Dr. Strangelove

Theatrical Release Date: 1964 01 30 (USA)

UPC: 043396263659

Studio: Sony Pictures

MPAA Rating: PG   Contains:[Adult Humor, War Violence]

Summary: In 1964, with the Cuban Missile Crisis fresh in viewers' minds, the Cold War at its frostiest, and the hydrogen bomb relatively new and frightening, Stanley Kubrick dared to make a film about what could happen if the wrong person pushed the wrong button -- and played the situation for laughs. Dr. Strangelove's jet-black satire (from a script by director Stanley Kubrick, Peter George, and Terry Southern) and a host of superb comic performances (including three from Peter Sellers) have kept the film fresh and entertaining, even as its issues have become (slightly) less timely. Loaded with thermonuclear weapons, a U.S. bomber piloted by Maj. T.J. "King" Kong (Slim Pickens) is on a routine flight pattern near the Soviet Union when they receive orders to commence Wing Attack Plan R, best summarized by Maj. Kong as "Nuclear combat! Toe to toe with the Russkies!" On the ground at Burpleson Air Force Base, Group Capt. Lionel Mandrake (Peter Sellers) notices nothing on the news about America being at war. Gen. Jack D. Ripper (Sterling Hayden) calmly informs him that he gave the command to attack the Soviet Union because it was high time someone did something about fluoridation, which is sapping Americans' bodily fluids (and apparently has something to do with Ripper's sexual dysfunction). Meanwhile, President Merkin Muffley (Sellers again) meets with his top Pentagon advisors, including super-hawk Gen. Buck Turgidson (George C. Scott), who sees this as an opportunity to do something about Communism in general and Russians in particular. However, the ante is upped considerably when Soviet ambassador de Sadesky (Peter Bull) informs Muffley and his staff of the latest innovation in Soviet weapons technology: a "Doomsday Machine" that will destroy the entire world if the Russians are attacked. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Category: Comedy

Awards: Best British Film – British Academy of Film and Television Arts Best Film - Any Source – British Academy of Film and Television Arts U.S. National Film Registry – Library of Congress 100 Greatest American Movies – American Film Institute Best Director – Directors Guild of America Best Actor – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Adapted Screenplay – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Adapted Screenplay – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Adapted Screenplay – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Director – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Picture – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Director – New York Film Critics Circle Film Presented – null Film Presented – London Film Festival

Features: The Cold War: picture-in-picture and pop-up trivia track
No Fighting in the War Room Or: Dr. Strangelove and the Nuclear Threat
Inside: Dr. Strangelove Or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb
Best Sellers Or: Peter Sellers and Dr. Strangelove
The Art of Stanley Kubrick: from short films to Strangelove
An interview with Robert McNamara
Split-screen interviews with Peter Sellers and George C. Scott

Dr. Strangelove

Format: Blu-ray

Release Date: 06/16/2009

Aspect Ratio: 1.66:1 Vistavision

Audio: DTHD null, DD1 Dolby Digital Mono, DD2 Dolby Digital Stereo

Runtime: 95 Minutes

Sides: 1

Number of Discs: 1

Language(s) English,French

Subtitles: English,French

Richard Gilliam

Dr. Strangelove or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb is widely regarded as the screen's greatest satire, a film that superbly encapsulates the fear and paranoia of the Cold War. There is not a sequence in the film in which the dialogue is not quotable -- indeed, there are so many well-remembered moments that viewers and critics will differ on the best, though surely the sight of Major Kong (Slim Pickens) waving his cowboy hat as he rides the bomb into oblivion is among the most enduring images of its era. As was consistently the case in his career, director Stanley Kubrick brilliantly matches actors with their roles, from Peter Sellers' three-character performance to the screen debut of James Earl Jones, whom Kubrick had spotted in a stage play. Similarly, George C. Scott, who plays the hawkish general Buck Turgidsdon, considered Strangelove among his greatest screen achievements. Every performance is top-notch, and many Kubrick trademarks can be found in the film, from the visual style to the shift to a hand-held camera when the Air Force base is attacked to the sparse and ironic use of music. ~ Richard Gilliam, Rovi

Cast and Crew: Paul Tamarin  Actor 
Peter George  Screenwriter 
Laurie Johnson  Composer (Music Score) 
Stanley Kubrick  Director 
Stanley Kubrick  Producer 
Stanley Kubrick  Screenwriter 
Terry Southern  Screenwriter 
Peter Sellers  Actor 
Peter Sellers  Actor 
Peter Sellers  Actor 
George C. Scott  Actor 
Sterling Hayden  Actor 
Keenan Wynn  Actor 
Slim Pickens  Actor 
Peter Bull  Actor 
James Earl Jones  Actor 
Tracy Reed  Actor 
Jack Creley  Actor 
Frank Berry  Actor 
Glenn Beck  Actor 
Shane Rimmer  Actor 
Gordon Tanner  Actor 
Robert O'Neil  Actor 
Roy Stephens  Actor 
Laurence Herder  Actor 
John McCarthy  Actor 
Hal Galili  Actor 

Country: UK,USA