# 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:** 5
**Author:** ![Dale\_Sams](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/779978/32.png) [@Dale\_Sams](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dale_Sams)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2015, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-watched-dr-strangelove-for-the-first-time/713158/81 "2015-02-21T16:27:25Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > I was going to mention this as Kubrick’s joke on Fail Safe, where this concept was treated seriously. And I think the book was “Equivalent Cities in Megadeaths.” But I have been meaning to watch it again when I get the chance. > > Other great stuff, which no one has mentioned, is on the plane. Kubrick did this realistic set with no help from the Air Force. (Hardly surprising.) Slim Pickens, a great last minute choice. And the beautiful irony that the heroism and problem solving ability of the B52 crew results in the end of the world. Not to mention the constant “When Johnny Comes Marching Home Again” has you almost _rooting_ for the bomber crew. “Well boys this is it. Toe to toe nuclear combat with the Ruskies.” ---
**Author:** ![Dale\_Sams](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/779978/32.png) [@Dale\_Sams](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dale_Sams)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2015, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-watched-dr-strangelove-for-the-first-time/713158/82 "2015-02-21T16:56:44Z")
> [@Captain\_Amazing](#): > > I thought Failsafe, which I liked, was a better movie than Dr. Strangelove, which I didn’t. But part of it is that I’m not really a fan of Kubrick’s, maybe. The only films of his I liked were Spartacus and Barry Lyndon. No “Paths of Glory”? ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2015, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-watched-dr-strangelove-for-the-first-time/713158/83 "2015-02-21T17:52:49Z")
I love _Dr. Strangelove_, probably in my top 10. But I can understand not liking it after hearing too much about it in advance. I’d heard all about _This is Spinal Tap_ for years, and seen bits and pieces of it. When I finally watched the whole thing, I was underwhelmed. There’s something about seeing a great movie with no expectations, and then receiving its brilliance all in one dose. When you pick it up in dribs and drabs, it doesn’t have the same impact. > [@Dale\_Sams](#): > > Not to mention the constant “When Johnny Comes Marching Home Again” has you almost _rooting_ for the bomber crew. > > “Well boys this is it. Toe to toe nuclear combat with the Ruskies.” “Nucular” I was in downtown Boston last summer with some friends, and we found a merry-go-round. And it didn’t have the usual horses, either; this had turtles and owls and all sorts of cool critters. We decided to ride it. It being a warm day, I had a hat on. I started to wave my hat around and it dawned on me. I want a merry-go-round with two H-bombs on it. ---
**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 21, 2015, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-watched-dr-strangelove-for-the-first-time/713158/84 "2015-02-21T18:18:58Z")
I wish to apologize to everyone in this thread for posting that long list of B&W films. If I ever do that again, I will put the list in spoiler tags so that people who are interested can examine the list but people who are not interested do not have to see that. ---
**Author:** ![Knorf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/58956e/32.png) [@Knorf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knorf)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2015, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-watched-dr-strangelove-for-the-first-time/713158/85 "2015-02-21T18:20:12Z")
> [@SecretaryofEvil](#): > > This phone call [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VEB-OoUrNuk](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VEB-OoUrNuk) I mean, how does one go about explaining that one has just accidentally started a nuclear war? Just popping in to say that I love that scene—it leaves me rolling every time. And that _Dr. Strangelove_ is one of my all-time favorite movies: absolutely terrific and hilarious on multiple levels. I didn’t see it until the early 1990s, but I’ve loved it ever since. To anyone who says its humor is no longer relevant, well…you’re just wrong. But I will add that once again what we have in play here is that there is no work of art, no film, no novel, no musical composition, no anything, that is so beloved by millions that there won’t be someone on the Internet who is proud of themselves for dissing it and feels it extremely necessary to share his or her (usually, his) proud, negative opinion with the world. Seriously, we may as well post the [SDMB Top 250 Worst Films Of All Time](http://www.imdb.com/chart/top) and be done with it. _Dr. Strangelove_, I note, comes in at #49 on the list of worst movies. It’s not quite as underwhelming as _Shawshank Redemption_, apparently. I also note Metacritic’s talley that [an overwhelming majority of reviewers and movie viewers](http://www.metacritic.com/movie/dr-strangelove-or-how-i-learned-to-stop-worrying-and-love-the-bomb) didn’t like it, either. It’s just must be a very bad movie. Seems that **Leaffan** is in good company. Clearly, he has reason to be proud of his taste. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2015, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-watched-dr-strangelove-for-the-first-time/713158/86 "2015-02-21T18:26:26Z")
> [@Dale\_Sams](#): > > No “Paths of Glory”? I actually did like that one. ---
**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 21, 2015, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-watched-dr-strangelove-for-the-first-time/713158/87 "2015-02-21T18:30:11Z")
> [@Knorf](#): > > … > Seems that **Leaffan** is in good company. Clearly, he has reason to be proud of his taste. You misunderstand me entirely. At no point did I ever say. or allude to the fact that I’m proud of my dislike for the movie. I simply provided my opinion on it. I’ve opened similar threads on movies I’ve just seen for the first time: some I disliked (2001) and some I liked (Ferris Bueller). I merely offer these up for topics of discussion. ---
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2015, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-watched-dr-strangelove-for-the-first-time/713158/88 "2015-02-21T19:11:07Z")
I am sort of joshing Leaffan but: did your ex-wife not let you watch movies? ---
**Author:** ![Dale\_Sams](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/779978/32.png) [@Dale\_Sams](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dale_Sams)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2015, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-watched-dr-strangelove-for-the-first-time/713158/89 "2015-02-21T20:02:01Z")
I agree it’s not fall out of your seat hilarious. It is a black comedy\* after all. But it’s pretty damn amusing. More so because Slim Pickens is really like that and because George C. Scott wasn’t told that those over-the-top takes would be used. \*I was thinking about what makes a Black Comedy and realized my bar is impossibly high. Just being a movie with serious themes and some comedy elements doesn’t make it a black comedy. On the usual lists of such films I could only vote for Dr. Strangelove, After Hours, and Kind Hearts and Coronets. ---
**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 21, 2015, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-watched-dr-strangelove-for-the-first-time/713158/90 "2015-02-21T20:49:09Z")
> [@CarnalK](#): > > I am sort of joshing Leaffan but: did your ex-wife not let you watch movies? We never really had the time. We had two kids 18 months apart. And her taste in movies was nowhere near mine. And we had to always watch TV together and go to bed together. I never had the luxury of just popping in a movie that I might want To watch. I’m liberated now. ---
**Author:** ![FXMastermind](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fxmastermind/32/7289_2.png) [@FXMastermind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FXMastermind)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2015, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-watched-dr-strangelove-for-the-first-time/713158/91 "2015-02-21T21:00:06Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > And we had to always watch TV together and go to bed together. I heard that. Welcome to a special brand of hell. ---
**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 21, 2015, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-watched-dr-strangelove-for-the-first-time/713158/92 "2015-02-21T21:02:53Z")
> [@Dale\_Sams](#): > > Not to mention the constant “When Johnny Comes Marching Home Again” has you almost _rooting_ for the bomber crew. > > “Well boys this is it. Toe to toe nuclear combat with the Ruskies.” Good point. Kubrick picks unexpected yet amazing music for his films. But when everyone sang “We’ll Meet Again” on the last Colbert show I kept expecting the mushroom clouds. When I was in grad school, the default name for our PDP-11 batch files was guano.bat ---
**Author:** ![Stringbean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Stringbean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stringbean)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2015, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-watched-dr-strangelove-for-the-first-time/713158/93 "2015-02-21T21:05:12Z")
You don’t enter into a classic movie expecting to be “entertained.” _Dr. Strangelove_ is the type of movie I typically don’t enjoy: self-indulgent and capricious. However, it is so good I cannot pretend to deny it. It’s worth it just for Peter Sellers. People who find _Citizen Kane_ boring are the ones so absorbed in their generational zeitgeist they don’t comprehend the brilliantly innovative cinematography, structure, or sheer daring Welles conjured up to make the film. I guess they want _Transformers_… (That’s right, I’m calling you a simpleton if you think it’s a bad movie) ---
**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 21, 2015, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-watched-dr-strangelove-for-the-first-time/713158/94 "2015-02-21T22:18:20Z")
> [@Stringbean](#): > > You don’t enter into a classic movie expecting to be “entertained.” > > _Dr. Strangelove_ is the type of movie I typically don’t enjoy: self-indulgent and capricious. > > However, it is so good I cannot pretend to deny it. It’s worth it just for Peter Sellers. > > People who find _Citizen Kane_ boring are the ones so absorbed in their generational zeitgeist they don’t comprehend the brilliantly innovative cinematography, structure, or sheer daring Welles conjured up to make the film. > > I guess they want _Transformers_… > > (That’s right, I’m calling you a simpleton if you think it’s a bad movie) I liked Citizen Kane, for what it’s worth. And I especially noticed the cinematography. ---
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2015, 5:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-watched-dr-strangelove-for-the-first-time/713158/95 "2015-02-22T05:53:29Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > That is a great line, but I’d heard it before. You probably didn’t like _Hamlet_, either, because it had too many cliches. 😃 > [@E-DUB](#): > > Humor is very time-sensitive. Try watching “Stalag 17” now. The main story still works but the parts that are supposed to be funny fall flat on their face. > > Another example is one of my favorites from way back when: “The President’s Analyst”. That last one is still one of my faves (except for a few cringe-inducing things like Coburn’s line to his young girlfriend, “You’re Mrs. ME!”). > [@Leaffan](#): > > The Marx Brothers are satirical, and I love their movies though. I dunno. Shit the Three Stooges are funny to me. I don’t know how to compartmentalize all this. > > Funny to me is: > > Monty Python > Airplane! > Police Squad > \ If you like those, I guess you’re okay and you get a pass on Dr. Strangelove. 😃 But seriously, to each his own etc. ---
**Author:** ![D18](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c57346/32.png) [@D18](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D18)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2015, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-watched-dr-strangelove-for-the-first-time/713158/96 "2015-02-23T23:03:04Z")
It may be you’re just not into movies. I’m a pretty cultured guy, but just don’t like the medium. Instead of investing time that doesn’t turn out rewarding, build something, paint something, write something or whatever. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2015, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-watched-dr-strangelove-for-the-first-time/713158/97 "2015-02-24T02:22:12Z")
> [@Stringbean](#): > > You don’t enter into a classic movie expecting to be “entertained.” I sure as fuck do. Otherwise, what’s the point of watching it? ---
**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 24, 2015, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-watched-dr-strangelove-for-the-first-time/713158/98 "2015-02-24T02:44:33Z")
> [@Stringbean](#): > > People who find _Citizen Kane_ boring are the ones so absorbed in their generational zeitgeist they don’t comprehend the brilliantly innovative cinematography, structure, or sheer daring Welles conjured up to make the film. > > I guess they want _Transformers_… But if it’s Orson Welles they’re avoiding it’s an exercise in futility. ---
**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 24, 2015, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-watched-dr-strangelove-for-the-first-time/713158/99 "2015-02-24T12:44:25Z")
> [@](#): > > For anyone interested, here is a list of some of my favorite B&W films. Many of these can be classed as “Film Noir”. If you are ever in the mood for a B&W film, I hope you will enjoy some of these. I just picked some of my favorite. This list is by no means complete. > > 1941 The Maltese Falcon (Bogart) > 1942 Across The Pacific (Bogart) > 1948 The Treasure Of Sierra Madre (Bogart) > 1954 Sabrina (Bogart) > > 1947 Odd Man Out (James Mason) > 1951 The Desert Fox (James Mason) > 1952 5 Fingers (James Mason) > **1959 North By Northwest (James Mason)** > 1962 Lolita (James Mason) You musta watched the bolded Hitchcock film on a black and white TV. **North by Northwest** is in color. ---
**Author:** ![CGav8r](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/34f0e0/32.png) [@CGav8r](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CGav8r)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2015, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-watched-dr-strangelove-for-the-first-time/713158/100 "2015-02-24T14:47:06Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > You musta watched the bolded Hitchcock film on a black and white TV. **North by Northwest** is in color. Yeah, and don’t most folks associate \*North by Northwest \*with Cary Grant, not James Mason? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-watched-dr-strangelove-for-the-first-time/713158.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-watched-dr-strangelove-for-the-first-time/713158.md?page=6)