Review of Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964) by Valentin G — 11 Jul 2015

This political satire is more than anyone can expect. Two global army powers in a nuclear conflict, and "Dr.Strangelove" show the most tense side, with a lot of black humor.

Stanley Kubrick directed, produced and wrote this masterpiece in the smartest way possible, and everything resulted well, because every scene, every dialogue and every important moment are perfect. Despite the last mentioned the rythm sometimes is a few uneven and boring, so the picture lost a little its sense.

The film is set during the cold war and tells the story of how a group of planes of the United States Air Force under the orders of General Jack D. Ripper pretend to bomb the Soviet Union, when the American President Merkin Muffley is informed about the mission he wants to communicate with the pilots so that they should abort the mission, but Ripper cut the communications and close the military base, leaving him and Captain Lionel Mandrake inside.

The picture take place in three main locations: the B-52 with a bombom inside and four American soldiers, the General Ripper's office and the "War Room" with the big board. It feels like there were a few places to that the protagonists developed but agains that it's easier to follow the plot.

The performances are excellent like in every Kubrick's film; Peter Sellers played three wonderful roles on screen, the British captain Lionel Mandrake, the president Merkin Muffley and the ex-Nazi scientist Dr. Strangelove. George C. Scott also made an exceptional performance like the jingoist general Buck Turgidson. It's important to say that absolutely all the actors are pretty convincing in their roles.

The cinematography of Gilbert Taylor is just ok, with good framings and nothing of hand-camera the texture of the image sometimes fails, however the camera focuses properly in general shots, without annoying approaches. The edition of Anthony Harvey is very good, the scenes of the airplane with the onces of the War Room are interspersed in a very nice way and easy to see for the viewer.

This movie is a classic with a lot of immortal quotes in cinema history like "Gentleman you can't fight here! this is the War Room!" or "Mein Fuhrer... I can walk!", so my personal advise is that you sit down for 94 minutes, stop worrying and love the bomb!