Dr. Strangelove, or How I learned to stop worrying and love the bomb, is one of Stanley Kubrick's masterpieces. Widely regarded as one of the greatest films of all time, this dark comedy depends on the screenwriter's ability to weave into trouble and find a way out of it. As most surreal scripts do, there are certain moments where the audience must ask themselves -- Self, is that capable of happening that way? But Stanley Kubrick, Peter George, and Terry Southern use a number of sound techniques to overcome potential logic issues, and keep the script on track at all times.

 

The lesson for all screenwriters, not just dark comedy writers, to learn from studying it is:

 

How to solve logic problems that could destroy your movie

 

All writers, no matter what genre, indeed no matter what form as this is hardly just the domain of the screenwriter -- write themselves into corners. We do that. It's impossible not to. Screenplays are long projects and at some point you are going to stop hitting smooth sailing and hit a snag. A big gaping hole in your plot and you have two choices at that point -- you can plug the hole so that your script makes sense or you can ignore the problem and leave a big, gaping hole in your plot!

 

And my advice is, don't do that. Solving logic problems in your screenplay is hard work. But that's what separates the professionals from the amateurs. It's also what separates the sellable screenplay from the un-sellable one. You want to sell your screenplay, right?

 

Let's study Dr. Strangelove's many potential logic problems, and how the screenwriting trio solved them.

 

Problem One: Wouldn't Mandrake question illegal orders coming from a psychopath?

 

At the opening of the movie crazy General Jack D. Ripper, who we don't yet know is a total lunatic, but should from his hilarious name, blatantly lies to Executive Officer Group Captain Lionel Mandrake, who is on an officer exchange program from Britain.

 

He tells Mandrake to seal off the base. Mandrake thinks this may be an exercise but Ripper tells him it isn't. Mandrake follows orders, which include transmitting Plan R to the bomber wing, and impounding all radios on the base.

 

This last part is extremely essential for logic. By impounding all radios, nobody on the base can learn what is going on in the real world. Thus, they can all be successfully duped by General Ripper. This creates the first level of believability and plugs a lot of holes both now and later.

 

Also, the writers keep the audience in the dark that Ripper is a lunatic. He appears completely calm, rational, and in command. Mandrake asks all of the right questions and Ripper answers them firmly but also cohesively. And this is extremely important. Many writers make the mistake of having their insane guys immediately identifiable as certifiable. But if it was clear that Ripper had lost his marbles, there is no way that Mandrake would follow his orders. There is a chain of command in the military, and Mandrake, who has a strong sense of duty, does his in following Ripper's orders.

 

This all makes perfect sense to a viewing audience, who doesn't yet know that Russia has not attacked the United States. Problem one solved by good writing.

 

 

Problem Two: How do you dupe pilots into getting into their planes?

 

General Ripper has successfully duped everyone on his own base. But in order to get pilots to enter combat bombers, launch them in US soil, and then also get duped by one man no matter how brilliant his plan is, would make audience members skeptical.

 

The authors solve the problem by having the entire bomber wing already airborne. This simplifies the story greatly as they receive their orders via numerical codes on the plane itself, not verbal commands that could be questioned by every member of every bomber crew, and eventually lead to someone else learning of Ripper's plot before it can truly be hatched. It would then be easy to stop it from ever happening, and then there would be no movie! So the writers had to solve this logic problem. They do it easily.

 

In addition, the bombers are on exercises only two hours from potential targets in Russia. This creates plausibility that they can't be intercepted by American planes or shot down by anti-aircraft guns in the US later in the story. The setup eliminates lots of potential issues, rather than simply avoiding them. Problem two solved.

 

Problem Three: Wouldn't the bomber crews rebel against illegal orders to use the atomic bomb?

 

During the course of the film we follow one particular bomber crew. The authors made the wise decision of essentially choosing one representative for everything they do in the film. Mandrake represents the military personnel on the base, the President represents all of the politicians, General Turigdson represents the entire military, and the bomber crew on one plane represents what is going on in every bomber in the wing.

 

This keeps the cast low, and lets us focus on the human elements of the story rather than the massive enormity of what is going on, which is key to the success of the film.

 

If the bomber crew members were idiots or irresponsible jerks, then you could understand them going along with bad orders. But then there would be a lot of other problems created later. Instead, this is clearly a crack crew, led by intelligent and experienced Major T.J. "King" Kong. A humanizing element is immediately brought into play as Kong orders a confirmation from base. He realizes that if the orders are legitimate, it means terrible things are happening in the world. He's expecting it to be a mistake and for the orders to implement Attack Plan R to be recalled.

This, again, creates plausibility in the minds of the audience. The authors correctly deal with a crew receiving terrible orders, and not just going about following them in a robotic fashion but dealing with the shock of it.  

 

What they need to do is nuke a target in Russia with an atomic bomb, and they are clearly bothered by it, making them into real people. They act that way, we now feel sympathy for them which is great audience manipulation. It is a grim situation, but Kong, hilariously discarding his normal pilot helmet for a cowboy hat, makes a big rallying speech to his crew after receiving confirmation from base, and that gets the crew focused on doing their duty.

 

We already know that Mandrake at the base would confirm the orders, so there is no logic hole there, either. Again, rather than ignoring the problem of bomber pilots receiving illegal orders to deploy the atomic bomb against Russia which would seem an enormous plot hole to the audience, the authors correctly deal with it, and show us exactly how the pilots are convinced to follow through with Attack Plan R despite any personal reservations. Kong's rousing speech is quite convincing. Problem Solved.

 

Problem Four: Wouldn't the rest of the military react to an illegal action?

 

So right about now as an audience member you are thinking, what is the rest of the military doing? We don't yet know that Ripper is crazy and has set this scenario in motion due to his own paranoia. We are wondering if Russia really has launched a surprise tactical strike against the United States.

 

Now we learn they haven't. General Buck Turigidson receives the call about the illegal orders sent to the bomber wing, and also finds out nobody can get through to the base, and that something is very wrong. Now we learn this too, and we understand what this movie is really about. Turigdson decides he needs to go to the War Room in the Pentagon and find out what's happening. Now we're on the edge of our seats to find out as well.

 

Rather than opening plot holes by ignoring the rest of the military, the writers have intrigued us by showing us the top military leader's immediate reaction. The military is on top of it, they know what's going on the moment it happens. And that creates plausibility where lack of clarity about this would create plot hole problems.

 

Instead, the scene gives us a true anchor for the plot now, as we all go "Oh!" and understand immediately that Mandrake and Kong have been duped by a crazy man.

 

Uh oh!

 

Problem Solved.

 

Problem Five: Wouldn't the base personnel just turn Ripper in?

 

One lone nut, even a general, could only go so far with this plan himself. If he just sat in his office waiting it out, somebody would learn the truth and turn him in. Now remember, all of the radios on the base were confiscated, so there is no information getting into the base from outside sources. This movie happens long before the invention of the cell phone, so there is no issue there.

 

Ripper isn't some drooling psychopath. He's thought this whole plan through. He gains the support of his entire base by informing them that the Russians will attack, possibly in United States military uniforms and they are to fire on anything that approaches from 200 yards from the base's perimeter.

 

Now nobody can get close to the base without a fight! This solves the problem of a lone courier walking up and telling the guards at the gate that General Ripper is crazy and having the base open its doors. Problem solved.

 

Problem Six: Couldn't the Pentagon just communicate directly with the plane by giving them counter-orders?

 

The authors deal with this very real logic problem by specifically having Attack Plan R include orders for the bomber crew to turn off normal channels of communication and switch to a code-only circuit. Just like at the base, nobody can get through to tell the pilots they have received illegal orders.

 

If the authors don't deal with the fact that bombers have a radio and someone can just call them then the entire movie immediately becomes implausible. But the authors very smartly incorporate the unusual act of switching off the communications on purpose, as part of the attack plan, and that creates total plausibility and deals with the issue.

 

Problem solved.

 

Problem Seven: So just enter the recall code!

 

You have to figure that you can enter a code that will reach the bomber wing from the Pentagon or some other military installation. It wouldn't make sense that you could only send codes from Ripper's base. How to solve that problem in logic?

 

Easy! Yes, they can send codes from anywhere but that is irrelevant. There is no other way to stop the bomber wing except to enter a three code prefix before entering the recall code. And only Ripper has the three code prefix. So it is not that they need to get into Ripper's base and send the recall code from there, it is that they now need specific information that can only be found at the base itself. Problem Solved.

 

Problem Eight: The army travels only seven miles down the road. Wouldn't they be recognized as allies? Why would the base defenders fire on their own people?

 

This problem was solved by Ripper's speech earlier in the film. When the army shows up at the base and attacks the base 39 minutes into the film, there is a short dialogue between base defense soldiers that represent the entire thought process of Ripper's loyal troops. The conversation confirms that they don't, for a second, believe that they are being approached by Americans. They marvel at the authentic look of the Russians' uniforms and vehicles and then they open fire as ordered at 200 yards.

 

Because they believe they are firing on Russians who have successfully invaded the U.S. the audience believes that they would attack and hit them with everything they've got. This creates a wonderful deterrent that allows Ripper to remain free with the three digit code and creates absolute hilarious dialogue between Mandrake and Ripper where we learn that Ripper is psychotic and believes that the Russians have done some sneaky business to America's water supply to pollute everyone's bodily fluids, which is his motivation behind this entire plot.  

 

Problem Nine - Why not just destroy all the planes?

 

This seems like a simple solution, though one in which American crews will have to be sacrificed. Still, it does seem like the right thing to do. The military leaders would not be for it, but the moral center of the movie, the President of the United States Merkin Muffley, works with the unfortunately intoxicated Premier of Russia to do exactly that.

 

Rather than ignore this obvious solution, it becomes an integral part of the plot as the movie develops further. By simply investigating all of the logical solutions to the problem at hand, the screenwriters have made the movie more interesting because there are several methods of winning the day, and the screenwriters smartly have the President and General Turidgson exploring and attempting to do all of them simultaneously. That's good writing. It is also solid proof that you don't only have to travel down one solitary path in your own screenplays. If it is logical for your characters to attempt multiple solutions to solve a solitary problem, that is totally okay. Just don't get bogged down in sub-plots, study how they do it in Dr. Strangelove so that all of the strategies being employed are interwoven properly into one main plotline.

 

Problem Ten - What if the Russian Premier agrees not to retaliate?

 

While accidentally dropping an atomic bomb on a populated area of Russia is awful, it is logically possible that due to the circumstances of one lone nut hatching this plan, that Russia could simply agree to not retaliate. That would effectively remove the stakes of the film, which is the end of the world through World War 3.

 

Since it is possible, the writers know they must address the problem. And so they come up with the ultimate solution -- Russia has just secretly completed work on The Doomsday Device, and if the planes drop a bomb on Russia, it will automatically retaliate with devastating force and precision. The world will end! No matter what the President and the Premier do, they cannot stop world war 3 from happening if the bomber wing gets through. All life on Earth is now jeopardized.

 

Now they absolutely must stop all of the planes. The stakes, rather than lowering, just got heightened by a significant degree. This is great writing. Problem solved.

 

Problem Eleven - Doomsday Device Plausibility

 

How do you make the Doomsday Device plausible? Soviet Ambassador Alexi de Sadeski explains to the War Room about the 93 year radioactive half-life of Cobalt Thorium G. Originally, the concept of a cobalt bomb was theorized in a radio broadcast by physicist Leo Szilard in 1950. Dr. Strangelove was written fourteen years later, in 1964. Both this, as well as General Ripper's insane theory that the Russians have corrupted drinking water through floridation, and have successfully polluted the "precious bodily fluids" of Americans use actual science principles to their advantage.

 

The writers did a bit of research creating plausibility where before there was only absurdity. This is another great lesson on how to plug holes in your plotline. An audience is only willing to suspend their disbelief so far. Once that bubble pops, the audience is broken out of believing in your plot, and you have lost them. It is near impossible to get them back at this point. No matter how absurd it gets in Dr. Strangelove, you never have the feeling that you are being had. The writers create plausibility simply by fictionalizing existing theories or warping existing technologies to suit the needs of the plotline.

 

And that is why the Doomsday Device works in Dr. Strangelove. Because cobalt thorium G and its 93 year half-life has been proposed to the world by a genuine real life authority in a non-fictional setting. That it doesn't really exist and no military has access to it is irrelevant. It is POSSIBLE. And that's all that a good fiction writer needs to shore up a gaping hole in the plot line. As long as you convince the audience that what you are saying is happening is quite possibly happening, then they will believe it.

 

We see this in science fiction all the time. But it works no matter what the genre, as proven in this dark comedy. Problem Solved.

 

Problem Twelve - So Just Turn the Doomsday Device Off!

 

Except you can't. The Doomsday Device triggers automatically when certain parameters, such as an enemy dropping an atomic bomb, occurs. But it also triggers if you attempt to un-trigger it! It literally has no off switch. Problem Solved.

 

Problem Thirteen - Why Build a Doomsday Device, and can you?

 

The Russian ambassador exclaims to a stunned War Room that building it cost a fraction of their stretched thin defense budget, and also Russia learned from The New York Times that America was building one and they didn't want to be left behind technologically. Dr. Strangelove, in charge of America's research into a Doomsday Device, explains that there was indeed research done but his findings concluded that a Doomsday Device would not act as a proper deterrent to war but that even the smallest nuclear power in the world could easily build one. Problems all solved.

 

Problem Fourteen - So why did Russia keep it a secret, then?

 

Logically, the only way a deterrent works is if the world knows about it. But if General Ripper had known about it, he likely would not have hatched his entire plot and there would be no movie at all. This is another logic problem for the writing team to solve.

 

They do so in hilarious fashion. Dr. Strangelove addresses the issue that the entire point of a Doomsday Device is meant to make the entire world too afraid to attack you in the first place, so that it never gets triggered. So for it to work it needs to be announced to the world. He asks the question we are all thinking -- Why wasn't it?

 

The Russian Ambassador merely shrugs and explains that it was about to be announced at the next Party Congress to pleasantly surprise the Russian Premiere. "As you know, the Premier loves surprises."

 

Again, rather than ignore an obvious flaw in logic, the writers address it and incorporate it into the nature of the characters involved. People sometimes act in odd ways. So as long as your characters are consistently odd, then it is okay if their explanations for why they choose to do things in a certain way are off-kilter.

 

But address the problem in logic, never ignore it. Obviously, because this is a dark comedy with odd character nuance twists all over the place, this solution is completely acceptable to the viewing audience. And it is a pretty good laugh.  Problem Solved.

 

Problem Fifteen - Can't they get that damn code from General Ripper?

 

With time ticking away, only General Ripper can prevent total annihilation. First, and this is very important, Ripper has been sealed away in his base and is fighting with his troops from his office against the "invaders." He doesn't know about the Doomsday Device and there is no way to tell him because the phones are off-line, and have been for most of the movie. That code is going to have to be taken from him somehow.

 

After his base defense inevitably crumbles to a competent US Army raid, he realizes they will torture him for the code. As Mandrake hilariously attempts to placate him to get him to reveal the code, Ripper shoots himself! Uh Oh! Problem Solved!

 

Problem Sixteen - What about the Soviet Union's ground to air defense missiles?

 

In a great scene, the bomber crew successfully deflects the Russian missile just enough to avoid destruction. But the plane is now damaged. Not only did the writers deal with the fact that the Russians would realistically be ready and attack the plane, but they have created additional solutions to upcoming problems already. In addition, because of their damage, they decide to fly lower than normal, which eliminates the Russian military's ability to target them with a second missile, because they are undetectable by radar.

 

Problem Seventeen - Too many planes

 

Up to this point, there needed to be an entire wing of planes or we, the audience, wouldn't have believed the threat to be substantial. Now the opposite is true. If all of the planes continue to head towards their targets, we, the audience wouldn't believe that the threat could be stopped. There would be no hope.

 

So the authors fix the logic problem easily enough. Though Ripper is dead, he has left a substantial clue that Mandrake has found. After hilarity ensues when there is confusion between Lionel Mandrake and Colonel Bat Guano, Mandrake is able to communicate the three letter prefix code to the Pentagon. That is used to recall all of the planes. It should be the end of the movie, but it isn't. Why? Because Kong's plane has been damaged so he and his crew don't get the recall code.

 

Problem Eighteen - Just shoot it down!

 

Major Kong's bomber is badly damaged from the missile attack. They fail to receive the recall code as all of their communications codes, as well as their self-destruct mechanism, has been destroyed. They are also badly leaking fuel.

 

The President tells the Russian Premier to shoot down the plane. It shouldn't be that hard. It's just one plane and it's heading for Laputa, so just put the Russian defenses there and shooting it down should be easy.

 

But the bomber is leaking fuel so quickly that it won't reach Laputa. To overcome the simple logic that the entire Russian airforce should be able to easily intercept and destroy one bomber, the writers brilliantly have Kong make the command decision to change targets to something closer.

 

So now you have a bomber plane within range of its target, being controlled by a high level crew with an experienced leader for its pilot. They can't be communicated with, and they are flying too low for Russian radar to pick up. The Russian military is waiting for them, but they aren't going there anymore.

 

All of this has been carefully set up and stacked, layer by layer, to solve all of the broken logic that would have happened had the writers simply had the plane fly unharmed towards its intended initial target.

 

And so now, as an audience member, you believe all of it. And this is my primary lesson. Often to solve one huge logic problem, you must do multiple setups so that by the time you get to that point in your story, you have already solved the problems that would break an audience out of its willing suspension of disbelief.

 

If you don't solve the previous seventeen problems, you never get to a point where you can solve the eighteenth problem in Dr. Strangelove. And if you can't solve that eighteenth problem, the entire movie breaks down completely.

 

This is why Dr. Strangelove is considered a classic by, frankly, everyone, and why it holds up as one of the greatest examples of perfect script writing in movie history.

 

The writers continue to add additional fun aspects to the script as it progresses towards its inevitable ending, but after they've dealt with the eighteenth problem, there are no longer any potential logic holes in the story.

 

As writers, we always write ourselves into problems. Bad writers plow ahead, choosing to ignore the obvious holes in their plots. Good writers do the hard work of plugging those holes. Great writers solve the problems and make their stories fun and engaging for the audience by acknowledging those issues and dealing with them in complex and interesting ways that enhance their stories. They essentially take the story's weaknesses and turn them into the story's strengths.

 

Understand that your story, in its early drafts, likely also has logic problems. Don't ignore them. Its part of the writing process to confront those issues and not just solve them, but to solve them brilliantly.

 

Thanks to the example of Dr. Strangelove, Or how I learned to stop worrying and love the bomb, the rest of us have absolutely no excuses. We simply must dig deep and make sure our stories, no matter how ludicrous or absurd, are still completely logical.