Stanley Kubrick's 'Dr. Strangelove' or How I Learned to Stop Worrying And Love The Bomb
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"Hit 'em before they hit you!"--U.S. Air Force Brigadier General, Jack D. Ripper
Jack D. Ripper believes that the Soviets are fluoridating America's water supplies to pollute the nation's 'bodily fluids.' Therefore, he sends the 3-digit 'go-code' to an American bomber patrolling Russia. But the Soviets have a secret weapon of their own called the Doomsday device that's automatically set to blow up the world in case of a nuclear attack. The only thing that can stop the U.S. bomber from triggering the Doomsday device is the 3-digit recall code. But there's 1 problem: the U.S. bomber is damaged and unable to get the recall code. Thus, the Doomsday machine is set and the world can only pray and cross its fingers that the plane runs out of fuel before reaching its target!
This '64 film by director Kubrick is a satirical look at the Cold War and those who man the 'switches.' The archetypes in this great film from Jack D. Ripper to Dr. Strangelove himself seem over-the-top until you realize that there were--and still remain in key posts-- individuals equally, if not more, loony in our government who have their finger on 'the button.' Truth is really stranger than fiction. Based on the 1958 book called Red Alert (Peter George) and a script co-written with longtime collaborator Terry Southern, 'Dr. Strangelove' is a Swiss-watch of a movie starring James Earl Jones, Keenan Wynn, George C. Scott, Sterling Hayden, and the ubiquitous Peter Sellers as Group Captain Lionel Mandrake, President Merkin Muffley, and Dr.Strangelove.
