Cold War Paranoia!

Rating: 10/10 (28 February 2015)

Dr. Strangelove proves why Stanley Kubrick is one of the greatest directors to have ever exist. He masters every genre, and political black comedies are no exception. This movie was made during the height of the Cold War, just after the events of the Cuban Missile Crisis and the Cuban Revolution, so this film was very timely. For those paying attention to current news, this film may also seem relevant today. The movie expands upon paranoia that was suffered during these years, and that created maybe the best film of this particular genre: political comedies.
Stanley Kubrick's film is about a crazed general named Jack Ripper who orders a nuclear attack on the Soviet Union. Now the President and his aides must rush against time in order to stop the attack.
Peter Sellers is a great actor and he shows his versatility by playing three key roles: Ripper's second-in-command, the President, and the strange Dr. Strangelove, apparently a former Nazi. My favorite role of Sellers was the crazy doctor and his German accent. George C. Scott was also very good, as the general always questioning the orders of the President.
Overall, Dr. Strangelove is one of cinema's best comedies you'll ever see. I'm sure this film influenced modern political comedies such as 2006's Thank You for Smoking and 2008's Burn after Reading. But this is a film also known for its relevance as many people in the United States were afraid the Soviets were going to attack them and start a nuclear holocaust. But relevance aside, this is one of the very best of the genre and of Kubrick's career. Those plane exterior shots make be plainly fake, but that is only a very minor complaint.
My Grade: A+