Part of the 4 by Stanley Kubrick series
“If any other director had optioned Peter Bryant's 1958 novel about inadvertent nuclear conflict, it would doubtless have become an earnest Cold War thriller, wagging a sober finger at the folly of war. In fact, that was Stanley Kubrick's original plan, but halfway through a draft, the lightbulb popped over his head: a system so inflexible that one mistake could bring on Armageddon wasn't just horrifying – it was blackly hilarious.
“This gleefully lewd film is a satire and a farce. The whole plot is set in motion because Sterling Hayden's deranged general thinks Soviet agents are to blame for his impotence. From the opening footage of a B-52 refuelling to the strains of Try A Little Tenderness, to the climactic shot of Major Kong astride his nuke, it's stuffed with innuendo.
“Kubrick coaxed George C. Scott into some delirious overacting (much to the actor's annoyance) and gave Peter Sellers, in three key roles, free rein. Even 40 years on, you have to admire the boldness of Dr. Strangelove's bad taste. Kubrick found the apocalyptic logic of nuclear deterrence absurd and offensive, and he gave it the film it deserved.”- Empire Magazine