Dr. Strangelove Or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964)
96%RT Audience Score: 94%
Awards & Nominations: Nominated for 4 Oscars
14 wins & 11 nominations total
Stanley Kubrick’s brilliant Cold War satire remains as funny and razor-sharp today as it was in 1964.
If you’re looking for a movie that’s both hilarious and thought-provoking, then you gotta check out Stanley Kubrick’s masterpiece, Dr. Strangelove. This flick is a total gem from the 60s that still holds up today. It’s a Cold War satire that’s so sharp, it could cut through steel. And the best part? It’s freakin’ funny as hell.
Kubrick really knew how to poke fun at the absurdity of nuclear war. The characters are all so ridiculous, yet somehow believable. You’ve got the paranoid general who’s convinced the Commies are out to get us, the slimy politician who’s more concerned with his own image than the fate of the world, and of course, the titular Dr. Strangelove himself, a former Nazi scientist who’s now advising the US government on how to blow up the world.
The dialogue is snappy and the pacing is perfect. You’ll be laughing one minute and on the edge of your seat the next. And the ending? Let’s just say it’s a real doozy.
So if you’re in the mood for a classic movie that’s both smart and hilarious, give Dr. Strangelove a watch. You won’t regret it.
Production Company(ies)
Stanley Kubrick Productions,
Distributor
Columbia Pictures
Release Type
Theatrical
Filming Location(s)
Banff National Park, Alberta, Canada
MPAA / Certificate
Rated PG for thematic elements, some violent content, sexual humor and mild language
Year of Release
1964
-
Color:Color
Black and White -
Sound mix:Dolby
-
Aspect ratio:NA
-
Runtime:1h 33m
-
Language(s):English, Russian
-
Country of origin:United States
-
Release date:Release Date (Theaters): Jan 29, 1964 Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Oct 21, 2003
Genre(s)
Comedy
Keyword(s)
starring Peter Sellers, George C Scott, Keenan Wynn, Slim Pickens, Peter Bull, Tracy Reed, directed by Stanley Kubrick, written by Stanley Kubrick, Terry Southern, Peter George, comedy, box office performance, budget, reviewed by Peter Bradshaw, Dave Kaufman, James Powers, Odie Henderson, Joshua Rothkopf, MPAA rating PG, nuclear war, Cold War satire, U.S Air Force General, bomber wing, communists, precious bodily fluids, Stanley Kubrick as producer, Columbia Pictures as distributor, Mono sound mix, Flat aspect ratio, Group Capt Lionel Mandrake, President Merkin Muffley, Dr Strangelove, Gen “Buck” Turgidson, Col “Bat” Guano, Ambassador de Sadesky, Miss Scott
Worldwide gross: $9,523,464
Worldwide gross (inflation-adjusted): $103,256,351
Worldwide gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 995
Worldwide tickets sold (est.): 11,260,235
US/Canada gross: $9,440,272
US/Canada gross (inflation-adjusted): $102,354,358
US/Canada gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 734
US/Canada opening weekend: $11,751
US/Canada opening weekend (inflation-adjusted): $127,408
US/Canada opening weekend ranking (inflation-adjusted): 1,845
Budget and Earnings Details
Production budget (est.): $1,800,000
Production budget (inflation-adjusted): $19,516,158
Production budget ranking: 1,379
Marketing and distribution budget (inflation-adjusted est.): $10,509,451
Box office net earnings to date (inflation-adjusted est.): $73,230,742
ROI to date (est.): 244%
ROI ranking: 543
George C. Scott – Gen. “Buck” Turgidson
Keenan Wynn – Col. “Bat” Guano
Slim Pickens – Major T. J. “King” Kong
Peter Bull – Ambassador de Sadesky
Tracy Reed – Miss Scott
Director(s)
Stanley Kubrick
Writer(s)
Stanley Kubrick, Terry Southern, Peter George
Producer(s)
Stanley Kubrick
Film Festivals
Awards & Nominations
Nominated for 4 Oscars
14 wins & 11 nominations total
Academy Awards
Oscar Nominees
All Critics (92) | Top Critics (20) | Fresh (90) | Rotten (2)
Age has not withered that final queasy nightmare of the mushroom clouds, set to Vera Lynn’s hopeful We’ll Meet Again – underscoring how the certainties of the second world war ceased to hold their meaning in the nuclear age.
May 15, 2019 | Rating: 5/5
Peter Bradshaw
Guardian
TOP CRITIC
Nothing would seen to be farther apart than nuclear war and comedy, yet Kubrick’s caper eloquently tackles a Fail-Safe subject with a light touch.
April 22, 2019
Dave Kaufman
Variety
TOP CRITIC
Kubrick has shown before that he is a director of rare gifts. Dr. Strangelove brings them into full realization.
January 31, 2019
James Powers
Hollywood Reporter
TOP CRITIC
Of the many films considered great satire, only Dr. Strangelove holds up as a masterpiece with none of its bite removed.
August 7, 2014 | Rating: A
Odie Henderson
Movie Mezzanine
TOP CRITIC
By a whopping margin, this is Kubrick’s most radical film and greatest dramatic gamble.
May 13, 2014 | Rating: 5/5
Joshua Rothkopf
Time Out
TOP CRITIC
Black comedy Kubrick classic for smart teens+.
December 22, 2010 | Rating: 5/5
Nell Minow
Common Sense Media
TOP CRITIC
Probably Kubrick’s biggest gamble, resulted in a classic that has aged finely. [Full review in Spanish]
September 23, 2021 | Rating: 4/5
Fico Cangiano
CineXpress Podcast
Few satires are stranger or sharper, and there are few funnier films that come from a weirder and braver starting point than Dr Strangelove.
August 4, 2021 | Rating: 5/5
Matt Neal
Movies Ate My Life
I think this is a film I will need to see again especially for the Sellars performances. But I really hope the opening scroll is correct and nothing like this can ever actually happen.
March 24, 2021
Sarah Brinks
Battleship Pretension
While still politically relevant, the Cold War audiences of the ’60s were better primed to welcome the irony.
August 24, 2020 | Rating: 8/10
Mike Massie
Gone With The Twins
Dr. Strangelove is one of [Stanley Kubrick’s] very best movies.
August 10, 2020
Allen Almachar
The MacGuffin
Stanley Kubrick’s classic black comedy, Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb, remains a genius political satire.
August 5, 2020 | Rating: 5/5
Danielle Solzman
Solzy at the Movies…
Plot
Paranoid Brigadier General Jack D. Ripper of Burpelson Air Force Base, believing that fluoridation of the American water supply is a Soviet plot to poison the U.S. populace, is able to deploy through a back door mechanism a nuclear attack on the Soviet Union without the knowledge of his superiors, including the Chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Buck Turgidson, and President Merkin Muffley. Only Ripper knows the code to recall the B-52 bombers and he has shut down communication in and out of Burpelson as a measure to protect this attack. Ripper’s executive officer, RAF Group Captain Lionel Mandrake (on exchange from Britain), who is being held at Burpelson by Ripper, believes he knows the recall codes if he can only get a message to the outside world. Meanwhile at the Pentagon War Room, key persons including Muffley, Turgidson and nuclear scientist and adviser, a former Nazi named Dr. Strangelove, are discussing measures to stop the attack or mitigate its blow-up into an all out nuclear war with the Soviets. Against Turgidson’s wishes, Muffley brings Soviet Ambassador Alexi de Sadesky into the War Room, and get his boss, Soviet Premier Dimitri Kisov, on the hot line to inform him of what’s going on. The Americans in the War Room are dismayed to learn that the Soviets have an as yet unannounced Doomsday Device to detonate if any of their key targets are hit. As Ripper, Mandrake and those in the War Room try and work the situation to their end goal, Major T.J. “King” Kong, one of the B-52 bomber pilots, is working on his own agenda of deploying his bomb where ever he can on enemy soil if he can’t make it to his intended target.
Trivia
Goofs / Tidbits
There is no mention of anything goofy, funny, or odd about the film Dr. Strangelove on Fresh Kernels.
Stanley-Kubrick.jpg
