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

Synopsis: Paranoid Brigadier General Jack D. Ripper of Burpelson Air Force Base, believing that fluoridation of the American water supply is a Soviet plot to poison the U.S. populace, is able to deploy through a back door mechanism a nuclear attack on the Soviet Union without the knowledge of his superiors, including the Chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Buck Turgidson, and President Merkin Muffley. Only Ripper knows the code to recall the B-52 bombers and he has shut down communication in and out of Burpelson as a measure to protect this attack. Ripper's executive officer, RAF Group Captain Lionel Mandrake (on exchange from Britain), who is being held at Burpelson by Ripper, believes he knows the recall codes if he can only get a message to the outside world. Meanwhile at the Pentagon War Room, key persons including Muffley, Turgidson and nuclear scientist and adviser, a former Nazi named Dr. Strangelove, are discussing measures to stop the attack or mitigate its blow-up into an all o
Genre: Comedy
Director(s): Stanley Kubrick
Production: Sony Pictures
  Nominated for 4 Oscars. Another 13 wins & 7 nominations.
 
IMDB:
8.4
Metacritic:
96
Rotten Tomatoes:
99%
PG
Year:
1964
95 min
2,485 Views


For a year, rumours had circulated

among high-level Western leaders -

- that the Soviet Union was at work

on the "ultimate weapon".

A doomsday device.

Intelligence sources traced the

site of the top-secret project -

- to the foggy wasteland below the

Arctic peaks of the Zarkov islands.

What they were building, or why

they chose such a remote place, -

- no one could say.

- General Ripper, sir.

- Group Captain Mandrake speaking.

This is General Ripper.

Do you recognize my voice?

- I do, sir. Why do you ask?

- Why do you think I ask?

I don't know. We spoke

just a moment ago on the phone.

Would I ask if you recognized

my voice unless it was important?

- No.

- Let's try to stay on the ball.

Is the wing

holding at their fail-safe points?

Yes, the confirmation just came in.

Very well.

Listen to me carefully...

The base is going on Condition Red.

I want it flashed to all sections.

Jolly good idea.

It keeps the men on their toes.

- I'm afraid this is no exercise.

- Not an exercise?

You have a right to know. It looks

like we're in a shooting war.

- Hell. Are the Russians involved?

- That's all I've been told.

My orders are to seal off this base,

and I mean to seal it tight.

I want you to transmit Plan R,

R for Robert, to the wing.

- R for Robert.

- Is it that bad?

- It looks like it's pretty hairy.

- Yes, sir. R for Robert.

Last, and possibly most important:

I want all private radios impounded.

They might be used

to contact saboteurs.

The police will have a list of all

owners. I want them all collected.

After you've done that,

report back to me.

To guard against

surprise nuclear attack, -

- America keeps a fleet of B-52

bombers airborne 24 hours a day.

Each B-52 can deliver a

nuclear bomb load of 50 megatons, -

- equal to 16 times the force

of all the bombs and shells -

- used by all the armies

in World War Two.

This force is deployed from the

Persian Gulf to the Arctic Ocean.

But they are all two hours

from their targets inside Russia.

TOP SECRE CODES:

WING ATTACK PLAN R

Maj. Kong,

you'll think this is crazy, -

- but I just got a message from base

coded Wing Attack Plan R.

R for Romeo.

Goldy,

did you say Wing Attack Plan R?

Yes, sir.

Goldy, how many times have I said

I don't want no horsing around?

That's how it decodes.

That's the stupidest thing I've ever

heard through a set of earphones.

- You're sure it's today's code?

- Yes, sir.

There's got to be something wrong.

I'm coming back.

- Get a confirmation from base.

- Yes, sir.

Is it possible it's a loyalty test,

to see who'd actually go?

Ain't nobody ever got the go-code.

We wouldn't get Plan R unless the

Russkies had clobbered Washington.

Maj. Kong,

message from base confirmed.

Well, boys, I reckon this is it.

Nuclear combat,

toe to toe with the Russkies.

Boys, I ain't much of a hand

in making speeches.

But I got a fair idea something

doggone important is going on.

I got a fair idea of the emotions

you fellas may be thinking.

You wouldn't be human if you didn't

have strong feelings on nuclear war.

But folks back home are counting

on you, and we won't let them down.

I'll tell you something else...

If this thing is half as important

as I figure it might be, -

- you'll be in line for promotions

and citations when this is over.

That goes for all of you, regardless

of your race, colour or creed.

Now we've got some flying to do!

- Buck, should I get it?

- You'll have to.

Hello...?

Gen. Turgidson is here,

but he can't come to the phone.

This is his secretary, Miss Scott.

Freddy, how are you...?

Fine, and you?

We were just catching up

on the general's paperwork.

He's tied up at the moment. I'm

afraid he can't come to the phone.

Just a minute...

General, a Col. Puntridge calling.

- Tell him to call back.

- Freddy, could you call him back?

- He says it can't wait.

- Find out what he wants.

The general is in the powder room.

Could you tell me

what it's about...?

They monitored a transmission

about eight minutes ago.

It was directed to the

It decoded as Wing Attack Plan R.

Tell him to call what's his name...

The base commander. Ripper.

The general suggests calling General

Ripper, the 843's base commander.

- All communications are dead.

- Bull! Tell him to do it himself.

Freddy, the general asks if you

can possibly try again yourself.

He's tried several times, but even

the normal phone lines are down.

Fred, what's it look like?

Are you sure it's Plan R?

What's cooking on the threat board?

Nothing at all?

I don't like the look of this, Fred.

All right,

give Elmo and Charlie a blast, -

- bump everything up

to Condition Red and stand by.

- What's up?

- Nothing...

- Where are my shorts?

- On the floor. Where are you going?

No place...

I just thought I'd mosy over

to the War Room...

- It's three in the morning!

- The Air Force never sleeps.

Buck, honey...

I'm not sleepy, either.

I know how it is, baby.

I'll tell you what you do...

You just start your countdown, -

- and old Buckie will be back

before you can say "blast-off".

Your Commie has no regard

for human life, not even his own.

And so I want to impress upon you

the need for extreme watchfulness.

The enemy may come individually

or in strength.

He may come in our uniform.

However he comes, we must stop him.

He must not enter this base.

I'm going to give you

Rate this script:3.7 / 3 votes

Stanley Kubrick

Stanley Kubrick was born in Manhattan, New York City, to Sadie Gertrude (Perveler) and Jacob Leonard Kubrick, a physician. His family were Jewish immigrants (from Austria, Romania, and Russia). Stanley was considered intelligent, despite poor grades at school. Hoping that a change of scenery would produce better academic performance, Kubrick's father sent him in 1940 to Pasadena, California, to stay with his uncle, Martin Perveler. Returning to the Bronx in 1941 for his last year of grammar school, there seemed to be little change in his attitude or his results. Hoping to find something to interest his son, Jack introduced Stanley to chess, with the desired result. Kubrick took to the game passionately, and quickly became a skilled player. Chess would become an important device for Kubrick in later years, often as a tool for dealing with recalcitrant actors, but also as an artistic motif in his films. more…

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Submitted on August 05, 2018

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