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

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

Comedy · War · 1964

After the insane General Jack D. Ripper initiates a nuclear strike on the Soviet Union, a war room full of politicians, generals and a Russian diplomat all frantically try to stop it.

Movie details

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

“The hot-line suspense comedy.”

1964 Comedy · War 1h 35m

Critical arithmetic

The consensus, allegedly.

IMDb

8.3 / 10

549.2K votes

Rotten Tomatoes

98 %

Tomatometer

Metacritic

97 / 100

Metascore

TMDB

8.1 / 10

Community rating

External scores via OMDb · CC BY-NC 4.0. Values normalized for display; availability varies by title.

After the insane General Jack D. Ripper initiates a nuclear strike on the Soviet Union, a war room full of politicians, generals and a Russian diplomat all frantically try to stop it.

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

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Where it lives

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Streaming availability data supplied by JustWatch.

Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

Stanley Kubrick

Written by

Stanley Kubrick · Terry Southern · Peter George

Peter Sellers

Peter Sellers

Group Capt. Lionel Mandrake / President Merkin Muffley / Dr. Strangelove

George C. Scott

George C. Scott

General 'Buck' Turgidson

Sterling Hayden

Sterling Hayden

Brigadier General Jack D. Ripper

Keenan Wynn

Keenan Wynn

Colonel Bat Guano

Slim Pickens

Slim Pickens

Major "King" Kong

Peter Bull

Peter Bull

Botschafter De Sadesky

James Earl Jones

James Earl Jones

Lt. Lothar Zogg

Court is in session

Put Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Prestige Tourist

“Form is the argument.”

Every composed frame and deliberate cut is evidence that control can be thrilling in its own right.

The prosecution The Popcorn Loyalist

“Technique in search of a pulse.”

Immaculate construction is still construction. The film may be too busy proving its craft to feel alive.