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 40th
Anniversary Dr. Strangelove
(OR HOW I LEARNED
TO STOP WORRYING AND LOVE THE BOMB)
Starring:
Peter Sellers, Sterling Hayden, George C. Scott, Slim Pickins
and James Earl Jones Directed/produced/co-written by Stanley Kubrick;
co-written by Terry Southern and Peter George
Buy
it
Bluntly
speaking? Stanley Kubrick's 40-year-old satirical polital-comedy
about the end of the world is especially disturbing as
one ponders world events at present. Though
it takes a wee bit more to set forth world destruction (at least
one truly hopes) Dr. Strangelove shows how one man, a general
(Sterling Hayden), who is simply a certifiable nutter obsessed
with bodily fluids, and also just so happens to be in a position
of extreme power, manages to set into motion the literal
end of the world.
This empowered ass has his finger on the button that launches
a diabolical plan into action (so-to-speak). He
finds the hearty government loopholes - loopholes you could slip
a Hummer through - and meanders through the "security"
procedures and protocols frightfully easily frankly.
Repeat:
"It's just a movie..."
So, the "button" has been pushed, planes are on their
way to Russia and the outlook is dark. It's a helluva big brouhaha
brewing and it looks like it's mushroom clouds and lead-filled
curtains for us all...
Or
is it?
Peter
Sellers stars in three roles; he is the prozacian paced U.S. President
- the film is worth purchasing just for his "phone call"
to the Russian president. He's also a bewildered British officer
that's been shanghaied by the fore mentioned mad general - his
role here is to try to reason with the madness. And the third
role is really the crème de la crème of absurdity
as Sellers plays Dr. Stranglove. The Dr. is a bizarre Fuehrer-lovin'-Nazi
tongued/Turret's Syndrome-ish mad scientist who has a plan for
the post apocalyptic super-race that will survive. Hilarious.
Thrown
into the kettle of dark giggles is George C. Scott. Yes, Mr. Serious
practically steals the film as a prim-proper military man who
even at our darkest moment is more concerned with spying Commies,
then how to stop the pilots en route to Russia to lay their bombs.
George plays it super-straight edged and, thusly, may possibly
make you keel from laughter.
There are about
three sets in total for the whole film and the blatant model airplanes
and 'Get Smart'-like underground Presidential war room are characters
themselves. Dr. Stranglove once again proves a good script,
proper direction in both design and execution, sprinkled with
talented actors doesn't have to cost a bazillion dollars to be
good, let alone become a classic.
Kubrick's
biting satire is still quite remarkable, and genuinely funny -
in that end-of-the-world humor so popular these dayz…
Snack
recommendation: Borsht and hotdogs with peirogies and cokes.
Buy
it
DVD Features:
o Available subtitles: English, French, Korean, Thai, Chinese
(Simplified)
o Available Audio Tracks: English (Dolby Digital 5.1), newly created
from Mono (DTS 5.1), English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono), French
o "No Fighting in the War Room or: Dr. Strangelove and the
Nuclear Threat": new documentary including interviews with
Bob Woodward, Robert McNamara, Roger Ebert, and Spike Lee
o "Best Sellers: Peter Sellers Remembered"
o Interview with Robert S. McNamara, Secretary of Defense under
President Johnson
o Collectible scrapbook with original production photos and an
essay written by Roger Ebert
o Because this movie was originally shot using various aspect
ratios, the proportions of the screen image will change periodically
throughout the movie. This transfer (with its changing aspect
ratio) was approved by director Stanley Kubrick himself
o Featurette: "The Art of Stanley Kubrick: From Short Films
to Strangelove"
o Featurette: "Inside the Making of Dr. Strangelove"
o Original Split-Screen Interview with Peter Sellers and George
C. Scott
o Original advertising Gallery
o Talent Files (Stanley Kubrick, Peter Sellers, George C. Scott,
Sterling Hayden, Keenan Wynn, Slim Pickens and James Earl Jones)
o Number of discs: 2
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