'Dr Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb' Review

Watching Stanley Kubrick's 1964 comedy, Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb, we could easily be led to believe that we were watching a piece of propaganda film trying to express the absolute shambles that the American government were in the 1960s. The film is unapologetically satirical and rips apart the idea of the American government being an organised and reliable group of people when something diverges from the plan of action that they have prepared for. With billboards boasting the phrase "Peace is our profession" in the background of a shot of generals in a gun battle, the hypocrisy of this 'profession' is put into the audience's mind, and the comical "You can't fight here, this is the war room" line shows just how unaware the President is of his words and the effects of his actions.

The film tells the story of an 'insane' general who gives a fighter plane the instructions to bomb Russian missile bases, in effect, launching their 'doomsday weapon' that will destroy all life on the planet. The story is divided into three different perspectives, we have the rogue general who is responsible for the attack, the President of the united states and high ranking generals in the US 'War Room', and the airforce members who are in one of the planes that is heading to bomb the USSR. This division makes the film tense and keeps the plot fresh, brilliantly executing a story that, had it been directed by anyone other than the legendary Kubrick, would have descended into a stagnant and monotonous mess.

Interestingly, Peter Sellers plays three characters in this film, showing a wide range of his acting abilities and proving him to be one of Hollywood's all-time legends. His performances are all entirely different, with accents being perfected and characters becoming real in the minds of the audience, he really shines through as the star of this film, constantly delivering a brilliant performance. The combination of his natural acting talent and his close work with Kubrick leads to the stand-out performance of his career.

The films general mood resembles that of the tension between the USA and USSR at the time of the film. The internalised arguments especially provide tension throughout, with each of them not seeming to trust each other, it seems that egos and selfishness override the importance of a possible nuclear war, again, going back to the satirical comedy that Kubrick masters in this feature.

The film is definitely an interesting one to watch. Perhaps the lack of amazing cinematography and camerawork that we see in Kubrick's later films such as The Shining and A Clockwork Orange means that this film asks for an audience more attentive to the story and the characters than the visual side, however, it is no less enjoyable than either of the two films listed and, if anything, the awesome atomic-bomb montage sequence at the end, played over Dame Vera Lynn's 'We'll Meet Again' makes the film worth the watch, an almost haunting ending, suggesting the constant threat of the Cold War that was still large when the film was released, and for another thirty decades.