Dr. Strangelove vs. WarGames: Technology and Nuclear War

Introduction

Technological developments have characterized the modern world and play a critical role in communications. Given their impact on communications, these advancements have also influenced the creation of war movies. War movies, however, have existed for a long period of time. While modern technological developments are significantly different from those of earlier eras, technology has traditionally been linked with war. One of the ways in which this link manifests is through film. Various movies have been created to depict and emphasize the relationship between technology and war. This paper examines that relationship by evaluating two films that attempt to connect these two concepts: Dr. Strangelove and WarGames.

Brief Overview of Dr. Strangelove and WarGames

Dr. Strangelove and WarGames are examples of films made to demonstrate the what-ifs of a nuclear war. These two Cold War American films portray the Cold War era in terms of the probability of nuclear conflict. Their producers made these films at a time when it was unclear if or when a nuclear fallout could emerge. The creation of these films came amid fears that the Cold War could result in a nuclear war that would trigger the Third World War. During this period, there were widespread concerns that nuclear conflict could erupt between the United States and the Soviet Union, potentially killing millions of people and destroying property across the globe without advance warning.

Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb was produced in 1964 by Stanley Kubrick following the Cuban Missile Crisis between the United States and the Soviet Union.¹ Army General Jack Ripper commands B-52 troops to bomb Russia based on his belief that the Soviets contaminated the American water supply using fluoride. He believed this contamination was a Soviet plot to destroy the American populace through poisoning. General Ripper seeks to deploy a clandestine nuclear attack on the Soviet Union without his superiors' knowledge or approval. To protect his plan, General Ripper shuts down communication within Burpelson Air Force Base. RAF Group Captain Lionel Mandrake, however, believes he knows the recall codes — if only he can communicate with the outside world. Meanwhile, key figures in the Pentagon War Room, including Dr. Strangelove, search for ways to stop the attack or prevent it from escalating into full nuclear war. When Soviet Premier Dimitri Kisov is brought into the War Room, the Americans learn that the Soviet Union has an undisclosed Doomsday Device designed to detonate nuclear weapons automatically if any major Soviet target is struck. The Americans scramble to manage the crisis, while one B-52 bomber pilot seeks to drop his bomb on any enemy territory he can reach.

WarGames was written by Walter F. Parkes and Lawrence Lasker and produced in 1983. This American Cold War science fiction film portrays how a young man gains backdoor access to a military central computer.² After gaining access, the young, computer-savvy teenager inadvertently connects to a classified supercomputer that controls America's entire nuclear arsenal. He decides to use it for a simulated game between the United States and Russia, and in doing so, he starts a countdown to the Third World War. He then faces the harrowing challenge of convincing the computer that the scenario was a game rather than reality. When he is arrested by the FBI on suspicion of working with Russia, the threat of global nuclear war remains, as the War Operation Plan Response (WOPR) continues processing the strange game as though it were real.

Technology and War in the Two Films

As shown in the overviews above, both Dr. Strangelove and WarGames emphasize the relationship between war and technology. These films depict that relationship by demonstrating problems in the link between human society and technological systems. Through this lens, both movies raise plausible and pertinent questions about the relationship between technology and society. They show how technology can be harmful if used negatively, despite its obvious advantages — particularly in improving communications. Each film has its own means of highlighting the link between war and technology, with notable similarities and differences, even though they were produced at different times and amid varying geopolitical circumstances.