Critical response
Dr. Strangelove is Kubrick's highest-rated film on Rotten Tomatoes,[73] holding a 98% approval rating based on 96 reviews, with an average rating of 9.1/10. The site's summary states that "Stanley Kubrick's brilliant Cold War satire remains as funny and razor-sharp today as it was in 1964."[74] The film also holds a score of 97 out of 100 on Metacritic, based on 32 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim". The film is ranked number 7 in the All-Time High Scores chart of Metacritic's Video/DVD section.[75] It was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry.
Dr. Strangelove is on Roger Ebert's list of The Great Movies, and he described it as "arguably the best political satire of the century".[76] One of the most celebrated of all film comedies,[77] in 1998, Time Out conducted a reader's poll and Dr. Strangelove was voted the 47th greatest film of all time.[78] Entertainment Weekly voted it at No. 14 on their list of 100 Greatest Movies of All Time.[79] in 2002, it was ranked as the 5th best film in Sight & Sound poll of best films.[80] John Patterson of The Guardian wrote, "There had been nothing in comedy like Dr Strangelove ever before. All the gods before whom the America of the stolid, paranoid 50s had genuflected—the Bomb, the Pentagon, the National Security State, the President himself, Texan masculinity and the alleged Commie menace of water-fluoridation—went into the wood-chipper and never got the same respect ever again."[81] It is also listed as number 26 on Empire's 500 Greatest Movies of All Time, and in 2010 it was listed by Time magazine as one of the 100 best films since the publication's inception in 1923.[82] The Writers Guild of America ranked its screenplay the 12th best ever written.[83]
In 2000, readers of Total Film magazine voted it the 24th greatest comedic film of all time. The film ranked 42nd in BBCs 2015 list of the 100 greatest American films.[84] The film was selected as the 2nd best comedy of all time in a poll of 253 film critics from 52 countries conducted by the BBC in 2017.[85]
Studio response
Columbia Pictures' early reaction to Dr. Strangelove was anything but enthusiastic. In "Notes From The War Room", in the summer 1994 issue of Grand Street magazine, co-screenwriter Terry Southern recalled that, as production neared the end, "It was about this time that word began to reach us, reflecting concern as to the nature of the film in production. Was it anti-American? Or just anti-military? And the jackpot question: Was it, in fact, anti-American to whatever extent it was anti-military?"[86]
Southern recalled how Kubrick grew concerned about seeming apathy and distancing by studio heads Abe Schneider and Mo Rothman, and by Columbia's characterization of the film as "just a zany, novelty flick which did not reflect the views of the corporation in any way."[86] Southern noted that Rothman was in "prominent attendance" at a ceremony in 1989 when the Library of Congress announced it as one of the first 25 films on the National Film Registry.[86]
Accolades
| Award | Category | Recipient | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| Academy Awards[87] | Best Picture | Stanley Kubrick | Nominated |
| Best Director | Nominated | ||
| Best Actor | Peter Sellers | Nominated | |
| Best Adapted Screenplay | Stanley Kubrick, Peter George and Terry Southern | Nominated | |
| BAFTA Awards | Best Film From Any Source | Won | |
| Best British Film | Won | ||
| Best British Screenplay | Stanley Kubrick, Peter George, and Terry Southern | Nominated | |
| Best British Actor | Peter Sellers | Nominated | |
| Best Foreign Actor | Sterling Hayden | Nominated | |
| Best Art Direction (Black and White) | Ken Adam | Won | |
| UN Award | Won | ||
| Writers Guild of America Awards | Best Written American Comedy | Won | |
| Hugo Awards | Best Dramatic Presentation | Won | |
| Belgian Film Critics Association | Grand Prix | Won | |
| New York Film Critics Circle | Best Film | Nominated | |
| Best Director | Stanley Kubrick | Won | |
| Best Screenplay | Stanley Kubrick, Peter George, and Terry Southern | Nominated | |
| Silver Ribbon | Best Foreign Director | Stanley Kubrick | Won |
The film ranked No. 32 on TV Guide's list of the 50 Greatest Movies on TV (and Video).[88]
American Film Institute included the film as #26 in AFI's 100 Years...100 Movies,[89] #3 in AFI's 100 Years...100 Laughs,[90] #64 in AFI's 100 Years...100 Movie Quotes ("Gentlemen, you can't fight in here! This is the War Room!")[91] and #39 in AFI's 100 Years...100 Movies (10th Anniversary Edition).[92]
