# 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:** 2
**Author:** ![The\_Second\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@The\_Second\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Second_Stone)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2015, 7:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-watched-dr-strangelove-for-the-first-time/713158/21 "2015-02-20T07:10:47Z")
You’re going to have to answer to the Coca-Cola company. Sorry it didn’t float your boat. It is one of the best movies ever made. And funny. But we can’t have any fighting over it, this is the war room after all. ---
**Author:** ![Don\_Draper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b2d939/32.png) [@Don\_Draper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_Draper)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2015, 7:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-watched-dr-strangelove-for-the-first-time/713158/22 "2015-02-20T07:14:36Z")
“Gentlemen! You can’t fight in here! This is the war room!” I just like to say that whenever I get a chance. It’s such a great line. 🙂 ---
**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, 11:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-watched-dr-strangelove-for-the-first-time/713158/23 "2015-02-20T11:20:28Z")
> [@Don\_Draper](#): > > “Gentlemen! You can’t fight in here! This is the war room!” > > I just like to say that whenever I get a chance. It’s such a great line. 🙂 That is a great line, but I’d heard it before. ---
**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, 11:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-watched-dr-strangelove-for-the-first-time/713158/24 "2015-02-20T11:41:07Z")
> [@ch51](#): > > 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. I’m not saying that if you’re Canadian you _can’t_ understand it, just giving outsiders an out if they don’t. We had bombers and felt kinda good about it. You had to dig Diefenbunkers. ---
**Author:** ![Charlie\_Wayne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4bbf92/32.png) [@Charlie\_Wayne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charlie_Wayne)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2015, 12:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-watched-dr-strangelove-for-the-first-time/713158/25 "2015-02-20T12:31:55Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > 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. It was very surprising to me in that it didn’t hold up very well. It was directed by the fabulous Stanley Kubrick and it was great when I first saw it in 1964. But I have to agree that if seen for the first time today, it would be very disappointing. Most of his other films have held up very well. I encourage you to check some of them out. Too bad you can’t time travel and see it back in 1964. It was really hilarious back then. ---
**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, 12:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-watched-dr-strangelove-for-the-first-time/713158/26 "2015-02-20T12:32:20Z")
ETA: in other words, when your neighbor is a nuclear superpower, you may not really want to just bask in its glow. ---
**Author:** ![Charlie\_Wayne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4bbf92/32.png) [@Charlie\_Wayne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charlie_Wayne)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2015, 12:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-watched-dr-strangelove-for-the-first-time/713158/27 "2015-02-20T12:39:43Z")
> [@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. If you enjoyed Sterling Hayden, you should see some of his B&W dramas, He was the star of some truly great dramas: The Killing (one of the truly great Stanley Kubrick films) rated 8.1 > **[The Killing (1956) ⭐ 7.9 | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0049406/?ref_=nm_flmg_act_41)** > > 1h 24m | Approved The Asphalt Jungle rated 7.9 > **[The Asphalt Jungle (1950) ⭐ 7.8 | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0042208/?ref_=nm_flmg_act_66)** > > 1h 52m | Approved ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2015, 12:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-watched-dr-strangelove-for-the-first-time/713158/28 "2015-02-20T12:45:10Z")
> [@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. Clearly _De Gustibus non disputandem est_ applies. I first stumbled across the film on late night television\*, and was hooked the instant I saw it. I thought it was compelling filmmaking, and couldn’t look away. “Yawnfest” would be the farthest thing from any description I would have applied. \*I knew _about_ it, of course, and remember the TV commercials. But I was too young when it came out to se it. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2015, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-watched-dr-strangelove-for-the-first-time/713158/29 "2015-02-20T13:25:14Z")
Sometimes heavily praised/hyped movies are disappointments on first viewing, if you’re expecting Timeless Entertainment. I felt that way about “Citizen Kane”. “Dr. Strangelove” though is a favorite movie, and even more of a gas if you see it after “Fail-Safe” (which takes itself very very seriously). “Mein Fuhrer! I can walk!!!” ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2015, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-watched-dr-strangelove-for-the-first-time/713158/30 "2015-02-20T13:29:06Z")
> [@Slithy\_Tove](#): > > ETA: in other words, when your neighbor is a nuclear superpower, you may not really want to just bask in its glow. So to speak. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2015, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-watched-dr-strangelove-for-the-first-time/713158/31 "2015-02-20T13:39:59Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > Doesn’t do a thing for me. Nothing. I thought about smirking, but couldn’t muster the energy. Have you been evaluated for clinical depression? (Said 9/10ths jokingly. I know your life has undergone some significant changes in the last few years.) ---
**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, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-watched-dr-strangelove-for-the-first-time/713158/32 "2015-02-20T13:43:14Z")
> [@Don\_Draper](#): > > “Gentlemen! You can’t fight in here! This is the war room!” > [@Leaffan](#): > > That is a great line, but I’d heard it before. ??? ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2015, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-watched-dr-strangelove-for-the-first-time/713158/33 "2015-02-20T13:45:44Z")
Haven’t seen if for a few years, but from my memory, while it’s very good and very funny, it doesn’t really look like a movie to anyone who grew up on 80s and 90s cinema. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2015, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-watched-dr-strangelove-for-the-first-time/713158/34 "2015-02-20T14:47:07Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > Clearly _De Gustibus non disputandem est_ applies… What is that - commie talk? Some sort of preversion? Speak English! ---
**Author:** ![Charlie\_Wayne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4bbf92/32.png) [@Charlie\_Wayne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charlie_Wayne)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2015, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-watched-dr-strangelove-for-the-first-time/713158/35 "2015-02-20T14:53:43Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > That is a great line, but I’d heard it before. I’m guessing there is a fair chance that if you heard it before, it was from someone who had heard it from that film - one way or another. But, that is just my guess. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2015, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-watched-dr-strangelove-for-the-first-time/713158/36 "2015-02-20T14:54:27Z")
**Leaffan** , you might give \*Matinee \*a try. It’s a more modern take on the same topics. Between being more recent and more deliberately made to appeal to a wider audience, it’s much more deliberately funny. (It’s set in southern Florida during the Cuban Missile Crisis.) ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2015, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-watched-dr-strangelove-for-the-first-time/713158/37 "2015-02-20T15:04:45Z")
Maybe if it had ended with the pie fight in the War Room, as originally scripted… ah, Stanley, you wimped out at exactly the wrong point. ---
**Author:** ![mlees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba8739/32.png) [@mlees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mlees)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2015, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-watched-dr-strangelove-for-the-first-time/713158/38 "2015-02-20T15:40:00Z")
May I float a theory? I was born in '65, and missed out on the “duck & cover” fun. To me, it seems as if the films that came out of Hollywood in the 50’s are stereotyped as being too simplistic, or jingoistic. “Stand Fast against Communism” and “Leave it to Beaver” portrayals of American values and lifestyles seemed to be the standard. I am aware that there were probably darker, more gritty examinations of America/American ideals on film from the 50’s, but those are seen as exceptions, I think. The tide began to swing in the 60’s. More and more “main stream” films, studios, and directors were putting darker, anti-establishment or counter-culture stuff in their films. While there had been portrayals of the “bumbling fool” of a bureaucrat or politician had shown up in comedies before Strangelove, those were generally understood to be individual people, and they were not supposed to be representative of the entire government. The Dr. Strangelove film broke out the broad brush, and painted the entire military-industrial complex as warmongering jingoistic fools, and the politicians and diplomats are generally portrayed as self serving opportunists. Was this “broad brush” paint job seen as more hip, fresh, & daring back then? Maybe. I don’t know, 'cause I’m a little young to know for certain. Anyway, by now, this “they’re all fools and crooks” approach is old hat, so that aspect of the comedy is going to seem boring to some, IMO. ---
**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, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-watched-dr-strangelove-for-the-first-time/713158/39 "2015-02-20T15:45:41Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > it doesn’t really look like a movie to anyone who grew up on 80s and 90s cinema. My sister, who is eight years older than I am, doesn’t like to watch B&W movies. (I showed her a photograph I made that I was rather proud of. She said, ‘Why is it black and white?’ I told her, ‘Um… Because I used black and white film.’) Someone I worked with, who is young enough to be my daughter, said she doesn’t like B&W movies. The pacing is different from modern films (though **Leaffan** is old enough to have grown up watching slower-paced films), and that puts a lot of people off. Even depictions of life in the '60s look ‘weird’ today. I was a child in the '60s, and didn’t hit the double-digits until the '70s. I remember the lights, the chrome trim on consumer items, and so on. I remember how everything looked New & Shiny & Modern. (As a child, everything _was_ new!) I remember my mom had a sun lamp, and people really did get indoor tans with them. (But we lived in San Diego! Why didn’t she just go outside?) So when General Turgidson’s secretary was tanning under one, it was a fond memory instead of some sort of weirdness. I get the feeling that people who are used to watching films made in the past 20 or 30 years either did not experience things, or do not remember things, that were ways of life in films made 50 or 60 or more years ago. I’ve seen some ‘recent’ period-piece films that seemed to be played for irony. I think people who prefer ‘recent’ films ‘get’ irony. I’m not so sure they ‘get’ satire. While satire and irony are related, they are different. Satire often uses irony to make its point. (For example, the fighting in _Dr. Strangelove_ near a sign that says ‘Peace Is Our Profession’.) For satire to work, the audience needs to understand the _Zeitgeist_ of what’s being skewered. In that way, it’s more subtle than irony. Based on recent to very recent films I’ve seen, subtlety is not as common as it once was. Filmmakers often put ‘Easter eggs’ in their films, and often do try to make subtle points; but in conversations it seems that many of these go over people’s heads. _Dr. Strangelove_ came out in 1964. So did the similarly-themed, but much more serious _Fail Safe_. As I said, I was a ‘Navy brat’ and I worked in Defense while the Cold War was still going on. Today we have ‘preppers’. In the '80s we had ‘survivalists’. The survivalists, for the most part, seemed to be convinced there would be a nuclear war. I remember seeing maps of the safest places to be in case of a nuclear war (IIRC, the Rogue River region of Oregon topped the list.) We had films like _Red Dawn_, where the U.S. was invaded by Communists. Now, I was either not alive yet, or too young to remember the height of the Cold War. Nobody was building bunkers when I was growing up. But as frightened as people were of the Soviet Union in the '80s, it seems that they were even more scared in the '50s and '60s. The possibility of nuclear war was very, very real back then. Just a few years before _Dr. Strangelove_ was released, the Soviets proved they could launch a payload into space. East and West were developing ICBMs. In 1964 the U.S. was involved in Vietnam (fighting Communists) and there was the Gulf of Tonkin incident. Some people thought this was madness and tried to point the madness out. _Fail Safe_ did this by trying to scare the pants off of people. _Dr. Strangelove, Or: How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Love The Bomb_ tried to do it with satire. And satire works better if you are experiencing (or have experienced) the things that are being lampooned. **Leaffan** is old enough to have lived in this era. On the other hand, he is in a country that, while involved in the Cold War, wasn’t _quite_ as invested in it as their neighbour to the south. **Leaffan** ’s experiences may have been different from mine and other Americans. Heck, my experiences living in San Diego until high school are very different from my SO’s experiences growing up in more rural areas. Even though she lived across the street and I’ve known her since high school, our upbringings were different. Even people who grew up in the same time period, in the same area, and so on, experience things differently. Or it might just be that **Leaffan** doesn’t like satire. He does seem to dislike most films that everyone else likes. ‘Everyone’ loved _Magnolia_ when it came out. I thought it was tedious in the extreme, and nearly walked out. _De gustibus non est disputandum_. ---
**Author:** ![Great\_Antibob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@Great\_Antibob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Great_Antibob)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2015, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-watched-dr-strangelove-for-the-first-time/713158/40 "2015-02-20T15:46:19Z")
> [@mlees](#): > > Anyway, by now, this “they’re all fools and crooks” approach is old hat, so that aspect of the comedy is going to seem boring to some, IMO. This is probably a large part of it. I recall somebody complaining about seeing _The Godfather_ for the first time recently and thinking it was just another generic (!) mafia movie. Of course, it was really the movie that largely established the modern form of the genre and its conventions (besides doing a number of cinematic things very well). It’s hard to separate the movie from the period it was made and designed to be watched in. ETA: I’m less sure about _Red Dawn_. People thought it wasn’t an especially realistic scenario, even then. But some did (and still do) enjoy the jingoistic and American exceptionalism aspects. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-watched-dr-strangelove-for-the-first-time/713158.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-watched-dr-strangelove-for-the-first-time/713158.md?page=3)