THIS IS THE FUNNIEST FILM I HAVE SEEN IN MY WHOLE ENTIRE LIFE!

Rating: 10/10 (20 April 2019)

I was born in the 90s. As such, I can never truly appreciate the climate people lived under during the Cold War, how much ever I read about it. I wasn't grown enough at the time of the Kargil aggression to understand the implications of two nuclear armed neighbours going for all out war. With the current atmosphere in the Indian subcontinent being of warmongering and terrorism, watching of Strangelove, a movie that I had been meaning to see for half a decade, seemed appropriate. And after watching I'm struck at how it has remained relevant.
Kubrick is awesome. I have seen just two of his films, Eyes Wide Shut and now Dr. Strangelove. He seems to have an innate knack of making people uncomfortable, simply by showing them the possibilities of human behaviour, what people can do, when blinded by ideology, propaganda and a generous dose of hubris and stupidity. This biting satire and socio-political commentary of the 1960s' cold war and military-industrial complex doesn't hold back on its punches.
Peter Sellers excels in his three roles. As an increasingly worried and exasperated yet unflinchingly British Captain Mandrake, he has to deal with Sterling Hayden's excellent macho nutjob General Jack Ripper, who is the embodiment of every toxic wannabe-alpha-male faux-military man you have ever seen, IRL and on screen. As the unintentionally funny yet very straightforward President of the United States, he turns in an excellent job. The phone conversations with the Premier of the Soviet Union had me laughing out loud. Finally as the sinister Dr. Strangelove, the mad genius scientist, the kind that never goes out of work because every government would want him, he is excellent. Other characters include the General Turgidson, Major Kong, and a whole host of minor military characters that do their part well to round out the cast.
The film is mostly in three locations: the iconic War Room, the inside of a B-52 bomber, and the Burpelson AFB located somewhere near Russia. The screenplay is very wordy and I have no problem with that at all. This is a filmmaker at the height of his powers delivering different types of comedy through scenes, characters' actions and dialogue delivery, and the dialogue itself is enriched by the extemely clever writing.
VERDICT: Kubrick is A GENIUS. 10/10.
Stray observations:
Dr. Strangelove's black-gloved right hand seems to be deeply loyal to Herr Hitler.