Kubrick's grand satire on the nuclear war

Rating: 9/10 (12 June 2012)

Dr. Strangelove is a simply marvelous, absolutely ironical, and very clever satirical take on the possibilities of a nuclear war that might have arisen during the Cold War period. The constant, ridiculous disputes and fights between Americans and 'Ruskis' (as they are called in the movie) contributed to the fact that this movie actually took shape of a most pleasurable caricature of a war film ever.
I can only imagine how Stanley Kubrick suddenly realized that the script that he's been working on didn't really present this tremendously serious topic in a totally respectable manner, but absolutely on the contrary – as a genuine parody.
It's scary to laugh at such a tragic moment in the history of our world, but the way that Kubrick depicted all the imaginary (thankfully) events that lead on to a prospect of nuclear holocaust is so humorous that no one will be able to suppress laughter. I don't think that any other director will ever be able to do it in such a way that he has. It's hard to imagine the disturbing power of the message that the movie gave to the viewers in the times of its premiere. However, in fact, it may be right to say that people, scared of the concept of another war hanging over their heads, were walking out of the cinemas feeling much more relaxed, after seeing a film so brilliant and bizarre at the same time.
There are so many fantastic moments in the film that it would be hard to point out all of them, so I'll just mention some of my favorite: Gen. Turgidson starts a fight with the Russian ambassador and president Muffley says: 'Gentlemen, you can't fight in here, this is the war room!'; Capt. Mandrake trying to call Mr. President, when he doesn't have enough change to put in the phone machine, and asks for a collect call; the shooting of a Coke machine to get some pennies; the ridiculous phone call that Turgidson receives from his mistress during the serious talks in the War Room; Muffley's conversation on the phone with the Russian President; the scene of a soldier bull-riding a nuclear missile shouting 'woo-hoo'; every scene that includes Dr. Strangelove and his disobedient Nazi hand.
It's so full of totally humorous and absurd situations, ideas, sequences, notions, connotations, characters that it's simply overwhelming, in the most positive meaning of the word.
It's also packed with many splendid performances by a bunch of brilliant actors. Sterling Hayden as the paranoid Gen. Jack Ripper gives an exquisite show, being the one who actually started the whole nuclear mess. Later he tries to persuade his comrades that there is a possibility of a Russian fluoridation scheme to poison the US citizens. George C. Scott as Turgidson, laid back ladies' man and general full of hatred towards 'Ruskis'. But the biggest credit goes to the magnificent Peter Sellers, for his versatile and confident acting as three distinct characters. He is so convincing that it looks as though different actors played all of those parts. It's a shame that the Academy jury didn't award him with an Oscar, because the way that he portrays those three major persons is a standout achievement of his long career.
Come to think of it, if all the ideas that's been put out in Dr. Strangelove the world as we now know it probably would not exist. I mean, with all the talks about fluoridation, poisoning, and weapons of mass destruction that would destroy all life on Earth if somebody attacked the Soviet Union, it's hard to stay indifferent to the topic of nuclear disasters. However, as I mentioned it previously, the way that Kubrick was able to present all of the gimmicks is so laughable that it makes all of those notions unbelievable and nonsensical.
All of those factors combined make Dr. Strangelove a stop on the filmography road that no one should omit.