Dr. Strangelove (40th Anniversary Two-Disc Special Edition)

Rating:
Summary: A Unique and Hilarious Social Commentary
Review: Kubrick produced, directed, and co-authored the screen play of this film, one which has lost none of its bite after almost 40 years. In that same year, Sidney Lumet's Fail Safe was also released. Both pose the same question "What if someone accidentally launched an air strike armed with thermonuclear weapons...and it could not be recalled?" However, they offer quite different answers. Credit Stanley Kramer's On the Beach (1959) with alerting the world to a possibility which seemed a probability when the Cuban Missile Crisis developed in October of 1962. In sharp contrast with Fail Safe which remains earnest but now seems somewhat stale and certainly dated, those who see Dr. Strangelove still savor the genius of Peter Sellers as he plays three major characters (President Merkin Muffley, Dr. Strangelove, and Group Captain Lionel Mandrake), joined by a surprisingly hilarious George C. Scott (General Buck Turgison) and Sterling Hayden (as psychotic General Jack D. Ripper, self-appointed defender of his nation's precious body fluids). They and other cast members create one memorable comic moment after another. The film concludes as Slim Pickens' Major T.J. ("King") Kong prepares to engage in what he calls "Nuclear combat! Toe to toe with the Russkies!" Few other film comedies have held up this well, especially after almost four decades. One final point. I am so appreciative of the DVD format which, of course, offers clearer sound and image but also of supplementary mnaterial such as the featurette: "The Art of Stanley Kubrick: From Short Films to Strangelove" and the documentary: "Inside the Making of Dr. Strangelove."

Rating:
Summary: My Favorite Kubrick Movie! Enshrine It!
Review: Now both George C. Scott and Peter Sellers are dead and if viewers haven't seen the full range of their acting powers, this film will make them fans forever. Sellers plays several roles in this brilliant, ultimate satire of the Cold War and "the bomb." He is the mad German scientist, Dr. Strangelove, who used to work for Hitler; the American President; and the soldier on the base trying to reason with its nutso commander who has set off the bomb's journey to detonation. Sellers, as the President, has marvelous phone conversations with "Dimitri," the Soviet premier, assuring him that he really likes him despite the fact that his atom bomb is about to explode in Russia. As the mad scientist, Sellers is so moved in the American War Room that he is able to finally get out of his wheelchair and salute the fuhrer! In comic justaposition is George C. Scott, who plays General Buck Turgidsin, the walking epitome of the American military establishment circa 1960s. He positively is reveling in the fact that the Americans are "accidentally" going to be bombing the hell out of the "Commies." He even graphically shows how a really great American pilot should be able to sneak right in there, batting his arms like wings to a plane to show the people in the War Room how it can be done. Scott is even dutifully outraged at points over the Commies being allowed in the American War Room and there possibly being a "Tunnel Gap" if both countries put all of their best people underground in the Post Nuclear Holocaust of earth. Sterling Hayen plays the American base commander who has gone totally nuts and sets the planes in motion to bomb Russia and his obsession over "precious bodily fluids" brings back the whole paranoid flavor of those times. Slim Pickens steals the show though by actually, physically riding atop an atom bomb with his cowboy hat on as if going to the last roundup in the sky. The late Stanley Kubrick even outdid himself when he made this fabulous film.

Rating:
Summary: Great Movie, but unnecessary release
Review: Of course this is an all-time classic movie, but I am surprised to hear all the accolades about this DVD 40th anniversary edition. Most of the DVD extras are already available in various releases. The Robert McNamara interview is definitely only worth one viewing and he is not very credible to begin with.
Sadly, this 40th Anniv. Edition has attempted to present an aspect ratio of 1.66:1, which was only achieved by cropping the top & bottom of the picture. Also, the transfer is decidedly darker than any version I have seen. This results in a loss of detail, especially in the B-52 interior shots.
I would recommend buying the Special Edition DVD release already
available. The varying aspect ratios are true to the original theatrical release and it includes most of the extras on the 40th Anniv. release. Plus, you can get it for about half the price.

Rating:
Summary: "The purity and essence of our natural fluids"
Review: Supposedly, Kubrick originally intended for this movie to be more "serious" rather than a comedy. But after about 2-3 minutes of some thinking, Kubrick finally settled for this movie to be a comedy. And Peter Sellers was originally supposed to play Major TJ "King" Kong, but the Cowboy accent was something Sellers was unsure of. So Kubrick casted Slim Pickens, but didn't tell him that this movie is a comedy. This was some lil' fun-fact trivia that I learned from first watching this movie on the Turner Classic Movies channel. Naturally, I think 90% of youse already knew this. But I found this info quite interesting, especially the first.

The Cold War years and Red Scare contributed mass fear into the American public. I wasn't born in those years, so I cannot imagine what the fear was like. With such political satires as Kubrick's "Dr. Strangelove" and "The Manchurian Candidate," one can only imagine what the viewer then felt while viewing these movies. While "The Manchurian Candidate" feared communists invading America, "Dr. Strangelove" feared nuclear holocaust... but in a humorous way.

The movie begins when a General named Jack D. Ripper (Sterling Hayden) orders an attack on Russia. Somehow, he thinks "commies" are poisoning "the purity and essence of our natural fluids." The first thought that came to mind was, "What the-??" Even the other characters are puzzled by this statement. But I managed to laugh out loud. Ripper is obsessed with protecting our "precious bodily fluids" that basically he's gone mad. After ordering the unauthorized attack on Russia, he orders the base to go on red alert and kill anyone that dares to enter. He's also convinced that commies could be in disguise and look like any soldier or any other American. The base is on red alert, it's sealed off, the planes are flying to Russia to attack (thanks to a coded message called Plan R), and all telecommunications are cut off (both base and all planes). Ripper has a British companion named Mandrake (Peter Sellers) who tries to get the General to stop the planes.

Meanwhile, in the War Room at the Pentagon, President Muffley (Sellers again) is informed of what's going on and what's gonna happen by Gen. Turgidson (George C. Scott) and a large group of aides. Seeing Scott as Gen. Patton, I typically thought of him being in serious roles. "Dr. Strangelove" proved me wrong. This was something totally unexpected. I mean, George C. Scott's character is just downright wacky and seemingly maniacal. Truly, a major surprise.

Later on, the people in the War Room are shocked to discover that once the planes release a nuclear warhead, a "Doomsday" device of some sort will go off, killing all life on Earth and radiation will gradually permeate the entire planet, which will last for 90+ years. Dr. Strangelove (Sellers once again!) is a unique character. An ex-Nazi that now works as part of the president's aides. He offers advice on what to do and has trouble controlling his right hand, which has a life of its own once we see Dr. Strangelove struggling to gain control of it (and also preventing it from strangling himself). Dr. Strangelove deep down also retains his Nazi heritage by accidentally calling the president "Mein Fuhrer" and his right arm raised in a Nazi salute.

Truly, Peter Sellers gave such great performances and it's hard to believe all three characters (Mandrake, Muggley, and Strangelove) are acted out by this lone man. He gives life to each character, which makes all three seem as if three different people acted out the roles. Seeing this movie, I'd like to see what other work Sellers has done.

I can't help but ponder that perhaps Steven Spielberg tried to make his own version of "Dr. Strangelove" with his underappreciated, slap-stick, comedic epic "1941," with John Belushi, Dan Aykroyd, and... wha-hey, Slim Pickens! Like how Kubrick's movie dealt with the fear of nuclear holocaust and communism, Spielberg's movie dealt with the fear of a pending Japanese or German attack on US soil (mass panic that erupted shortly after Pearl Harbor was attacked). It's no coincidence, right? But Spielberg was criticized for that movie. Kubrick's satire is hailed as "arguably the best political satire of the century" (Roger Ebert).

Although a comedy, it still seemed quite scary if such a "Doomsday" device existed and would wipe out mankind as we know it. Once the movie was about to begin, I knew I was in for a treat. And I wondered how Kubrick would be able to pull off a comedy. To my surprise, I ended up loving this movie. Dark and twisted humor interjected into the most frightening time of US history was probably the sigh of relief audiences back then needed... or were they? The movie as a whole is funny but also scary at the same time. Towards the end has Slim Pickens' memorable moment when he rides a nuclear warhead to his untimely demise. Are we supposed to laugh or be shocked? Once the movie ends, it's rather more of a down note once we see stock footage of nuclear blasts and mushroom clouds.

Nevertheless, I ended up loving this movie and I dare call it Kubrick's best work.

Rating:
Summary: It's the bomb
Review: Talk about nuclear proliferation -- "Dr. Strangelove" is back on DVD, making its fifth appearance in that video format's relatively short life. This "40th Anniversary Special Edition" of Stanley Kubrick's blackest of black comedies targets households bunkered for the widescreen age. The primary upgrades are the high-definition transfer (its first) and -- more dramatically -- a re-engineering into 1.66:1 anamorphic widescreen.

Aspect ratios usually don't draw attention, but "Strangelove" is a special and controversial case. The previous Columbia DVD, released in 2001 (included in Warner Bros.' "Stanley Kubrick Collection"), followed specs issued by the director. Kubrick's home-vid vision -- presumably influenced by VHS and the square TVs that still dominated in the 1990s -- was mostly full screen (1.33:1) with some slight ratio adjustments. Criterion's marvelous laserdisc of 1992 shifted between 1.66 and 1.33, again per Kubrick.

Columbia's latest thinking was to redeploy "Strangelove" in its "correct" original British theatrical widescreen ratio of 1.66, providing consistent dimensions scene-to-scene as in 1964. A direct comparison of the 2001 DVD and the new disc reveals a lot of lost visual information, some significant. The effect on compositions inside on Ken Adam's famed War Room set ranges from meaningless to dramatic when A-B'd. The transfer holds other surprises. The new version is markedly darker at the expense of imagery previously much more brightly cast. The older versions tended toward coarse, blown-out contrasts, however, and many viewers will appreciate the new more elegant and sinister look. Sony's restorers were able to exterminate a lot of the debris evident on the older DVD, even though they used materials several generations away from the mother negative (the original is long gone).

Audio options are Dolby Digital, DTS and mono, all solid choices, but don't expect much from the 40-year-old sound. (Kubrick wanted you to hear it in mono.) The 5.1 formats add some rear-channel rattle and hum from the bombers and some echoes, but the sound mostly holds its center-channel position. All that great dialogue from Kubrick and Terry Southern is crystal clear, an upgrade from the 2001 version, which sounds a bit hollow.

Rating:
Summary: Peerless comedy-satire
Review: The genius of this film is that it spans all generations in its key scenarios. Sometimes comedy masks reality by disguising the syntax in humour. For instance, the depiction of lunatic military and political leaders stands throughout history. Look at today's situation. War prosecuted in various places around the world for what reason? To enhance the business of the military-industrial complex as much as anything else. So what if thousands die? Yes, shocking but not suprising to realise that the same fruitcakes who ruled the world then, rule now. So the antidote to rule by crazies is to laugh and laugh and laugh and laugh and never stop laughing.

Rating:
Summary: "You'll have to answer to the Coca-Cola company."
Review: There is little that can be said about this film that hasn't been already. A mad brig. general (Sterling Hayden) sends his fleet of loaded B-52 bombers (one commandeered by Slim Pickens) to attack their targets inside Russia while the President (Peter Sellers) and a hardcore anti-commie general (George C. Scott) fight over an attempt to stop them amid 'statistically acceptable' losses.

That's a pretty dry summary to what is definitely one of the darkest comedies ever to come out of the Cold War, especially when you consider the time in which is was made, and one of the AFI's best 100 films.

World War III was definite possibility during the Cuban Missle Crisis in 1963. It's hard for anyone born after the fall of the Berlin Wall and the collapse of Communist Russia to fathom just how tense relations were between the U.S. and Russia back then, right through to the Reagan years. That's what makes this film both so absurd and terrifying. The comedy of Peter Sellers' scenes (as President Muffley, Dr. Strangelove and Group Captain Mandrake) set against the documentary-style assault footage of the barracaded army base and Slim Pickens/James Earl Jones-et al's straight-played cockpit scenes (plus the use of stock footage at the beginning and end of the picture) show two definitions of the absurdity of war. With characters named Turgidson, Premiere Kissoff, Col 'Bat' Guano, General Jack Ripper, Major 'King' Kong and President Merkin Muffley, there is a warped sense of humour within the madness.

Sellers' performances, along with those of Pickens, Scott, Hayden and several others are legendary in this film. You owe it to yourself to (at the very least) see this film as a rental, but you will find yourself buying it at some point after that.

Rating:
Summary: Great movie; not-so-great DVD
Review: There's little I can add to the glowing reviews of this movie that have already been posted. It really is a classic, hilarious in a very dark way, and eminently watchable 40 years after it was made. Rating the movie, as a movie, I'd give it 5 stars without hesitation.

Unfortunately, the print they used to make the DVD - I have the Special Edition, not the 40th Anniversary set - is less than perfect. There are lots of little speckles and flecks that are clearly on the print and not the result of digitizing the images. You'd think they would have either found a better print or cleaned up the one they used; it's not hard to do cleanup on a black-and-white print.

That said, the photography is often great. The close-ups of Sterling Hayden are masterful, and the War Room appears totally real. The only place where it's obvious that they're using composite shots is when you see the B-52 flying over the Arctic landscape.

So, while I love this movie, I have to dock it a point for the poor print. If I could give this DVD 4.5 stars I would, but there's no provision for that.

Rating:
Summary: Stop the madness!
Review: This film is one of my all-time favorites. This DVD, though, is representative of the big scam in media marketing and in the DVD industry in particular. That is, release one edition, and then, one or two years later, release a new edition with like 3 more extra features, call it the "Super-Mega-Ultra-Wonderful-Incredible Edition" and make everyone go out and buy it again. How many editions of Dr. Strangelove are there already? Now there's a 2-disc anniversary edition, which I guess trumps this edition, which is the one that I have. So if you are considering purchasing this film, I guess it's just a question of how much you want to spend, for how many extra features.