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Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.

Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb
Columbia Pictures

Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb reviews


9.0

based on 11 reviews
Read critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

based on 68 votes
Read user comments
Rate this movie

FILM:

MPAA RATING: PG

Starring Peter Sellers, George C. Scott, Sterling Hayden, Keenan Wynn, Slim Pickens, Peter Bull, James Earl Jones, and Tracy Reed

Through a series of military and political accidents, a psychotic general - U.S. Air Force Commander Jack D. Ripper (Hayden) - triggers an ingenious, irrevocable scheme to attack Russia's strategic targets with nuclear bombs. The U.S. President (Sellers) and Dr. Strangelove (Sellers), a wheelchair-bound nuclear scientist who has bizarre ideas about man's future, work with the Soviet premier in a desperate effort to save the world.

GENRE(S):	War
WRITTEN BY:	Peter George (novel Red Alert, aka Two Hours to Doom) Stanley Kubrick Terry Southern
DIRECTED BY:	Stanley Kubrick
RELEASE DATE:	DVD: November 2, 2004 Video: June 2, 1988 Theatrical: January 29, 1964
RUNNING TIME:	93 minutes, B/W
ORIGIN:	USA

The film picked up four 1965 Academy Award nominations in the following categories: Best Actor (Sellers), Best Director (Kubrick), Best Writing - Adapted Screenplay, and Best Picture.

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

100

ReelViews James Berardinelli

A masterpiece... The genius of Dr. Strangelove is that it's possible to laugh -- and laugh hard -- while still recognizing the intelligence and insight behind the humor.

100

TV Guide Staff (Not Credited)

The film is a model of barely controlled hysteria in which the absurdity of hypermasculine Cold War posturing becomes devastatingly funny--and at the same time nightmarishly frightening in its accuracy.

100

Austin Chronicle Marjorie Baumgarten

More lethal than a nuclear waste dump, Kubrick's komedy at least kills us with laughter... It's one of the greatest - and undoubtably the most hilarious - antiwar statements ever put to film.

100

Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert

Seen after 30 years, Dr. Strangelove seems remarkably fresh and undated - a clear-eyed, irreverant, dangerous satire. And its willingness to follow the situation to its logical conclusion - nuclear annihilation - has a purity that today's lily-livered happy-ending technicians would probably find a way around.

100

Dallas Observer Gregory Weinkauf

Kubrick's comic gem sparkles with enduring relevance.

100

Village Voice Michael Atkinson

The hard-charging originality of the screenplay—the equivalent of turning "The Hot Zone" into a Farrelly comedy—suggests a deficient legacy of credit to Terry Southern's corner.

100

Boston Globe Ty Burr

Is ''Dr. Strangelove" Kubrick's best movie? Along with ''Paths of Glory," absolutely.

100

Chicago Tribune Michael Wilmington

This landmark movie's madcap humor and terrifying suspense remain undiminished by time.

Variety Staff (Not Credited)

George C. Scott as the fiery Pentagon general who seizes on the crisis as a means to argue for total annihilation of Russia offers a top performance, one of the best in the film. Odd as it may seem in this backdrop, he displays a fine comedy touch.

Chicago Reader Jonathan Rosenbaum

Yet some of the laughs come too easy and linger too long; for the film's message to have maximum impact, the laughter has to stick in your throat.

The New York Times Bosley Crowther

The ultimate touch of ghoulish humor is when we see the bomb actually going off, dropped on some point in Russia, and a jazzy sound track comes in with a cheerful melodic rendition of "We'll Meet Again Some Sunny Day." Somehow, to me, it isn't funny. It is malefic and sick.

The average user rating for this movie is 9.0 (out of 10) based on 68 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Jonathan R. gave it a10:
"Like fryin' chickens in the barnyard!!" I could strap in Clockwork Orange-style and watch this movie for the rest of my life.

kevin C. gave it a10:
For those of you too young to recall or to lazy research the height of the Cold War, the movie is technically very accurate (unlike Fail-Safe). In fact, the equivalent of "Attack Plan R" still exists today(and we're still flying the same bombers and tankers --scary). Those of you who miss the bone dry humor are missing out. I used to show the scene where Peter Sellers is captured to my troops, to show them how Americans are perceived, and I use quotes like -- "I don't think it's fair to condemn an entire program because of a single slip up." -- in business all the time. So, the delicious script, the fantastic camera work and lighting and the terrific characterizations make this a winner Boys, the world was a different place then; you have to slip into the millieu.

Clay T gave it a9:
Flouridation!!!

Charlie S. gave it a1:
Anyone who has given this a 10 must have no taste at all, or are followers to the point of being lemmings. I own this movie, and I have never made it all the way through because it is sooooooooo boring. Now now, before you go ape, I do enjoy most classic movies; but in the case of this pile, where is this "black comedy" everyone refers to? There is not a single funny moment in this movie. Who are you people that think this is laughable at any point? The funniest thing to me is how much people force themselves to love Kubrick. His movies are self important slop. Let the stones fly!

Josef K. gave it a10:
The greatest movie ever made. Sorry Godfather & Citizen Kane, that's just the way it has to be.

Brian H. gave it a10:
The reason I became a Kubrick fan in the first place. Who else could carry off "nucular" war as a satirical comedy. Numbr 2 on my all time favorite list, just behind Casablanca.

Jon L. gave it a10:
Freaking hilarious.

Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb Columbia Pictures

Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb
Columbia Pictures