Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb
A mentally unstable American general orders a hydrogen bomb attack on the Soviet Union, triggering a path to global nuclear holocaust that a war room full of politicians and generals frantically tries to stop.
Directed by Stanley Kubrick · Comedy · War · 95 min · 1964
Trailer
Director
Stanley Kubrick
Studio
Columbia Pictures Corporation{{cite web / title=Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb / url=https://collections-search.bfi.org.uk/web/Details/ChoiceFilmWorks/150018309 / website=BFI Film & TV Database / access-date=March 15, 2026 / Hawk Films / Polaris Productions
Release
29 Jan 1964
Runtime
95 min
Genres
Comedy, War
Full Plot
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 out nuclear war with the Soviets. Against Turgidson's wishes, Muffley brings Soviet Ambassador Alexi de Sadesky into the War Room, and get his boss, Soviet Premier Dimitri Kisov, on the hot line to inform him of what's going on. The Americans in the War Room are dismayed to learn that the Soviets have an as yet unannounced Doomsday Device to detonate if any of their key targets are hit. As Ripper, Mandrake and those in the War Room try and work the situation to their end goal, Major T.J. "King" Kong, one of the B-52 bomber pilots, is working on his own agenda of deploying his bomb where ever he can on enemy soil if he can't make it to his intended target.
Cast & Characters
Peter Sellers
General Buck Turgidson, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
George C. Scott
Brigadier General Jack D. Ripper, paranoid commander of Burpelson Air Force Base, which is part of the Strategic Air Command.
Sterling Hayden
Peter Sellers as:
Group Captain Lionel Mandrake, a British RAF exchange officer
Merkin Muffley, the President of the United States
revealed by a presidential aide to General Turgidson in the War Room.[/ref]}}
Dr. Strangelove (né Merkwürdigliebe), the wheelchair-using nuclear war expert and former Nazi, who has alien hand syndrome{{Cite web |title=50 Years Later "Dr. Strangelove" Remains a Must-See Film and Humorous Reminder of Our Civilization's Fragility |url=https://fas.org/pir-pubs/50-years-later-dr-strangelove-remains-must-see-film-humorous-reminder-civilizations-fragility/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210308111157/https://fas.org/pir-pubs/50-years-later-dr-strangelove-remains-must-see-film-humorous-reminder-civilizations-fragility/ |archive-date=March 8, 2021 |access-date=August 27, 2022 |website=Federation Of American Scientists |language=en-US |quote=(...) Merkwurdichliebe. [ref]Dr. Strangelove's original native German moniker
Colonel "Bat" Guano, the Army officer who finds Mandrake and Ripper
Keenan Wynn
Mr. Staines, National Security Adviser
Jack Creley
Major T. J. "King" Kong, the B-52 bomber's commander and pilot
Slim Pickens
Soviet Ambassador Alexei de Sadeski
Peter Bull
Did You Know?
Made on an estimated budget of $1.8M, Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb has grossed $9.5M worldwide — about 5.3x its budget.
Source: TMDb API · verified 2026-08-02
Stanley Kubrick has directed 7 films in our catalog, including The Shining, 2001: A Space Odyssey.
Source: theIReview.com catalog · verified 2026-08-02
Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb
Source: Wikipedia · verified 2026-08-13
Did You Know Stanley Kubrick started with nothing but a vague idea to make a thriller about a nuclear accident that built on the widespread Cold War fear for survival.
Source: Wikipedia · verified 2026-08-13
Did You Know The film's set design was done by Ken Adam, who had already worked on several James Bond films at the time.
Source: Wikipedia · verified 2026-08-13
Did You Know The original musical score for the film was composed by Laurie Johnson, and the special effects were done by Wally Veevers.
Source: Wikipedia · verified 2026-08-13
Critical Assessment
Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb holds 8.3/10 on IMDb (549,187 votes), 98% on Rotten Tomatoes, 97/100 on Metacritic.
Not enough independent critic/audience score breakdown available.
Ratings as of August 11, 2026
Where to Watch
United States
United Kingdom
India
Streaming data from JustWatch via TMDb. Availability changes often — confirm on the provider before watching.
AI Verdict
AI-generatedBased on aggregated scores (8.3/10 on IMDb (549,187 votes), 98% on Rotten Tomatoes, 97/100 on Metacritic), this is a data-driven snapshot rather than an editorial take.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb's Rotten Tomatoes score?+
Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb holds a 98% critics' score on Rotten Tomatoes.
What is Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb's IMDb rating?+
Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb has a 8.3/10 rating on IMDb from 549,187 votes.
What is Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb's Metacritic score?+
Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb has a Metascore of 97/100 on Metacritic.
Is Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb good? What are critics saying?+
Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb holds 8.3/10 on IMDb (549,187 votes), 98% on Rotten Tomatoes, 97/100 on Metacritic.
How long is Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb?+
Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb has a runtime of 95 min.
Who directed Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb?+
Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb was directed by Stanley Kubrick.
Where can I watch Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb?+
Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb is available to stream, rent, or buy on Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home, Spectrum On Demand, Plex, Rakuten TV, Sky Store.
Fan & Critic Buzz
The public reaction to "Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb" has been overwhelmingly positive, with many praising its unique blend of satire, absurdity, and intelligence. Reviewers have noted that the film's over-the-top tone and layered humor have aged perfectly, making it a timeless classic. The movie's ability to tackle serious issues like nuclear war and the Cold War in a humorous way has also been widely praised.
Viewer Reviews (TMDb)
Stanley Kubrick's 1964 film <i>Dr. Strangelove</i> is a hilarious film about the nuclear annihilation of the human race. Its plot combines three strands that lead inevitably to this doomsday. In the first, an Air Force base commander (Sterling Hayden) goes insane and launche…
CRCulver · 9/10A U.S. bomber plane is heading for Russia. Communications are unavailable. The Commie Russians have built a doomsday device. And, according to crazy, (wheelchair-bound?), ex-Nazi scientist, Dr. Strangelove, nuclear destruction is upon us all! Thanks to this eccentric comedy, I no…
barrymost · 8/10**Sex and war in an extremely sarcastic and intelligent film.** This film is one of the best of director Stanley Kubrick's career, and is also one of the most iconic and acidic satire that cinema has ever seen. Inspired by a tense novel that was published in the same period, and…
Filipe Manuel Neto · 10/10Just as "Seven Days in May" was hitting our screens, Stanley Kubrick used a superbly over-the-top effort from Sterling Hayden to depict a rogue general who has decided to use all the checks and balances in place to defend the United States to his own mischievous advantage and lau…
CinemaSerf · 7/10Stanley Kubrick's, Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964) is the best satire of all time. The film is over 60 years old and has aged perfectly, every joke, both the layered and the brilliantly stupid, land today just as well as they did in '64…
Mland62 · 9/10
From the trailer's comments
Stanley Kubrick invented YouTube Poop. Who knew.
@sorenthefilmbrony · 129 likesi remember seeing this trailer on TCM one evening and becoming hypnotized by how odd and wonderful this film seemed to be.
@JC-zf6sx · 38 likesThat's a good trailer even by today standards in my eyes.
@TY220 · 67 likes*The Cold War seems like a long time ago.* It's easy for people today to forget how everyone obsessed about "the bomb" and what could go wrong. Of course, Kubrick, being the crazed genius he was, turned all those fears into high comedy. The cognitive dissonance when this movie ca…
@allpropertyvideosdotcomwit3524 · 9 likesAn unforgetable masterpiece! =: ) )
@laurentgriffon698 · 47 likesthis is definitly how we got quinton tarentino lol
@peskylogicchillinsky6007Futube · 17 likesvery accurate, I even heard the Plane's crew mention the ULQ-6 deception equipment, defense against am incoming enemy missile.
@cat-lw6kq · 4 likesSlim Pickens's best performance of his like
@pete3050 · 2 likes
