DR. STRANGELOVE OR: HOW I LEARNED TO STOP WORRYING AND LOVE THE BOMB is Stanley Kubrick's Cold War masterpiece. Based on the novel RED ALERT by Peter George, the film is set at the height of the tensions between Russia and the United States, when all it would take to destroy the world was one push of a button. And General Jack D. Ripper (Sterling Hayden) is just the man to do it.

Convinced that the Russians have infiltrated America's "vital essence," the crazed Ripper gives the go code to the 843rd bomb wing to attack Russia, setting in motion a series of darkly hilarious vignettes involving gung-ho soldiers, wacky generals, spying Russians, drunken premiers, battles with soda machines, fights in the War Room, and the Russians' top-secret Doomsday Machine. Shot in black and white, the film has three main centers of action: one of the B-52 bombers, on which a group of loyal men know they are about to start World War III; Burpelson Air Force Base, where Group Captain Lionel Mandrake (Peter Sellers) is trying to convince everyone that Ripper has gone mad and the bombing must be stopped; and the War Room, where President Merkin Muffley (Sellers again) is trying to make peace with the Russians. The finale featuring Sellers as Dr. Strangelove is a comic gem. Hayden, George C. Scott, Slim Pickens, Keenan Wynn, and Sellers (in three roles) are especially terrific in what may be the funniest, most poignant black comedy ever made, a vicious satire on the farcical aspects of the military and the cold war.

Theatrical release: January 30, 1964.

Filmed at Shepperton Studios, England.

DR. STRANGELOVE was an original selection of the Library of Congress National Film Registry in 1989.

DR. STRANGELOVE is number 3 on the American Film Institute's list of America's 100 Funniest Movies and number 26 on the American Film Institute's list of America's 100 Greatest Movies.

The film begins with the following disclaimer: "It is the stated position of the U.S. Air Force that their safeguards would prevent the occurrence of such events as are depicted in this film. Furthermore, it should be noted that none of the characters portrayed in this film are meant to represent any real persons living or dead."

James Earl Jones makes his feature-film debut in DR. STRANGELOVE.

The part of Major King Kong, played by Slim Pickens, was originally written for John Wayne, who turned the role down. Peter Sellers was then set to play the role, but due to an accident was unable to do so. Kubrick eventually chose Pickens because the two had worked together briefly on ONE EYED JACKS.

The ending scene was originally going to contain a pie fight, but was considered too over the top by director Stanley Kubrick.

Excerpt: "I can no longer sit back and allow communist infiltration, communist indoctrination, communist subversion, and the international communist conspiracy to sap and impurify all of our precious bodily fluids."--General Jack D. Ripper (Sterling Hayden) to Group Captain Lionel Mandrake (Peter Sellers)

"Gentlemen, you can't fight in here. This is the War Room!"--President Merkin Muffley (Peter Sellers) to General Buck Turgidson (George C. Scott) and Ambassador de Sadesky (Peter Bull)

"This is preposterous. I've never approved of anything like that."--President Muffley "Our source was the New York Times."--Ambassador de Sadesky

"You're gonna have to answer to the Coca-Cola Company."--Colonel Bat Guano (Keenan Wynn) to Mandrake

DVD Features:
Note: This has been re-mastered in high-definition.

Region 1
2-Disc Set - Keep Case - Sensormatic
Anamorphic Widescreen - 1.66
Audio:
Dolby Digital 5.1 - English
DTS - English
Mono - English
(unspecified) - French
Subtitles - English, Chinese, French, Korean, Thai - Optional
Additional Product:
Slip Cover
Collectible Scrapbook - Production Stills, Essay (written by Roger Ebert)
Disc 1: Theatrical Release
Disc 2: Extras
Additional Release Material:
Documentary - 1. "No Fighting in the War Room Or: DR. STRANGELOVE and the Nuclear Threat"
2. "Best Sellers: Peter Sellers Remembered"
3. "The Art of Stanley Kubrick from Short Films to STRANGELOVE"
Interview - 1. Robert McNamara - Former U.S. Secretary of Defense
2. Peter Sellers, George C. Scott - Stars
Behind the Scenes - 1. "Inside the Making of DR. STRANGELOVE"
Text/Photo Galleries:
Original Advertising Gallery
Talent Files
Production Notes

Peter Sellers: British Actor/1925-1980
George C. Scott: American Actor/Director
Sterling Hayden: American Actor, DR. STRANGELOVE (1964)
Slim Pickens: American Character Actor
Peter Bull: British Actor
Keenan Wynn: American actor
James Earl Jones: Actor/Voice
Tracy Reed: Actress/"Dr. Strangelove"
Jack Creley: Actor/"Reincarnate"

Stanley Kubrick: American Director/Producer/Screenwriter

Stanley Kubrick: American Director/Producer/Screenwriter

Terry Southern: American Screenwriter/Novelist
Stanley Kubrick: American Director/Producer/Screenwriter
Peter George: Screenwriter

Laurie Johnson: British Composer

Anthony Harvey: British Director/Editor

"...A supremely scary classic....If DR. STRANGELOVE is the most warmly remembered of cold war artifacts, thank its pitch-black humor..." -- Critic's Choice
"...DR. STRANGELOVE is filled with great comic performances....Arguably the best political satire of the century..."
"...The film, of course, hasn't lost a thing, starting with three exceptional performances by Peter Sellers and another by underrated Sterling Hayden..."
"...A movie that shocked the world into a new death-rattle irony..."
"The blackest satire on the madness of war has grown more apt over time."
"Kubrick's atomic-powered black comedy, scripted to perfection by Terry Southern."
"Despite the despairing theme, it's still among the funniest films ever made -- and, in his three roles, Peter Sellers delivers several classic speeches that will live forever..."