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 her swag? Yeah, scholar Joseph Campbell noticed first—in 1949. He wrote The Hero with a Thousand Faces, in which he outlined the 17 stages of a mythological hero's journey.

About half a century later, Christopher Vogler condensed those stages down to 12 in an attempt to show Hollywood how every story ever written should—and, uh, does—follow Campbell's pattern. We're working with those 12 stages, so take a look. (P.S. Want more? We have an entire Online Course devoted to the hero's journey.)

Dr. Strangelove doesn't really have a clear "hero" or protagonist. They're all a bit nuts. The closest we come is probably President Merkin Muffley, who we follow for most of the movie as he tries to save the world.

Ordinary World

We don't really see this for the President as we meet him in crisis mode. But we assume the President's ordinary world consists of putting out smaller fires than this one.

Call To Adventure

General Turgidson lays out the crisis for Muffley.

Refusal Of The Call

The President doesn't refuse to try and fix situation. (He'd be a pretty crap president if he did.) However, Muffley does refuse Turgidson's suggestion that they preemptively annihilate the U.S.S.R.

Meeting The Mentor

Dr. Strangelove, the Soviet Ambassador, General Turgidson, and a whole room of advisors all offer advice and insight on how to deal with the situation.

Crossing The Threshold

The President orders troops to attack Ripper's base and gives Premier Kissov permission to shoot down American planes.

Tests, Allies, Enemies

The President deals with his ridiculous advisors and the Soviets. Things seem a lot better when Mandrake gets the recall code to the president, and Muffley turns back most of the bombers.

Approach To The Inmost Cave

Things get tense when everybody figures out there's a bomber missing.

Ordeal

The president realizes that there's one rogue bomber still in the air and he's powerless to do anything about it.

Reward (Seizing The Sword)

The President lost, so there's no real reward. He seems pretty bummed that the world has ended on his watch.

The Road Back

There's no returning to the Ordinary World since it's been incinerated. However, Strangelove does lay out a plan for the human race that involves people living at the bottom of mineshafts.

Resurrection

The resurrection is experienced by Dr. Strangelove, who is miraculously able to walk again as he contemplates the massive devastation.

Return With The Elixir

This doesn't happen. Nobody really learns a lesson. Things just keep going on in the same senseless cycle.

Let's see how the Hero's Journey works for Major T.J. "King" Kong, who (while being a nice guy) ends up being an antagonist when his mission ends up kinda destroying the world. Check it out...

Ordinary World

Maj. Kong and his crew fly through the air doing their regular routine in their B-52 bomber.

Call To Adventure

Kong's instructed to drop a nuclear bomb on the U.S.S.R. when the plane receives notice that the dreaded Plan R is in effect.

Refusal Of The Call

At first, Kong doesn't believe it and checks the code himself.

Meeting The Mentor

There's no real meeting of the mentor here, unless you count Kong checking the info provided by the military on codes and procedures.

Crossing The Threshold

Convinced, Kong rallies his crew to fulfill their mission to drop the bomb.

Tests, Allies, Enemies

Kong's B-52 takes a hit from a Soviet missile. It's more complicated than the Major realizes, since the attack was approved by the President.

Approach To The Inmost Cave

Flying low, Kong approaches his target, but when the bomb doors jam he has to descend into the bowels of the B-52 to manually open the doors.

Ordeal

Kong heroically opens the doors, sacrificing his own life as he rides the bomb down to oblivion.

Reward (Seizing The Sword)

Kong hoots and hollers as he falls with the bomb, deliriously happy that he's served his country well (even though he's actually destroyed it).

The Road Back

There's no road back for Kong—like most everybody else, he's nuclear soup.

Resurrection

Nope, no resurrection here.

Return With The Elixir

Can't really return with anything when you're dead.