Dr. Strangelove

Ashley Kraus
Philosophy of Film
Professor Langguth
May 8, 2014

Dr. Strangelove

            If one has political side to them or like war movies, I suggest the 1964 film called “Dr. Strangelove”.  When I read about this film I thought it was going to be funnier since it is categorized as a comedy, but I did not laugh much.  I was not a big fan of this movie.  I am not one to really enjoy war movies.  However, I thought since it was a comedy it may be entertaining in some aspects which it was but not that much.  On the contrary, the director, Stanley Kubrick, did a good job portraying the point he was trying to get a across.

            This film is about a nuclear scare. Right around the same time the Cuban Missile Crisis, Kubrick made this film to show what could happen if the wrong people were in charge. In the film, United States Air Force General Jack Ripper orders a nuclear strike to destroy the U.S.S.R.  This leads to a meeting in the “War Room” including the President of the United States, his advisers, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and the Royal Air Force.  They try to get ahold of the bombers to prevent the attack that General Ripper declared without authority.  General Ripper gives the command to attack the Soviet Union due to the fact they were polluting Americans drinking water. 

            Since the Soviet Union was contaminating the drinking water of the Americans, Ripper declared the air strike.  However, this becomes a lose-lose situation in that with the Americans attacking the Soviet and the Soviet retaliating.  The Soviet has new weapons technology, “The Doomsday Machine”, which will destroy the whole world. 

            The director does an excellent job of showing what can occur during this time of history if the wrong person was in charge.  He does this in such a cinematic way that it could not be replicated or done on stage; for instance, the flying of the B-52 Bomber.  He also explains his point in a very distinct way by using three specific sets in a majority of the film; “The War Room”, inside the B-52 Bomber, and the outside the B-52 Bomber to emphasize its point of location.  With these techniques, it helps the audience to focus and see what is actually going on and the danger that could occur. 

            Although the director, Kubrick, does a good job getting his point across this is still a film that I would probably not watch again.  I am one to enjoy comedy films.  They are my favorite, but this film I did not find that funny.  It was more serious for me than anything.   However if one likes the war films then it is not a bad one to see.  This just isn’t my cup of tea type of film.