Analysis
Symbols and Tropes
Hero's Journey
Ever notice that every blockbuster movie has the same fundamental pieces? A hero, a journey, some conflicts to muck it all up, a reward, and the hero returning home and everybody applauding his or...
Setting
Cold War, AmericaIf you don't have a clue about what was going down in America during the Cold War era, then you'll miss the whole point of Dr. Strangelove. For the full run down, check out Shmoop'...
Point of View
Random Narrator GuyDr. Strangelove kicks off with a booming, third person male narrator voice giving us some info about rumors of a Doomsday Device. Shortly after that, Mr. Announcer Guy gives us t...
Genre
Nightmare Comedy; Satire; Thriller More than any other label, "nightmare comedy" is one that's most often used to describe Dr. Strangelove. While it's hilarious from start to finish, the movie depi...
What's Up With the Title?
Though the movie usually just goes by Dr. Strangelove, its full title is Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb. Let's see if we can figure it out. The first part's no...
What's Up With the Ending?
While most life on Earth is being exterminated under a haze of mushroom clouds, the wheelchair bound Dr. Strangelove is miraculously healed. He leaps up from his chair, gives a Nazi salute, and fam...
Shock Rating
PG-13There's no "language" in the film, and the only steamy scene is one girl in a bikini and a brief flash of a tastefully covered Playboy centerfold. Still, the whole world is obliterated in the...