# I just watched Dr. Strangelove for the first time **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 20, 2015, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-watched-dr-strangelove-for-the-first-time/713158 "2015-02-20T02:42:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2015, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-watched-dr-strangelove-for-the-first-time/713158/1 "2015-02-20T02:42:55Z")
And I was underwhelmed. I’d heard so much about this movie, and Peter Sellers was great, but what a disappointing film. George C. Scott was good too. I didn’t like the movie though. It wasn’t funny. It wasn’t anything. ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2015, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-watched-dr-strangelove-for-the-first-time/713158/2 "2015-02-20T02:47:16Z")
Duly noted. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2015, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-watched-dr-strangelove-for-the-first-time/713158/3 "2015-02-20T02:51:38Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > I didn’t like the movie though. It wasn’t funny. It wasn’t anything. It was hilarious. Were you around for the Cold War? ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2015, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-watched-dr-strangelove-for-the-first-time/713158/4 "2015-02-20T02:53:49Z")
you had to be there. it came out during the cold war. there was fear of real nuclear war. there were real close calls. it was a funny release in a potentially troubling time. ---
**Author:** ![Kansas\_Beekeeper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c37758/32.png) [@Kansas\_Beekeeper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kansas_Beekeeper)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2015, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-watched-dr-strangelove-for-the-first-time/713158/5 "2015-02-20T02:56:23Z")
It’s dry humor, but very funny if you were around for the cold war. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2015, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-watched-dr-strangelove-for-the-first-time/713158/6 "2015-02-20T02:57:05Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > It was hilarious. > > Were you around for the Cold War? I suppose. I was born in '62. I didn’t find the movie entertaining at all. Although I recognize the talent in Peter Sellers and George C. Scott. Yawnfest though. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2015, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-watched-dr-strangelove-for-the-first-time/713158/7 "2015-02-20T03:04:48Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > I suppose. I was born in '62. > > I didn’t find the movie entertaining at all. Huh. There are reasons I like it. For example, I grew up in a military family, worked on an Air Force Base in the '80s, remember the '60s when I was little, etc. Plus I like satire. Different tastes, I guess. (I’ve noticed our taste in films are… somewhat different. 😛 😉 ) ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2015, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-watched-dr-strangelove-for-the-first-time/713158/8 "2015-02-20T03:06:51Z")
that’s explains it. your short attention span caused you to miss much of the dark humor. it was dark humor and fully referenced to the time it was in. even if you later watched it as a teen or adult you might not have good detailed recall of the current history of the times it was written in. ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2015, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-watched-dr-strangelove-for-the-first-time/713158/9 "2015-02-20T03:15:52Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > I suppose. I was born in '62. > > I didn’t find the movie entertaining at all. Although I recognize the talent in Peter Sellers and George C. Scott. > > Yawnfest though. That’s interesting. I was born in the same year. I remember seeing the movie in college, in the early 80s. Maybe it was the college atmosphere, maybe it was the fact that it was the height of the Cold War, but I found it hilarious. Practically everything Peter Sellers and Sterling Hayden say are laugh-out-loud funny. But, you know, opinions and all that. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2015, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-watched-dr-strangelove-for-the-first-time/713158/10 "2015-02-20T03:19:31Z")
I think my laughometer is broken. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2015, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-watched-dr-strangelove-for-the-first-time/713158/11 "2015-02-20T04:09:13Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > I was born in '62. Well, there’s this other movie… ---
**Author:** ![Max\_the\_Immortal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6de8d8/32.png) [@Max\_the\_Immortal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_the_Immortal)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2015, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-watched-dr-strangelove-for-the-first-time/713158/12 "2015-02-20T04:17:19Z")
I’m starting to think that Kubrick’s work in general doesn’t “keep”. It’s always so bound up in the time when it was made. It lacks the timeless quality that truly great art has. ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2015, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-watched-dr-strangelove-for-the-first-time/713158/13 "2015-02-20T04:31:16Z")
It was the weird over the top characters played straightforwardly that captured my enjoyment. Not for everyone even then. Seller’s RAF character was the only “normal” person in the film, IMHO. Also, you can recognize talent without enjoying it, just like the OP. His mileage varied on the humor or entertainment quality of the film. Personally, I don’t like gladiator movies. I’ll never be over Rancho Grande. ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2015, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-watched-dr-strangelove-for-the-first-time/713158/14 "2015-02-20T04:46:38Z")
As a Canadian, not only are you watching DS out of its time, but outside its culture. It’s American self-satire. I’m sure the Cameroonians have an apocalypse myth and could devise an image of a stereotypical Cameroonian experiencing it, which wouldn’t resonate with me the same way I watch Slim Pickens riding the bomb and “get” it. That image says everything: America was incredibly powerful then, and we were going to behave like Americans and fuck it all up. Even before Vietnam that was understood. OTOH, where a non-American watches that scene in disgust, I also love how he goes out in style. You could play it as a Thug Life Vine and that would still be understood today. ---
**Author:** ![Hail\_Ants](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/dc4da7/32.png) [@Hail\_Ants](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hail_Ants)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2015, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-watched-dr-strangelove-for-the-first-time/713158/15 "2015-02-20T05:01:21Z")
> [@suranyi](#): > > That’s interesting. I was born in the same year. I remember seeing the movie in college, in the early 80s. Maybe it was the college atmosphere, maybe it was the fact that it was the height of the Cold War, but I found it hilarious. > > Practically everything Peter Sellers and Sterling Hayden say are laugh-out-loud funny. > > But, you know, opinions and all that. Back in the 90s I used to sample great lines from videotapes of films and save them as WAV files (still have most of them). I started to do _Dr. Strangelove_, but then suddenly realized _“I’m going to have to sample the whole damn movie!”_ And I was born in '65 and don’t really remember caring too much about the Cold War. And when I first saw the film in my early teens I didn’t really ‘get’ it and didn’t laugh much. Once I got older however, I recognized it as the funniest film ever made. Take from that what you will… 😃 > [@Max\_the\_Immortal](#): > > I’m starting to think that Kubrick’s work in general doesn’t “keep”. It’s always so bound up in the time when it was made. It lacks the timeless quality that truly great art has. I could not \*\*DISAGREE \*\*more with this statement. Kubrick is to film what Shakespeare is to literature. > [@AncientHumanoid](#): > > It was the weird over the top characters played straightforwardly that captured my enjoyment. Not for everyone even then. Seller’s RAF character was the only “normal” person in the film, IMHO. Funniest moment in the film is after Mandrake finds the radio playing music and realizes there can’t be a war happening and is initially unbelievably relieved to report this to Gen Ripper. And when Ripper sternly replies, “Mandrake, the wing will not be recalled!”, Peter Sellers, as the ultimate stuffy, unflappable, stiff-upper-lip British officer just replies, “Well, if you don’t mind me saying so sir, that’s, well, a rather odd way of looking at it. I mean, if the wing is not to be recalled, I…” And then it finally dawns on him that Ripper has gone off his nut, and is about to blow up the whole world, all he says is a calm resignation of, “ohhhhh…” If you don’t get why that is so funny, forget seeing the movie’s comedic greatness. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2015, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-watched-dr-strangelove-for-the-first-time/713158/16 "2015-02-20T05:14:08Z")
I’m a relatively young '74 kid, and it’s one of my favorite movies. Different tastes and all. ---
**Author:** ![ch51](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ch51/32/3111_2.png) [@ch51](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ch51)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2015, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-watched-dr-strangelove-for-the-first-time/713158/17 "2015-02-20T05:38:08Z")
As a Canadian I see the humour and do find it funny - so I’m not sure that “out of its time, outside its culture” arguement really holds water. ---
**Author:** ![buddha\_david](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ee7513/32.png) [@buddha\_david](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buddha_david)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2015, 5:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-watched-dr-strangelove-for-the-first-time/713158/18 "2015-02-20T05:50:11Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > I think my laughometer is broken. Well, at least admit the movie has [the funniest phone conversation in film history.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FaPs8OXDrrI) But seriously…has anyone _ever_ started a thread saying, **“I just saw [old classic movie] for the first time and thought it was brilliant!”** It seems like everyone who watches old, critically-acclaimed classics ends up disappointed. (For what it’s worth, I felt the same way about _Citizen Kane_ – okay movie, but nothing all that special.) ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2015, 5:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-watched-dr-strangelove-for-the-first-time/713158/19 "2015-02-20T05:58:29Z")
> [@buddha\_david](#): > > Well, at least admit the movie has [the funniest phone conversation in film history.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FaPs8OXDrrI) > > But seriously…has anyone _ever_ started a thread saying, **“I just saw [old classic movie] for the first time and thought it was brilliant!”** It seems like everyone who watches old, critically-acclaimed classics ends up disappointed. (For what it’s worth, I felt the same way about _Citizen Kane_ – okay movie, but nothing all that special.) Doesn’t do a thing for me. Nothing. I thought about smirking, but couldn’t muster the energy. ---
**Author:** ![Strainger](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/strainger/32/244_2.png) [@Strainger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Strainger)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2015, 6:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-watched-dr-strangelove-for-the-first-time/713158/20 "2015-02-20T06:41:13Z")
We get it. You don’t like movies that other people like. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-watched-dr-strangelove-for-the-first-time/713158.md?page=2)