It Never Dates and Never Will.

Rating: 10/10 (19 April 2014)

This is without doubt one of the best films ever made. Its greatness can be gauged by the fact that it has never lost its punch even though it is set at the height of the Cold War. What keeps it so fresh?
Firstly, there is the performances of everyone in the cast. Sellers is astonishing and the rest of the cast also seems to have been inspired by the prospect of creating a masterpiece. George C. Scott was reportedly angry with Kubrick because he used Scott's over-the-top takes rather than his straighter ones but I think Stanley's instincts and understanding of the overall dynamics of the film led him to make the right decision. Scott's performance as the highly dangerous buffoon, Buck Turgidson, is unforgettable. Turgidson was apparently based upon a U.S. Air Force colonel, Curtis Lemay, and is a comment upon people who decide the fate of millions by relying on statistics. Slim Pickens replaced Sellers as Major Kong and this is indicative of how circumstances beyond even the control of the director can capture lightning in a bottle. Sellers had not relished playing the fourth role of Kong possibly because it required a Texan accent. After Sellers broke his leg after falling from the bomb, Kubrick sent for Pickens because he needed a real life Texan not just an actor who could pretend to be one. Pickens rides the bomb to its target like a rodeo rider whooping and waving his cowboy hat as only he could do it. He is the embodiment of a generation of "cowboy" generals and politicians and no doubt a percentage of the general public who seemingly relished the thought of ending the world in an orgasm of dimwitted enthusiasm for destruction of Ruskies and evil empires.
Perhaps what makes Dr. Strangelove most memorable and enduring is Ken Adam's sets – in particular, the war room. Adam was master of producing slightly ahead of their time sets and ones that isolated the subjects. They were little worlds which distanced their occupants and the audience from the rest of the world. Under the huge ring/dome of light the generals play a game of poker with the world at stake.
I would suggest that it is the script, written or improvised, that keeps people coming back to this film. The one line that jars with me is the one most people like to quote: "You can't fight in here; this is the war room." I find it the one obvious gag line in a film that never relies on gags. It relies upon most of the characters delivering the lines with a deep sense of belief. It is Major Kong's sense of duty and destiny that makes his line "this is it; nuclear combat, toe to toe with the Ruskies" at once funny and frightening. It is the mentality of those involved that needed to be seen in the light of comedy in order to see the enormity of the danger. It is this fine balance of dark comedy that is struck and maintained with no let up that is at the core of this masterpiece.