Dr. Strangelove

Rating: 10/10 (20 June 2005)

I clearly remember the first time I saw Dr. Strangelove. I fell in love with it immediately, a combination of Sellers in three flawless roles, Kubric behind the camera, the exuberant war room settings, and Scott's expressions. It is one of the most beautiful works of the art of film: it is far and way the greatest black comedy and satire of all time, showing what can happen when the fate of many lies in the hands of an incompetent few. Some say that the Cold War issues the film addresses have somewhat less meaning now, because that is all behind us. I completely disagree. Consider Kubric's 2001 and A Clockwork Orange: we are closer now to those times that Kubric prophesied in the late sixties/early seventies now than we were then. The same goes for Dr. Strangelove. Although it covers the issues of the Cold War, the issues of the Doomsday Machine, the crazy General Ripper, all of the silly authorities Kubric so vibrantly depicts seem more like things we are headed in the direction of now, than it did forty years ago. This is a film that I would not argue with one if they called it perfect. From Kubric's brilliant directing, to its tight editing, the dark, riveting, cinematography, the fantastic acting lead by Sellers as three different characters, and some of the most memorable settings in the history of the movies make this one of the top tenperhaps the top fivefilms of all time. Never has a comedy had more of a point, and a biting satire.