Films/DVD Asylum

Is "Dr. Strangelove" Kubrick's masterpiece??

71.36.98.38

Mike K

I'mstarting to think so, after watching most of it again recently. Peter
Sellers and George C. Scott do masterful jobs, and Slim Pickens did a
pretty fine job too. The thing is blackly funny.

Mike

Follow Ups:

"Lolita" is as great as anything he did. nt - tinear 18:01:18 09/02/09 (1)
df
- Damning with faint praise? nt - Victor Khomenko 06:19:33 09/04/09 (0)
  .
Masterpiece is too big a word, it presumes too many things - Victor Khomenko 19:14:45 08/26/09 (8)
One of them is sense of proportion and knowing where to stop. Kubrick lost there on these counts. The out of control arm scene is so ridiculously primitive, it is capable of single handedly destroying any claim at greatness. Masters just don't make such mistakes. Throughout his career Kubrick remained the master of scenes, but not of films. His early works might be the exception to that rule.
- A satire -- as "Dr. Strangelove" is -- is the artistic equivalent of "reductio ad absurdum" in Logic... - orejones 03:56:03 08/29/09 (1)
  ...and it works best by exaggerating characters and situations up to a point close to distortion, what makes them even more recognisable...
  
  Or maybe it bites too close to your bone? Your cybermisbehaviour, and the character you portray of yourself, certainly wouldn�t be misplaced if in this film...
  
  Kubrick was a true master, and "Dr. Strangelove" is one of his masterpieces, much better than "Barry Lyndon" indeed. And it will still be alive and fresh as long as there are patrioteer kooks thumbing their hollow chests around...
  
  BF
  - RE: OH Boy! Yes it is a satire and you are the satyr of politic. - patrickU 06:03:15 08/30/09 (0)
    It suffice for you that your political vision is realized for placing Stangelove and counting it to the first rang of goodness in the film Olympia.
    Now I just saw it again after many years, and it has lost the power, partly lost, it once had.
    It belong to the Vietnam and the anti war movement, it stick too much in this " Zeitgeist " to be the film you pretend it to be.
    Now it is, like Victor said, one with good scenes, as most of SK films are.
    A much lesser work than Barry Lindon for sure.
    
    And I don�t know why you attack Victor on personal matter when it goes to a film.
    Every one is entitle to his own view.
    And mine is that Kubrick is way too much overestimate, and I had for years the highest meaning for his films.
    Not anymore, of course he is one of the greatest.
- Shakespeare had to throw a few lines to the cheap seats - late 05:58:36 08/27/09 (5)
  Strangelove is a classic. Half a century old and it still grabs people with it's vitality and it's long dark look into madness.
  Think as you wish, no ever brings up your favorite Kubrick. I can't even remember the name. He won't be remembered for it, or 2001, or any of the others.
  Strangelove has become part of the culture, not just a movie, an iconic shorthand to
  describe something inside us that defies easy explanation.
  
  Edits: 08/27/09 08/27/09
  - In fifty years no one will know what the film is about - Victor Khomenko 06:32:42 08/27/09 (4)
    That is problem with such works, as opposed to more timeless ones.
    
    Call it a classic or whatever you wish, it will join the ranks of works of art perhaps unjustly forgotten. Some great masterpieces, like 12 Chairs... taken out of their historical context become deflated balloons.
    
    The Paths of Glory, on the other hand, will stay with us, because it transcends the particular piece of history, and speaks a much more universal, HUMAN language.
    - It's already 45 years old * - Mike K 09:36:52 08/27/09 (3)
      - late is about twice as old nt - Victor Khomenko 09:44:55 08/27/09 (2)
        
        In Reply to: RE: It's already 45 years old * posted by Mike K on August 27, 2009 at 09:36:52
        
        .
        
        I am sure we will all forget about it in 5 years time... nt - late 05:51:11 08/30/09 (1)
        
        In Reply to: RE: late is about twice as old nt posted by Victor Khomenko on August 27, 2009 at 09:44:55
        
        .
        
        That's fifty years from now, buddy - Victor Khomenko 06:25:09 08/30/09 (0)
        
        In Reply to: RE: I am sure we will all forget about it in 5 years time... nt posted by late on August 30, 2009 at 05:51:11
        
        Wasn't too hard to figure out.
One must at least consider "Barry Lyndon" - dwill123 18:41:46 08/24/09 (0)
.
On my top ten list for sure. - Mossback 03:12:48 08/24/09 (0)
2001 A space Odyssy IMO the better film.
My pick from him is "A Clockwork Orange" - RGA 13:28:25 08/23/09 (1)
but Kubrick isn't limited to "one" masterpiece. 2001 and Strangelove are both in my top 10 and 20 respectively.

Oddly even the Shining is highly rewatchable and one of the better horror flicks going.
- . . . or as Mad Magazine called it, "A Crockwork Lemon" :-) [nt] - Chris from Lafayette 20:49:32 08/23/09 (0)
Dr. Strangelove is one of my alltime favorites nt - Daryl Zero 22:12:39 08/22/09 (0)
dd
My number one Kubrick is 'Paths of Glory'-the tracking shot of - powermatic 21:49:26 08/22/09 (1)
Kirk Douglas moving across 'no man's land' is jaw-dropping cinema and alone worth the price of admission, particularly for the time, and the entire film is beautifully rendered to it's rightful conclusion. But my number two is 'Dr. Strangelove', with it's delicate balance of satire-not-becoming-farce. Plus, anyone who could use the B-level talent of Sterling Hayden to huge success in (two) strong films is guaranteed genius status.

Number 3? 'Lolita'.

"dammit"
- "My number one Kubrick is 'Paths of Glory'" Easy to agree with that one - Victor Khomenko 19:26:54 08/26/09 (0)
  Perhaps Kubrick's last great film.
I think so... - musetap 19:05:36 08/22/09 (0)
Alternately followed by 2001, ACO and... The Killing as my favorites.
So much of so many of his films are brilliant, but Dr. Strangelove remains brilliant AND seamless.

�The man that hath no music in himself, Nor is not moved with concord of sweet sounds, Is fit for treasons, stratagems, and spoils; The motions of his spirit are dull as the night... Let no such man be trusted. Mark the music� - William Shakespeare

Edits: 08/22/09
For ooh's and aah's it's going to be Redmond Barry's story. * - mr grits 18:16:06 08/22/09 (1)
.
NO GRITS NO GLORY
- Yup, Barry Lyndon stays with me in a different way than his others. - mpathus 17:23:57 08/23/09 (0)
  Period drama, class struggle, impecable casting, Kubrick humor and beautiful to boot!
  
  Wow.
  
  Then there's "Lolita" - Creepy Sellers! Bizzare James Mason. Chillingly aloof Sue Lyon. Shelly Winter's best work -imo.
  
  Kubrick could just about be the quintessential director, for my generation.
Another vote for 2001 - danj 16:55:52 08/22/09 (0)
but "Dr. Strangelove" is in my top 10.
No, that would be 2001: A Space Odyssey - geoffkait 15:12:52 08/22/09 (0)
Not that Dr. Strangelove isn't a great little movie.

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