“Dr Strangelove Or: How I Learned To Stop Worrying AND Love The Bomb” By Stanley Kubrick Movie Reviews Example

Shot in 1964, the black comedy “Dr Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb” by Stanley Kubrick is a political satire on the fears of the U.S. government concerning the nuclear weapons belonging to the USSR. The movie is based on the novel “Red Alert” by Peter George and conveys his main idea of derision the political conflicts resulting in massive destructions.
The film impresses the viewer with its eccentric approach and black humour – it seems like the author wants to represent the government and the United States Air Force as some crazy paranoid people who cannot associate with the authorities in power of the country. The director makes the comic effect by putting the characters who try to look serious into completely hilarious situations. The dialogues and grimaces combined with the serious events witnessed by the history make the film absolutely outstanding.
All the nonsense utterances and beliefs make the audience laugh but the irony is that they really existed (for example, the USSR adding fluoride to the water supply). The author is trying to share his idea that the main reason for the war is misunderstanding and he develops and exaggerates this theme. He uses a lot of symbols and speaking names so that it is easier for the audience to get at the meaning (for example, Jack D. Ripper, La Putta, Maj. T.J. “King” Kong). The comparison of the war with a sexual activity is another extraordinary method of humiliating the war phenomenon.
The movie proposes to reflect upon the personalities that rule the world. The society’s leaders turn out to be sick people with numerous complexes who start wars only in order to satisfy their ambitions and become more confident. The destruction and misery they cause are their personal victories because the war is a political game which happens in the office with a map in hand. Several people decide whether to ruin a city or the huge country just like a game at soldiers. It would be very funny if it were not so sad and horrible.
In spite of the fact that Kubrick used a serious book for the movie, he managed to transform the plot into a black comedy and parody. The film is basically anti-war because it shows the absurdity of the wars and proposes to everyone to rethink his attitude and position in this question. The parallel between the nuclear war and two men’s instincts (killing and sex) breaks the romanticism and patriotism – the two notions which always stand by the war propaganda.
Kubrick also questions the technological progress and how it can possibly dominate humanity – the eternal apocalyptic theme of the 60’s. The director shows it is the imperfect man who creates the machine and so, the machine whatever smart it is, can destroy the mankind when in wrong hands of a creator. With his famous reputation of a misanthrope, the director does not miss a chance to highlight the weakness of a human he is not able to overcome through centuries.
It seems like the humour might be the best way to convey the message of the film – it is easier to see the evil of the situation through the caricatures rather than serious and complicated explanations. The movie’s ending shows that the whole comedy ends in destruction – the war is a self-destructive phenomenon.
“Dr Strangelove” is the film which is able to excite even the contemporary viewer. Of course, the visual effects cannot compare with the today’s Hollywood blockbusters, but here, it is not the point. This movie is a rare example of the work of art which really appeals for the viewer to think. The director passionately shows the wrong side of the war and political conflicts and dispels an illusion of the national pride in winning the war and the evil enemy.

Works Cited

Kubrick, Stanley, dir. Dr Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb. Columbia Pictures, 1964. Film.