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'''''Dr. Strangelove [[Either or Title|or: How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Love The Bomb]]''''' is a 1964 [[Black Comedy]] film by [[Stanley Kubrick]]. The plot is largely lifted from the 1958 novel ''[[wikipedia:Red Alert (novel)|Red Alert]]'' by Peter George.
 
One day, General [[General Ripper|Jack D. Ripper]] (Sterling Hayden) goes mental. He orders the nuclear bombers under his command to carry out a surprise attack on the Soviet Union. He puts his entire military base in lockdownlock-down with all communications cut, ordering all radios confiscated (so that Communist infiltrators can't receive outside commands) and all troops to fire on anyone who tries to enter the base, even if they appear to be fellow Americans (because they will surely be Communists in disguise). Ripper's aide, British Group Captain Lionel Mandrake ([[Peter Sellers]]), discovers one last unconfiscated radio - playing dance music. Realizing that civilian stations wouldn't be playing dance music while the country was under attack, Mandrake confronts General Ripper. Ripper explains that after he felt "a profound feeling of emptiness" following [[This and That|"the physical act of love"]] one night, he [[Insane Troll Logic|realized]] that the [[Dirty Commies|Communists]] were trying to contaminate America's "precious bodily fluids" by means of [[Tampering with Food and Drink|fluoridation]] and that [[Idiot Ball|a preemptive strike on the Soviet Union was necessary]] [[Idiot Plot|to force America to end the Communist threat once and for all]].
 
In Washington, U.S. President Merkin Muffley ([[Peter Sellers]] again) holds a meeting in the War Room. The President's [[Genius Cripple|wheelchair-bound]], [[Nazis With Gnarly Weapons|ex-Nazi]] [[Mad Scientist|science adviser]], Dr. Strangelove (also [[Peter Sellers]]), and the Soviet ambassador both confirm that an attack on the USSR will trigger [[Doomsday Device|The Doomsday Machine]]: a computer programmed to [[Suicidal Cosmic Temper Tantrum|detonate a cobalt bomb that will kill nearly all life on Earth's surface with its radiation over the course of months, if the Soviet Union is attacked or if any attempt is made to disable the Doomsday Machine]]). The president gets on the hotline and desperately attempts to convince the drunken Soviet premier that the American attack is just a silly mistake as they attempt to call off the attack.
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* [[As You Know]]: The Premier loves surprises.
* [[Attack Pattern Alpha]]: Delivered via [[Sealed Orders]] - Wing Attack Plan R, which is removed from a whole safe full of attack plans. This was [[Truth in Television]].
* [[Beneath the Earth]]: The future of mankind [[After the End]] is to dwell in underground facilities and fallout shelters for almost a century. That an [[Adam and Eve Plot]] and eternal vigilance by those who think that "a mine-shaft gap should not be allowed".
* [[Better to Die Than Be Killed]]: Ripper's fate, although he mainly did it because he wasn't sure he could trust himself to not give up the code to call The Wing back if he was in fact given "[[Enhanced Interrogation Techniques|a pretty good working over]]."
* [[The Big Board]]: [[Trope Namer]].
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* [[Crazy Prepared]]: Ambassador [[Meaningful Name|DeSadesky]] accuses General Turgidson of trying to plant a spy camera on him, and is later shown with another spy camera. This means that either Turgidson always carries a spy camera in case of such an eventuality, or the Russian ambassador carried ''two'' spy cameras.
** The survival kit carried by the crew of ''The Leper Colony'' arguably counts. There's a season's worth of [[MacGyver]] material in there.
* [[Critical Research Failure]]: In-universe. DeSadesky explains that the Soviets built their machine because they feared a "Doomsday-gap" when they "discovered" that the Americans were building one. When the US President refutes that as a ludicrous fantasy, the ambassador replies: [[Epic Fail|our source was the ''The New York Times'']].
* [[Cut Himself Shaving]]: Guano's ironically lampshades it against Mandrake when he is informed of Ripper's death.
* [[Decapitated Army]]: "Plan R" is designed to subvert this contingency; if Washington leadership is incapacitated regional commanders have the authority to launch a counter-attack.
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* [[The Determinator]]: Major Kong and the rest of the crew of ''The Leper Colony''.
* [[Dirty Communists]]: The Russian premier is presented as a lecherous [[Vodka Drunkenski]] by his own ambassador, and the ambassador does some spy shenanigans. On the other hand only Ripper and Turgidson loathe the Russians, most of the characters treat the Soviets with pragmatism or respect.
* [[Does This Remind You of Anything?]]: The opening scene, of a B-52 re-fuellingfueling in mid-air, set to an instrumental version of "Try A Little Tenderness" no less. Interestingly, it was taken from stock footage that Kubrick simply discovered and made one of cinema's most memorable opening scenes.
* [[Doomsday Device]]
{{quote|'''Gen. Turgidson:''' "Gee, I wish we had one of them doomsday machines!"
'''Strangelove:''' "We briefly investigated making a similar machine ourselves. Based on the findings of the report, my conclusion was that this idea was not a practical deterrent ... for reasons which at this moment must be all too obvious." }}
* [[Double Vision]]
* [[Do Unto Others Before They Do Unto Us]]: Ripper claims he's giving the US the best kind of head start he can.
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* [[Fog of War]]: The Soviets are unable to detect the last B-52, ''The Leper Colony''. The Americans urge them to concentrate the search around the assigned targets but the crew switches them for targets of opportunity and fly at low altitude to escape detection.
* [[Forever War]]: Implied; the jingoist generals and advisers are planning [[After the End]] schemes to maintain the status-quo of the [[Cold War]], prevent Soviet expansionism and a "mine-shaft gap". Reinforced by the [[We Will Meet Again]] final [[Apocalyptic Montage]].
* [[Freud Was Right]]: Invoked by the film itself. A central theme of the movie is the portrayal of sexual symbolism as more than symbolism; Kubrick paraphrases Clausewitz "war is the continuation of sex by other means" without much room for interpretation. The opening refueling scene of two bombers "coupling", Mandrake attempting "preversion" with a vending machine coin return slot, the not-even-veiled [[Intercourse with You|sexual references]] that drive the madness of General Ripper and the very meaningful names of the two warmongerings (him and Turgidson) who push against the peaceful one (Merkin Muffley). Near the end there is yet another [[Mood Dissonance]] when the characters are happily planning a postnuclearpost-nuclear scenario where the male to female ratio would land them with their own [[Adam and Eve Plot|harems to repopulate the world]].
* [[Gallows Humor]]: Given that it was made against the real-life backdrop of the Cuban Missile Crisis, in which nuclear war was a genuine possibility, much of the film's humor would have qualified at the time.
* [[General Ripper]]: [[Trope Namer]], obviously.
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* [[Government Drug Enforcement]]: What [[General Ripper]] fears fluoridation has become.
* [[Herr Doctor]]: Strangelove, of course. With elements of [[Morally-Ambiguous Doctorate]].
* [[Hiroshima as a Unit of Measure]]: "Each B-52 can deliver a nuclear bomb load of 50 megatons, equal to 16 times the total explosive force of all the bombs and shells used by all the armies in [[World War II]]".
* [[Hitler Cam]]: Gen. Ripper.
* [[Hypocritical Humor]]:
** No fighting allowed in the War Room.
** Also how General Turgidson deeply respects his lover as a person and wants to make her "Mrs. Buck Turgidson." before he reminds her to say her prayers.
** SAC's motto "Peace Is Our Profession" is offhandedly highlighted by the camera angle several times; when Ripper explains how he's "preventing" [[World War III]] with his first-strike and later when the soldiers are fighting for the base.
* [[If You Know What I Mean]]: "Premier Kissov is a man of the people but he is also ''a man,'' if you know what I mean."
* [[Insane Troll Logic]]: What led Ripper to first suspect the Communists of trying to "sap and impurify all of our precious bodily fluids" through fluoridation. "A profound sense of fatigue, a feeling of emptiness followed" sex = loss of 'essence'! Fluoridation starts in 1946 = part of postwar [[Dirty Commies|commie conspiracy!]] [[Conspiracy Theorist|It all makes sense!]]
* [[Irrevocable Order]]: The entire plot, as the general puts the base on lockdownlock-down.
* [[It Got Worse]]: Anything that could go wrong in the prevention of the end of the world, does.
* [[Kubrick Stare]]: General Ripper.
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* [[Large Ham]]: George C. Scott originally gave a subtle portrayal of Colonel Turgidson. At the end of each scene Kubrick would tell him to do one take over the top to help entertain the crew. Almost the entire performance that made it into the film was made of these takes. It works. It works ''so hard''. Notably, Scott was very upset at which takes were used, as he had been assured that his 'serious' takes would be ones used.
* [[Lawful Stupid]]: "You're gonna have to answer to the Coca-Cola Company."
* [[Leitmotif]]: 'When Johnny Comes Marching Home' plays whenever Major Kong's B-52 appears. It could, knowing Kubrick, also be a musical [[Double Entendre]] on the much, ''much'' darker 'Johnny I hardly knew ya'.
** Note that it's the same tune for "The Ants Go Marching One By One". For whatever you'll make of that.
* [[Loads and Loads of Roles]]: Peter Sellers plays three roles. He was originally slated to play Major Kong, but broke his ankle during filming and [[A Worldwide Punomenon|the part was recast]]. Sellers also had trouble with the accent.
* [[Long Title]]
* [[Madness Mantra]]: "Purity Of Essence", for [[General Ripper]].
* [[Mad Scientist]]: The titular doctor is a [[Shout-Out]] to Rotwang from ''[[Metropolis]]'' and classical [[Stock Character|StockCharacters]].
* [[Malaproper]] : Bat Guano keeps on saying "preversion".
* [[Meaningful Name]]: Just about every name in the film has some sort of suggestive connotation regarding sexuality, playing on the film's theme that war is fueled by masculine sexual urges.
** General Turgidson is a horn-dog whose name refers to a "turgid" erection.
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** And President [[wikipedia:Merkin|Merkin]] [http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=muff Muffley] is a {{spoiler|pussy}}.
** Colonel "Bat" Guano is "batshit" insane. His [[Meaningful Name]] is lampshaded by Mandrake, who asks him if his name is real.
** The target for the bomber is Laputa. La puta is Spanish for "the whore". Doubles as a [[Shout-Out]] to ''[[Gulliver's Travels]]''.
** The Russian ambassador's name DeSadesky refers to the outrageous [[Marquis de Sade]], trope namer of the sexual tendency.
** Premier Kissov, piss off.
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* [[Mr. Exposition]]: General Turgidson and Doctor Strangelove are advisers and explain most of the strategical and technical details to [[The Watson|the President]], and to the audience by extension.
* [[Mutually Assured Destruction]]: Turgidson thinks it can be averted with a preemptive strike since the United States has a five-to-one missile superiority. Enforced once the Doomsday Machine comes into play as an involuntary [[Suicidal Cosmic Temper Tantrum]].
* [[A Nazi by Any Other Name]]: Non fantasy example, when Turgidson learns Strangelove changed his name (Merkwurdichliebe) he comments "a Kraut by any other name".
* [[No Celebrities Were Harmed]]:
** President Muffley has some similarities to Adlai Stevenson. Gens. Ripper and Turgidson could both be seen as caricaturing different aspects of real-life USAF General Curtis LeMay. And Strangelove himself has aspects of several real-life nuclear scientists, but his Nazi past specifically evokes Werner von Braun.
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{{quote|'''Turgidson''': The Russki talks big, but frankly, we think he's short of know-how. You can't expect ignorant peons to understand a machine like our boys. And that's not meant as an insult. We all know how much guts the average Russki's got. Look at all of them the Nazis killed off, they still wouldn't quit!}}
* [[Only Sane Man]]: Mandrake, at the base; Muffley, in the War Room; and most ironically the bomber crew (save, perhaps, for Kong).
** Arguably {{spoiler|Strangelove himself. Despite the Dead Hand Syndrome, there's a brief scene with the president demanding to know who would create a doomsday device; the camera lingers on Strangelove, calmly smoking in the shadow, the president off-screen. A few minutes from later, Strangelove casually suggests the mine shaft survival plan, a new system of government, including who lives and who dies. For all intents and purposes, he takes over the US government right then and there, in front of its actual leaders, who are oblivious.}} Nobody said the [[Only Sane Man]] has to be a good person.
** Actually, while he looks and speaks like a [[Looney Tunes]] character, everything he says is coldly rational. See his Doomsday Device analysis quoted above.
* [[Operation Blank]]: Turgidson tells the President that the bombers in Ripper's wing were airborne "as part of a special exercise we were holding called Operation Drop-Kick".
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* [[The Password Is Always Swordfish]]: Mandrake is able to guess the [[Override Command]] because Ripper's madness had it spelled all over the place.
* [[Peter Sellers]]: In three roles. He was originally going to play Major "King" Kong as well, however a broken leg prevented him from getting into and out of the B-52 set, so Slim Pickens was added to the cast.
* [[Pointless Doomsday Device]]: The Soviets activated the Doomsday Machine before they told anyone about it, eliminating the whole point of its role as a deterrent from nuclear war. Dr. Strangelove points this out, and the Soviet ambassador counters that they were saving its announcement for a special occasion (Seesee [[As You Know]] above).
* [[Poor Communication Kills]]: Mandrake has problems reaching the president to recall the bombers, he finds a [[Pay Phone]] but has not enough pocket change and a brief [[Separated by a Common Language|issue with British vs American terms]]. Finally one of the bombers cannot be recalled via the [[Override Command]] because its communication system has been destroyed. Armageddon ensues. And of course the Soviets didn't tell the world about their [[Doomsday Device]] because their premier "loves surprises".
* [[Punny Name]]
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{{quote|'''Muffley''' : You are talking about mass murder not war [...] I'm not going down in history as the greatest mass murderer since [[Adolf Hitler]].
'''Turgidson''' : Perhaps it might be better, Mr. President, if you were more concerned with the American People than with your image in the history books.
'''Muffley''' : General Turgidson, I've heard quite sufficient from you. Thank you very much .}}
* [[Soundtrack Dissonance]]: The ending montage, of course. In-universe, the playing of pleasant civilian music over the radio during a supposed nuclear attack is what clues Mandrake into Ripper's lie.
* [[Soviet Superscience]]: Subverted, Stangelove points out the Doomsday Machine is within the means of even the smallest nuclear power.
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* [[Straight Man]]: Peter Sellers plays two of these, oddly enough. His third role more than makes up for it.
* [[Strawman Political]]: President Muffley is a well-meaning but ineffectual liberal (look-up the meaning of merkin, or, for that matter, muff) and General Ripper is an insane "John Bircher" conservative.
* [[Superweapon Surprise]]: The Doomsday Machine, "as you know the Premier loves surprises" . It was meant to be announced on ''Monday''.
* [[Stupidest Thing I've Ever Heard]]: Pronounced by Major Kong during his initial incredulous reaction when the crew receives the go ahead codes for "Plan R".
* [[This Is a Work of Fiction]]: The US version has this kind of disclaimer <ref> 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.</ref>. Actually a subversion or a false reassurance since it conveys the ''stated position'' of the Air Force about the subject but not the acknowledgement of the film makers.
* [[This Is Not a Drill]]: Uttered by Ripper (exercise). Mandrake and the crew of the B-52 -except Kong- initially assume that "Plan-R" is a drill or a loyalty test.
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* [[Water Source Tampering]]: General Ripper has a paranoid belief that there is a Communist conspiracy involving water fluoridation which will lead to contamination of everyone's "precious bodily fluids".
* [[We Will Meet Again]]: [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vdytOGnUFoI The memorable final montage] plays the song of the same name over images of atomic explosions, implying the two superpowers are destined to trade blows ever after.
* [[What Happened to the Mouse?]]: A pastry table seen in one scene refers to the original ending, a colossal [[Food Fight|pie fight]], which was [[Deleted Scene|deleted]] from the film's final cut for being too farcical. The fact that a joke was made about the President being "struck down in his prime" by one of the pies didn't help its case (see [[Too Soon]] abovein the Trivia section).
* [[World Gone Mad]]: Oh yes.
** Every single group of people are various sorts of insane, incompetent, and/or incapable of focusing on the important subject at hand. Except for the bomber crew, who are all well-trained and manage to adapt to the various obstacles in their path. Too bad they're the one group that desperately needs to fail.
*** Mandrake isn't too bad either. He actually manages to guess the password and get the wing recalled {{spoiler|except for one}}.
 
{{reflist}}
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