Dr. Strangelove: A Sarcastic View On The End Of The World

My grade for the movie: 9.1/10

The movie Dr Strangelove, published in 1964, was directed by the genius Stanley Kubrick. Kubrick adapted the screenplay from a recently released novel (1958), Red Alert by Peter George, but differently from the novel he decided to take a more sarcastic approach to the situation rather than a serious approach.

The movie was published mids high levels of tension between the USA and the USSR, many at the time thought that the Cold War was about to take an apocalyptic turn, since both countries were heavily armed, packed with bombs, racing towards the moon, starting to fight for Vietnam, and Cuba had been tensing the US up, leading to secret invasions and broken diplomatic relations. Kubrick smartly noticed that this feeling of hysteria, mainly from the American point of view, could be comically exaggerated and explored, since most of the speculations in relation to a “possible Russian invasion” had little to non coherence.

The movie basically tells the story of the American government trying to alert Russia that, without their consent, a bomb was going to be launched at their territory. The Russians later on respond that if any bomb falls on their territory, automatically bombs are going to be launched back, leading to the end of the world.

The most notable criticism that this movie presents is the chaotic hysteria the Americans felt in relation to a Russian invasion. Kubrick, throughout the whole movie, in an exaggerated way mocks this idea and “over-preparation” the government had in case this situation were to happen. The movie also criticises the Russians and even brings up the character “Dr Strangelove” as something as the lingering ghost of war and Nazi Germany, which in someway colminated in the events that followed to start the Cold War.

To finish off, I would like to mention that I highly recommend watching this movie. The 98% rating on Rotten Tomato is not a coincidence, its brilliant criticisms and comic intakes to the Cold War really ranks the movie high up together with many other political critical art pieces. The recently launched Netflix movie “Don't Look Up” is basically a Dr Strangelove of the 21st century with clear inspirations to the Kubrick masterpiece.