I didn't like Dr. Strangelove

C

clockwork

So, I'm relatively new with Stanley Kubrick's work. I've seen Full metal jacket, The shinning, and a clockwork orange. I like all of those movies very much. I recently saw Dr. Strangelove, because I know that movie gets a lot of praise, and i honestly didn't like it. I felt bored during most of it and just couldn't feel the plot. There really isn't anything in that movie that had my attention. It was actually hard to sit through it and it was under two hours. Anyone like that movie that could defend it and show why they love it? The black and white aspect wasn't an issue at all. Some of my favorite movies are black and white. I was just bored through it.
 
As a creative person you should put yourself into the mid-60's Cold War threat-of-imminent-destruction mindset. Growing up in the 60's I can remember "Duck and Cover" drills in grammar school, which were preparation for a nuclear attack. The news was dominated by US/USSR relations and Viet Nam. The "counter culture" (hippies, etc.) was emerging in a big way. The Cuban Missile Crisis was only a few years earlier. "Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb" was a satirical stab at the stupidity of M.A.D. - Mutual Assured Destruction.

It should be noted that "Fail-Safe" (which is a pretty good movie BTW) was also produced by Columbia Pictures in 1964. Kubrick insisted that "Dr. Strangelove" be released first. When "Fail-Safe" was released a few months later there were a few laughs in inappropriate places from those who had seen "Dr. Strangelove."


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IKqXu-5jw60

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1gXY3kuDvSU

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=djqlAT-7be4
 
I thought Dr. Strangelove was actually pretty funny so I enjoy it for the twisted comedy alone. I also like 2001 and Paths of Glory as far as I have seen from Kubrick. Full Metal Jacket was kinda of good but a few steps down. I didn't care for A Clockwork Orange at all though and thought it had problems, and find it be one of the most overrated movies, out of all the well loved classics.
 
I enjoyed Dr. Strangelove. I found parts of it absolutely hilarious, especially Peter Sellers' phone call to Russia, but the main appeal for me was the semi-plausible-yet-totally-insane situation of accidentally setting off the destruction of the world. The character Dr. Strangelove was exactly how I imagined these world leaders must be as they sit there are threaten to wipe out nations with atomic bombs. And then there were all sorts of quirky, funny gags like the dramatic zooms on the control panels in the plane, or King Kong's cowboy hat, and Buck Turgidson's character ("they'll see the big board!").
 
This thread is just another example of why I don't discuss movie tastes with anyone that I work with.

All it does is create a divide because no one can ever agree on anything!!
 
Low budget filmmakers should study Strangelove to death. It was shot on just 3 sets (and one throwaway) and incorporated stock footage. The reuse of a certain piece of music over and over again was used to brilliant effect. And, of course, Sellers in 3 roles (almost 4).
 
I guess that you need a sense of history as well. A lot of Nazi scientists came to work in the US after the fall of Germany in 1945; the most famous was Wernher von Braun, who developed the V1 and V2 rockets for Hitler. Many in the audience had lived through all that.

Dr. Strangelove is a caricature of a few of the more eccentric of these defectors, some of whom had been true fanatical Nazis.
 
Alcove Audio said:
Which character played by Peter Sellers? Mandrake, Muffley or Strangelove?
Click to expand...

As Strangelove. I know of the Germans who came over to work for the US, but the portrayal of Strangelove was just annoying.

Consider the final scene. Look at the scene below, 2 minutes in and following - that was really annoying.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jf9iTZ433zs
 
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I really enjoy Kubrick movies normally, and i've tried twice now, but couldn't get into it.

I guess I just wasn't there, man.
 
Come on. Precious bodily fluids? That is gold. :) Just that bit of satire alone is so wonderfully twisted and canny.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N1KvgtEnABY

You probably need to be fond of satire. Are you not fond of satire?

I think Alcove is on to something there too. Perhaps it requires a certain familiarity with the history, the times, and it probably helps if you're old enough (I don't know your age, though) to have lived some of that. Not saying you don't or you didn't. But seems like it might help explain your experience with or feelings for the film. In other words, in part, it might be a generational thing.


Aspiring Mogul said:
As Strangelove. I know of the Germans who came over to work for the US, but the portrayal of Strangelove was just annoying.

Consider the final scene. Look at the scene below, 2 minutes in and following - that was really annoying.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jf9iTZ433zs
Click to expand...

:lol: 2:17 to 2:38 is priceless. I wish I could get that as a one sheet poster to hang on my wall. It would make me giggle every time I looked at it.
 
Maybe it's a generational thing, but as a youngish person I think it's one of the most hilarious films out there. To me, the dark humor, satire, and just plain absurdity of a few of the characters is wonderful.

If you don't get the humor, or if the humor isn't your taste, I can see how you might find the film boring, though.
 
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