The film Dr.

Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb is set

during the cold war, and follows the efforts of the US government to avoid nuclear annihilation.

The theme displayed in the film is that the more precautions you take to win or avoid war, the

easier it is to start one. This is shown in the movie as one air force general is able to launch a first

strike nuclear attack on Russia that was designed as a retaliatory strategy. Although the movie is

shown in a comic fashion, it has elements that reflect many of the fears of the time, such as

nuclear war and a communist takeover.

The film opens at Burpelson Air Force Base, where General Jack D Ripper puts the base

on alert and then tells his executive RAF officer, Mandrake, to have the B-52 bombers patrolling

the Russian border to carry out “Wing Attack Plan R,” an order that calls for a nuclear attack

against Russia where the participating planes seal off communication with a 3-digit code so that

they cannot be called off by the enemy. Mandrake realizes that the US is not at war and

confronts Ripper, but Ripper locks him in his office and explains how the communists have used

fluoridation of water to adulterate the Americans’ “precious bodily fluids.” Due to the

countermeasures put in place to ensure the success of the plan, an unauthorized assault against

Russia by just one crazy general has become impossible to stop unless the code is acquired from

him.

At the war room, President Merkin Muffley and General Turgidson try to vainly find the

3-digit code as they brainstorm other solutions, as Turgidson explains that “Wing Attack Plan R”

is a retaliatory method against Russia should the chain of command be disrupted.. The president

calls in the Russian ambassador, Alexei de Sadeski, and arranges a call with the Soviet premier
Dimitri Kisov to warn him of the impending threat. After Sadeski and Kisov talk, Sadeski

informs the president that the Soviets have constructed a doomsday machine, an unstoppable

device that will automatically go off should the Soviet Union be attacked and wipe out all life on

the planet. It is shown that one insane man utilizing an overly precautious plan is about to end

the world.

The president sends troops to capture Ripper, but as they are about to break through the

air force base’s defenses, Ripper shoots himself. Mandrake is able to find the 3-digit code from

papers left by Ripper, and the president uses it to recall the bombers, except for one that was

damaged. Kisov tries to intercept the bomber, but the pilot, Major Kong, switches targets due to

a lack of fuel. As the president realizes that there is no stopping the bomber, he confers with the

former Nazi scientist, Dr. Strangelove, about surviving the “Doomsday Machine” by hiding in

mineshafts, and how they will defeat Russia when they come back up. The bomber drops its

hydrogen bombs, and the movie ends with the “Doomsday Machine” going off in a series of

massive nuclear explosions. All life on the planet has ended because one precautionary plan

enabled one insane general to start a nuclear holocaust.

The film Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb takes

place during the cold war in the US War Room, a US air force base, and terrain over Russia.
Although the movie is a comedy, it has relatively accurate information regarding the military in

it. This includes the portrayal of the military of America during the Cold War and the fear of

communism that was sweeping the nation.

One of the most unnerving truths in Dr. Strangelove was that when the movie was

released in 1964, it was actually possible for an army officer to launch nuclear missiles against

Russia without the authorization of the president. According to The New Yorker, “And about half

a dozen high-level American commanders were allowed to use far more powerful nuclear

weapons, without contacting the White House first, when their forces were under attack and ‘the

urgency of time and circumstances clearly does not permit a specific decision by the President,

or other person empowered to act in his stead.’” When Dr. Strangelove was released, army

officers claimed that something like what happened in the movie was impossible, but as shown

by the above quote, it was actually conceivable that one army officer could start a nuclear

holocaust.

The ability of a US air force officer to launch nuclear weapons of their own accord

wasn’t the only accurate thing about Dr. Strangelove. The different sets in the film also have

accuracy to them. According to an article by Military History Matters, “The US Air Force

provided no assistance to the film of any sort and so Kubrick and Adam had to invent what the

interior of a B-52 cockpit looked like by using technical manuals. They managed this with such

accuracy that bomber crews later thought they had somehow infiltrated an American B-52 base.”

This quote shows that not only was the subject matter of the film somewhat accurate, but the

setting as well.
 Dr. Strangelove accomplishes more than being historically accurate. The movie

accurately captures the fear of nuclear holocaust during the time through the plot of one general

ending the world. Also, the Americans fighting Americans when the president is trying to

capture General Ripper and how Ripper believed that the the communists were using fluoridation

to adulterate Americans’ “precious bodily fluids” are two examples of how Americans greatly

feared that communists had infiltrated them at the time. Not only is Dr. Strangelove a

surprisingly accurate movie, it also greatly captures the American feeling during the Cold War

and voiced everyone’s fears.

Even though the film is quite accurate, it does, like any other movie, have its fair share of

biases. For example, it displays almost everyone in the US military as crazy or stuck up, and

portrays the Russians in a similar light. These biases, however, don’t really take away from the

overall message of the film. Overall, the movie Dr. Strangelove is a surprisingly accurate movie

that accurately voices the feelings of the American public during the Cold War.

As expected of a political satire film, Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop

Worrying and Love the Bomb has many metaphors and much imagery hidden beneath its surface.

Almost every scene of the movie has some form of these in it, including a variety of messages

about the themes of the time.

 The first example of metaphors in the movie can be found in the names of many of the

characters. For example, the one who instigated the US attack, General Jack D Ripper, is

obviously named after Jack the Ripper, a legendary murderer. Also, Ripper’s chief officer,

Group Captain Mandrake from the RAF, has a name that refers to the root of a European plant

containing toxins, showing how Mandrake is trying to stop Ripper from doing something crazy.

There are many other characters with metaphoric names, but these are the two main examples.

Another example of imagery that can be found in the movie is when American troops

sent by the president to capture Ripper battle against American troops from Ripper’s base who

have been ordered to shoot anyone who approaches, including Americans who might be

disguised communists. This is a metaphor to how many Americans at the time were convinced

that they had been infiltrated by communists, and how they didn’t even trust each other. A

similar theme can be found in how the paranoid Ripper is convinced that the communists are

using fluoridation to adulterate Americans’ “precious bodily fluids.”

A final example of imagery can be found when General Ripper pulls a gun out of a golf

bag, showing that guns are like toys, a parallel to how the nuclear weapons are just part of a

game. Overall, the film Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb

contains metaphors and imagery in the names and every corner of the plot, with central messages

of fear of communism and how nuclear warfare is like a game.

 Works Cited

Military History Matters. "War on Film - Dr Strangelove." Military History, 20 Feb.

2014, www.military-history.org/articles/war-on-film-dr-strangelove.htm. Accessed 4

Mar. 2019.
Schlosser, Eric. "Almost Everything in 'Dr. Strangelove' Was True." The New Yorker, 17

Jan. 2014. The New Yorker, www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/almost-everything-in-

dr-strangelove-was-true. Accessed 4 Mar. 2019.