At a time when nuclear war seemed to be looming, novels about destruction (On the Beach) and bomb drills in schools augmented people's fear. The USSR vs. the US in a war that nobody can win, the military called this MAD or mutual assured destruction. This situation begged for a satire and Stanley Kubrick made it. .
A crazy US general begins an attack that should be unstoppable, even by other commanders. The US president has to deal with advisors and the Russians in an attempt to stop the misfire. Acting in this movie is top to the line. Peter Sellers plays three roles: US president, a British captain, and the insane inventor of the bomb whom the movie was named after. George C. Scott plays the President's military advisor who considers the death of a few million civilians as acceptable collateral damage. As pilot of a damaged plane, unable to receive the order to turn around, Slim Pickens is the hick, stupid farm boy, responsible for the future or absence of the world. All do superb jobs, pulling each role off as if they were born to make Dr. Strangelove movie. If the viewer has much knowledge of the cold war, arms race, and the bay of pigs scenario they will see all the hilarious points this movie makes about the pointlessness of nuclear weapons. The uneducated will most likely find very little of value. With no real action, this black comedy is only for intellectuals who have a working knowledge of the relations with nuclear power of the past and present.All points of this movie make it worthy of all scrutiny. Dr. Strangelove should be recommended to everyone. .