# Dr. Strangelove: Do you know it? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 11, 2011, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dr-strangelove-do-you-know-it/571056 "2011-02-11T19:51:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Jeffrey\_Lebowski](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_jeffrey_lebowski/32/215_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Jeffrey\_Lebowski](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Jeffrey_Lebowski)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2011, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dr-strangelove-do-you-know-it/571056/81 "2011-02-13T01:35:59Z")
Which 4, **GL**? Have you seen _Clockwork Orange_ or _Lolita_? _The Shining_? If I were to guess, I’d say that you’re the unwitting victim of the vast Communist conspiracy that has sapped and impurified your precious bodily fluids. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2011, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dr-strangelove-do-you-know-it/571056/82 "2011-02-13T01:52:58Z")
I’ve seen _A Clockwork Orange_, _2001 A Space Odyssey_, _The Shining_, and I was trying to think of the fourth one, but I think I was thinking of _AI_, which isn’t really his film even though he intended it to be. Though like I said, I have seen clips of _Dr Strangelove_. Just not my cup of cold sick. ---
**Author:** ![Hometownboy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/5e9695/32.png) [@Hometownboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hometownboy)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2011, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dr-strangelove-do-you-know-it/571056/83 "2011-02-13T02:04:27Z")
Then there’s the scene where Slim Pickens is reading the list of items in their [survival kits](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F5qqfsQGYus) “Shoot! A fella could have a pretty good weekend in Vegas with all that stuff.” Priceless! ---
**Author:** ![BMax](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bmax/32/4267_2.png) [@BMax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMax)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2011, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dr-strangelove-do-you-know-it/571056/84 "2011-02-13T02:34:21Z")
When my parents start quoting Glenn beck to me, I reply with General Ripper’s quotes about Fluoridated water being the most monstrous communist plot ever conceived. ---
**Author:** ![Equipoise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/equipoise/32/151_2.png) [@Equipoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Equipoise)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2011, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dr-strangelove-do-you-know-it/571056/85 "2011-02-13T02:34:53Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > I’ve seen _A Clockwork Orange_, _2001 A Space Odyssey_ Ah, well, if those two made you come away disappointed and bored, we live on different planets and will never speak the same language. **The Shining** I can kinda see your point, it’s my least-favorite Kubrick, but that’s because I was so into the book, a seriously scary book, and he made it campy and not scary at all. Kubrick’s my all-time favorite director so I’m already pre-disposed to love everything he does, even Eyes Wide Shut, but I never have been able to get into **The Shining**. Seen beginning to end, you still might like Dr. Strangelove though. It’s funny and _entertaining_. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2011, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dr-strangelove-do-you-know-it/571056/86 "2011-02-13T02:56:46Z")
> [@Rilchiam](#): > > I know. It’s still a great shot. Just an example of the real world sometimes exceeding anything a satirist can write. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2011, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dr-strangelove-do-you-know-it/571056/87 "2011-02-13T03:00:20Z")
Regarding its “classic” status, from Wiki: > [@](#): > > The film has been selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry. In 2000, readers of Total Film magazine voted it the 24th greatest comedy film of all time. It received a 100% “Fresh” rating on Rotten Tomatoes,[37] and it is ranked 20th top film of all time on TopTenReviews Movies.[38] It is ranked number 21 in the All-Time High Scores chart of Metacritic’s Video/DVD section with an average score of 96,[39] and is currently ranked the 35th greatest film of all time at the Internet Movie Database.[40] It is also listed as number 26 on Empire’s 500 Greatest Movies of All Time. > > Roger Ebert has Dr. Strangelove in his list of Great Movies,[41] saying it is “arguably the best political satire of the century.” It is also rated as the fifth greatest film in Sight & Sound’s directors’ poll – the only comedy in the top ten.[42] I think it would be a very rare “top 100 movies of all time” list that didn’t include it. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2011, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dr-strangelove-do-you-know-it/571056/88 "2011-02-13T03:05:41Z")
> [@Equipoise](#): > > Ah, well, if those two made you come away disappointed and bored, we live on different planets and will never speak the same language. **The Shining** I can kinda see your point, it’s my least-favorite Kubrick, but that’s because I was so into the book, a seriously scary book, and he made it campy and not scary at all. Kubrick’s my all-time favorite director so I’m already pre-disposed to love everything he does, even Eyes Wide Shut, but I never have been able to get into **The Shining**. Worse then **Barry Lyndon**? I saw that when it came out, but never again. Beautiful movie, but overly long and dull - but then I don’t like novels from the period for the most part. ---
**Author:** ![Equipoise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/equipoise/32/151_2.png) [@Equipoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Equipoise)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2011, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dr-strangelove-do-you-know-it/571056/89 "2011-02-13T04:12:49Z")
The word “worse” doen’t come into it. All of Kubrick’s movies are brilliant, though I haven’t seen Sparticus, which was a work for hire. I just meant that I’ve never been able to get past my love of the book to get into it. I think Barry Lyndon is amazing. Man, I would love to see that on film, on the big screen. I’ve only ever seen it on video. ---
**Author:** ![AnalogSignal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/analogsignal/32/1085_2.png) [@AnalogSignal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AnalogSignal)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2011, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dr-strangelove-do-you-know-it/571056/90 "2011-02-13T04:36:37Z")
Like it but I prefer **Fail-Safe**. I think on the SDMB, **Dr. Strangelove** is more well known than Justin Bieber. In other words, the SDMB is probably not a good place for gauging pop culture trends. ---
**Author:** ![Taomist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/53a042/32.png) [@Taomist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Taomist)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2011, 5:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dr-strangelove-do-you-know-it/571056/91 "2011-02-13T05:55:31Z")
As usual, the poll doesn’t quite include the option I’d have to use, which is… I have always known of it, but have only seen it haphazardly in the background. My opinion is that I’m a fan, I just…haven’t sat and actually watched the whole thing in one sitting. Yet. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2011, 6:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dr-strangelove-do-you-know-it/571056/92 "2011-02-13T06:50:54Z")
> [@AnalogSignal](#): > > Like it but I prefer **Fail-Safe**. I think on the SDMB, **Dr. Strangelove** is more well known than Justin Bieber. In other words, the SDMB is probably not a good place for gauging pop culture trends. We’ll see if the Bieb holds up as far into the future as the film has. ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2011, 7:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dr-strangelove-do-you-know-it/571056/93 "2011-02-13T07:56:22Z")
Never seen it (Kubrick, in general, rarely clicks with me), but I can quote several scenes (‘Precious bodily fluids!’ ‘Mein Fuhrer, I can walk!’ ‘Can’t fight in the war room.’ And not a quote, but the bomb scene I recognize instantly.)… If that’s not a sign of a classic, I don’t know what is. ---
**Author:** ![TravisFromOR](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/cc9497/32.png) [@TravisFromOR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TravisFromOR)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2011, 9:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dr-strangelove-do-you-know-it/571056/94 "2011-02-13T09:16:21Z")
> [@AnalogSignal](#): > > Like it but I prefer **Fail-Safe**. I think on the SDMB, **Dr. Strangelove** is more well known than Justin Bieber. In other words, the SDMB is probably not a good place for gauging pop culture trends. Justin WHO-ber? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![zbuzz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e19b73/32.png) [@zbuzz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zbuzz)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2011, 11:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dr-strangelove-do-you-know-it/571056/95 "2011-02-13T11:22:07Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > Though like I said, I have seen clips of _Dr Strangelove_. > > Just not my cup of cold sick. Now, look, Colonel… Bat GuanoLad, if that really is your name… ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2011, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dr-strangelove-do-you-know-it/571056/96 "2011-02-13T22:14:59Z")
> [@AnalogSignal](#): > > Like it but I prefer **Fail-Safe**. Speaking of **Fail Safe** , a book in front of Turgidson in the War Room is “Equivalent Cities in Megadeaths” - which I’ve always taken to be a comment on **FailSafe**. ---
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2011, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dr-strangelove-do-you-know-it/571056/97 "2011-02-13T23:13:01Z")
Great movie…the insane dialogue between Colonel “Bat” Guano and Group Captain Lionel Mandrake is the best: Col. Guano: “What are yo, some kind of prevert”? Mandrake: “I need to make a long distance phone call-shoot into that coke machine” Col. Guano: “OK-bt yo will have to answer to the Coca Cola company” :D:D:D ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2011, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dr-strangelove-do-you-know-it/571056/98 "2011-02-14T00:08:06Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > Speaking of **Fail Safe** , a book in front of Turgidson in the War Room is “Equivalent Cities in Megadeaths” - which I’ve always taken to be a comment on **FailSafe**. I believe the binder says “World Targets in Megadeaths” and is from a lecture in Kahn’s _On Thermonuclear War_ about the absolute morality of nuclear deterrence. Stranger ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2011, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dr-strangelove-do-you-know-it/571056/99 "2011-02-14T02:22:37Z")
> [@AnalogSignal](#): > > In other words, the SDMB is probably not a good place for gauging pop culture trends. I thought we were talking about classics, not pop culture trends. ---
**Author:** ![Equipoise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/equipoise/32/151_2.png) [@Equipoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Equipoise)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2011, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dr-strangelove-do-you-know-it/571056/100 "2011-02-14T03:49:33Z")
Yeah, a black & white movie from 1964 is hardly “pop culture.” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dr-strangelove-do-you-know-it/571056.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dr-strangelove-do-you-know-it/571056.md?page=6)