Dr. Strangelove: A Masterpiece of Satire and Drama

Rating: 10/10 (7 September 2017)

Stanley Kubrick's "Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb" is cited as one of the director's best films, and one of, if not the best satirical comedy in cinema history, and with very good reason.
Dr. Strangelove exceeds exponentially in many ways, the three main being the direction, writing and the unforgettable performances from George C. Scott, Sterling Hayden and of course, Peter Sellers.
Kubrick's direction is perfect, the film is perfectly paced, no scene overstays it's welcome and the editing and camera angles do their jobs greatly at conveying a time of nuclear crisis but at the same time remaining darkly humorous. One of the more obvious factors of the film is that it is shot and presented in black and white which works perfectly with the film, the dark representing the terror of the situation and the white representing the comedic side of the film. Kubrick also manages to assist in the comedic side of the film, he achieved this through using 'rehearsal' takes and allowing Peter Sellers to improvise. The level of film making is exquisite, Kubrick uses mostly steady camera shots when in the War Room, and hand-held camera shots when inside the B-52 bomber, he also frames each image with perfection and creates incredible compositions. He never cuts too often or ever drastically changes the angle, thus never confusing the viewer and allowing the scenes to flow. The B- 52 models on real life footage backgrounds may look dated, but oddly enough it still works well with the overall tone of the film, in fact it could be argued that it even adds a small comedic aspect to the film.
In my opinion, this film's writing was quite underrated, many people remember the genius unforgettable lines that were likely ad-libbed by Peter Sellers, but overall the film's dialogue and plot is incredibly well written. The plot goes that the general of an air force base goes mad and without-authority, commands a large number of B-52 bombers to attack their targets in Russia, and the men and President in the War Room, desperately attempt to prevent this from happening. This plot is outright brilliant and is executed brilliantly, there is no outright exposition in the dialogue, and any exposition there is, is not jarring or comes of as lazy at all. The film does an incredible job at creating an environment of sheer crisis, with George C. Scott's character explaining that there are very few options in resolving the matter, and the reveal of Russia's top secret 'Doomsday Machine' which adds an almost unbearable amount of tension to the film. The film reaches it's inevitable end of Nuclear Annihilation, after one of the B-52 bombers manages to hit one of it's targets, thus triggering the Doomsday Machine and ending all life on Earth. I found this ending not only to make sense, but also to fit perfectly into the film's tone, there is also a great comedic value to the end, with it coming so suddenly and playing classic music over the footage of many nuclear bombs detonating.
Overall, I hope it is clear that I see this as simply one of the best comedies ever made, or even perhaps one of the best films ever made. The film is incredibly unique and although the more satirical points of the film may not be quite as relevant now, they are still hilarious to experience. The film holds up incredibly well even with it's clearly dated visual effects and somewhat dated humour, but Peter Seller's performance alone will allow for this film to be seen as one of the funniest satires ever made even long after the events the film is poking fun at have ended. And even if you don't find the film particularly funny, you can still be in awe of the genius film making and incredibly suspenseful plot.