Dr. Strangelove. You know, I've heard about this movie for a long time, but never got around to watching it. I just thought it would be some stuffy, old, boring movie made in the 60's. Man, was I wrong.
PLOT:
This is a satire. A black comedy. And it this very well. A movie about the Cold War, a leader in the US army goes crazy and tells his fleet to attack Russia. Now, if you know anything about the Cold War, you know this was a HORRIBLE idea. It was one step away from becoming a real-life Fallout universe.
The problem is that they recall all but one plane that encountered a problem with its radio. It suffered from a case of blown up. So, naturally it didn't work. Sending this one plane with a nuclear warhead headed toward Russia, leaving a group of men in the war room trying to reason with the Russian leader by trying to get him to see that the one plane is acting of its own accord and isn't related to the US anymore. The conversation between our President and their leader, who happens to be drunk, is a rather funny one. Youtube the conversation. The movie has a flaw in this though. It is too short. But this also adds to its advantage. It's short, clocking in at 95 minutes, and this keeps it from being too saturated with satire, which IS possible. My biggest problem with this movie's plot is the end. I can't say that I'm satisfied with how it ended. It seemed anti-climatic to me. It was kind of funny, but it definitely should not have been the ending. Left a lot to be desired.
CHARACTERS:
This is where this movie shines the most. The characters are great. Their dialogue is well written. Peter Seller's plays multiple characters in this movie. The humorous British RAF Captain Mandrake:
The slightly effeminate president Merkin Muffley:
Dr. Strangelove isn't on screen for very long, only near the end of the movie, which confuses me as to why he's the title of the movie, but oh well. A little late to wonder that now. What makes him funny is that he's VERY German, and he can't control his right hand. It's constantly doing what it wants to. It even chokes him at one point and he has to fight it off.
The character we see the most of, however, is Gen. Buck Turgidson, played by George C. Scott. He is trying his hardest to buzzkill the crap out of the President's day. He spends his time trying to solve what Jack Ripper (not the crazy hooker killer), played by Sterling Hayden, has screwed up. Luckily, his over the top acting keeps him from being boring. I really can't think of a character they should have left out. As I said, this is the part where the movie shines.
END SUMMARY:
The characters and script are brilliant. The ending is very eh. It should have ended differently. So, if an ending that doesn't really go anywhere bothers you, then you'll hate this movie. Stanley Kubrick created a classic movie with great characters and an iffy ending. I can't imagine how that would go in today's world.
RATING: 8.5/10
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