Woodyanders
This 46-minute retrospective documentary covers a lot of interesting and informative ground on the making of Stanley Kubrick's black comedy classic "Dr. Strangelove." Made at the height of the Cold War, "Dr. Strangelove" was originally intended to be a straight thriller until Terry Southern was brought in to make it more darkly humorous. Moreover, over 150 tradesman were involved in building the sprawling war room set, the B-52 bomber proved to be a bit too realistic and accurate for comfort, Peter Sellers did a lot of improvisation, Slim Pickens was cast at the last minute (Pickens was initially going to play Major 'King' Kong), Sterling Hayden came out of retirement to portray Brigadier General Jack D. Ripper, Kubrick filed a lawsuit against the makers of "Fail Safe" in order to prevent the rival film from hurting his movie's chances at cleaning up at the box office, and the theatrical release of the picture was postponed due to JFK's assassination. In addition, there's some especially compelling stuff about the infamous crème pie fight sequence that was done in a single take and ultimately cut from the movie. Essential viewing for fans of the film.
MartinHafer
This is one of four documentaries included on the DVD of extras for "Dr. Strangelove". One focuses on the political context for the film, one on the films of Stanley Kubrick, one on the work of Peter Sellers and the final one (this film) a so-called 'making of' movie exploring the creation and marketing of the full-length film. Of these four films "Inside" seemed to be the best, as it was very comprehensive and couldn't have been much better."Inside: 'Dr. Stranglove'" is made up of what such films usually consist of--interviews, footage from the feature, archival interviews and still photographs. While none of this was atypical, it made the film tougher to make in that many of the principals involved in making the film were deceased--some very prematurely (Peter Sellers) and some due to old age and ill health (the director, Stanley Kubrick, Sterling Hayden, George C. Scott and others). Because of this, I really could not give the featurette a score of 10--though otherwise it was excellent and well worth watching--particularly if you adore "Dr. Strangelove"---and it's hard not to! Well worth seeing.
bob the moo
A documentary that looks at the creation and filming of the film Dr Strangelove. This uses footage and interviews to build up the story behind the scenes the problems, the errors, the motivation behind what they did and the areas of improvisation.This documentary has it's weaknesses but for me it did the one thing a `making of
..' film should do, and that is to surprise me with things I didn't know about the film and how it was put together. Things like the fact that Sellers improvised many of the really funny scenes, that the word Dallas was replaced in a Slim Picken's speech, a planned pie fight at the end, even how the credits were thought up. At nearly every stage of this I was captivated at how much I didn't know!The documentary only lasts 45 minutes but there's so much information that it feels longer. The two main failures of the documentary are sadly biggies! The first is that the narrator is terrible he's just cheesy and sounds a bit wooden with a slice of fake sincerity. The second problem is that many of those telling the stories are not those directly involved. Now in many cases the producers etc are still all alive, but there's too many friends, daughters and sons who pass it all on second hand. This doesn't take away from the fact that it's a very enlightening documentary.Overall this is a really good watch. It'll make you want to watch the film again and appreciate the creative processes that went into making such a great piece of art.
chrisparson82
"Inside... Strangelove" is, as the title states, an account of the making of Kubrick's jet-black cold war opus. Covering topics as diverse as Pablo Ferro's dazzling handwritten titles, to Laurie Johnson's musical adaptations, to Gilbert Taylor's striking black-and-white camerawork, to Terry Southern's kinky sense of humor, no subject pertaining to Strangelove has been neglected. Even Kubrick's lawsuit against the makers of the thematically similar "Fail Safe" is recounted, with "Fail Safe" helmer Sidney Lumet adding comments! This picture is a model of economy. Lasting only 45 minutes in length, the creators crammed an astonishing amount of information, and interview subjects, within a relatively short running time. If you have a Bachelors in "Strangelove", this documentary will give you a Masters.The only liability is the somewhat annoying narration, which could be an homage to the equally annoying narration in The Killing (1956). Aside from this minor problem, "Inside... Strangelove" beautifully documents an important work by one of America's finest directors. Don't miss this one!
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