A strange but good movie

Rating: 9/10 (12 March 2004)

Dr. Strangelove is a rather strange movie. It is also a very good movie. It provides its audience with comedy, a history lesson (in a way), and drama. The plot centers on the love of nuclear weapons that helped lead to the Cold War. Although the film does not portray this entirely accurate the audience can get the picture. It takes this incident that really happened in history and makes it seem comical. At first the film may seem to be somewhat boring, but once you get into watching it it's great.

The music in Dr.Strangelove basically revolves around three main songs, two being love songs and one being the tune to `the ants go marching.' The two love songs are played at the beginning of the film during the opening credits and at the end of the film while the world is being blown to bits by nuclear weapons. Although at first hearing a love song during a scene in which the world is being destroyed may seem odd, it really isn't. The U.S. used to have this strange infatuation, this strange love for nuclear weapons, so playing a love song while they are being put to use is actually quite fitting. It gets across the fact that we once did love nuclear weapons. Now, the tune to `the ants go marching' is played during every scene with the pilots in their planes. The tune when heard without the words actually sounds very patriotic. The pilots in the planes are getting ready to carry out their orders and they very well know they could die. It is a patriotic thing that they are doing, thus the patriotic music. Having only three different songs in the film helps the audience to remember them better and is something that this reviewer has never seen in any other film. It is a great idea.
The film has more than one main character. It has quite a few actually. All the acting in the film was pretty good. It wasn't as good as others, but it wasn't so horrible that the viewer would become disgusted and turn off the film because of it. Now and then there were some times when the viewer could tell that the actor was just acting, but for the most part it was pretty good and always entertaining. This reviewer kept finding herself just wanting to laugh at some parts that weren't even meant to be funny just because of the way the actor was coming across. Any movie that causes laughter is definitely a good one.
When most people watch Dr. Strangelove they probably do just that. They watch it. They don't think that it has any hidden meanings. They watch it as if they would watch any other film. But this film has something that not all other films have. The film is full of references to sex and penis envy. It isn't obvious though, not at all. The viewer probably won't even catch it, but it is. On the surface it seems as though it is just taking a historic situation and turning it into comedy, but below the surface it's all about sex.
Dr. Strangelove isn't the type of movie that a typical teenager would pick out to rent at the movie store, but it is one that they should. This reviewer admits that she would never have rented or even thought about watching this movie on her own, but Dr. Strangelove is a really good movie and it is really funny. All teenagers should get the opportunity to see this wonderful film.