Benad's Web Site

This is part 5 of 12 of my retrospective of Stanley Kubrick’s career.

"Peace is our profession".

So I watched "Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worring and Love the Bomb", but this time on my new Blu-ray set. The image quality didn't gain much, and I selected the stereo track rather than the overkill 5.1 HD audio. So, about the movie itself.

Based on a slightly paranoid "what if" book "Red Alert" about nuclear armement in the 60s, this is a dark yet somewhat realistic movie about the absurdity of the nuclear race during the cold war. And the comedy works both in making us laugh and think.

As usual, Kubrick's sets and costumes are incredibly intricate and realistic. As with Paths of Glory, the small-scale battle scenes are intense and have excellent pacing. Peter Sellers' 3 roles are strikingly different and riveting. Also, there's even the appearance of a young James Erl Jones. The movie ended up being quite influential. The idea of a "war room" actually came from that movie.

So, yes, a short dark comedy that all of us can enjoy in the calm 60 years later.

Published on May 6, 2012 at 21:14 EDT

Older post: AirPlay Alternatives

Newer post: Instacast's Extortion