lolita'? Peter Sellers, along with a writer Peter worked with on 'The Magic Christian'? Terry Southern.

Admittedly, this production did face several problems along the way. Like when Peter frained an accident, for instance, as he originally was going to play four parts -- not three -- yet decided to take a nosedive, paving the way for Slim Picken's to be cast into the role of the pilot instead of him. Also, there was that whole business with the ending being one big pie fight that didn't work in execution, plus how the release date inadvertently clashed with the assassination of the then-president, John F. Kennedy. 

Still, enough trivia for the moment. As I'm sure you'd like to know what I think about this film. Well, simply put, this movie is a piece of art, and should be framed and put on display in a grand museum.

Fair enough. I'm also sure you're wondering why I have started my review with such a bold statement (or maybe if your washing machine has finished yet). And if you have, I presume that it is because you haven't seen this film before? Have you?

Tut-tut-tut! Personally speaking, this mid-sixties Cold War satire perfectly explains the follies of a nuclear deterrent in its own special way. It isn't preachy or long-winded, elaborating in detail on how things work or what things do. Rather, it presents a possible scenario and then leaves the rest up to your own imagination.

Listen, you have to realise that in relative terms, the nuclear deterrent (or the basic premise of this movie), is like a couple of schoolboys threatening each other with a couple of expensive rocks. But whilst the first boy’s rock will kill millions, the second boy’s rock will kill billions. Then, just to add to this dilemma with a tad more candor, one of the boys has a secret spatula, which acts automatically to repel any attack without human interference.

Please note, though, that in the case of 'Dr. Strangelove - or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Loved the Bomb', replace the rocks with nuclear bombs, and the secret spatula with a doomsday machine.

Got it? I hope you have, folks, because you have to take note that this threat is still very much alive in today’s computing age. We -- the human race -- are allowing computers to judge our every waking need, without anything in place to deter overtly logical comprehension if ever the need arises. I'm sure you see it every day in the shops, the social networks, the banks, and everything else connected to a bit of kit. The computer knows best. Yet we don't know the computer.

But wait up! Before I waffle on too much about the pretext -- too late -- I best tell you about the acting, mustn't I? Peter Sellers. Peter Sellers. Peter Seller. He's just superb in this film. He doesn't ham it up too much and competently plays three completely different characters without seeming to break a sweat. George C. Scott and Sterling Hayden back him up just perfectly as well. With George acting like a buffoon, and Sterling acting like a cold, sterile madman ready for a ruckus.

Oh! And let's not forget about the music, the sets, and the director, either! What can I say? Marvelous. Simply marvelous. The music was bold, anthemic, and progressive for each individual character's arc. The sets were so imaginative that when Ronald Reagan first became the president of America, he thought that the 'War Room' actually existed. And as for Stanley Kubrick himself? Well, he's a legend, isn't he? Nothing I say will be able to praise him as much as I want to. He's a star.

However, if I did have a slight niggle with this film, it would have to be the mildly crude special effect deployed during the flying sequences. Apart from that, though -- nah -- Dr. Strangelove... HA! What a guy! What an amazing film! So amazing, in fact, that even Elvis Presley thought it was the best film ever made. Fact!

Nuff said.

THE RATING: A+