It is rare that a war movie offers commentary on a time and place while the issues it is satirizing are still taking place. It is easy to reflect in hindsight, pointing out the silliness and the paranoia of an era from the more mature and (perhaps) safer future. "Dr. Strangelove" is one of those few projects that not only made criticisms at the very time in which it was made, but altered a national attitude at the height of communist and nuclear conflict.

The year was 1964, one year after the Cuban Missile Crisis. Stanley Kubrick, fresh off of his recent risquŽ project, "Lolita," sets to work on a new picture - a war movie. It involves nuclear weapons and the threat of red communism. Kubrick labored to produce a powerful story of the potential destruction of the world, but as time progressed he realized that anything he wrote always seemed absurd. So, he took a different approach: How about the end of the world occurs at the hand of a man so paranoid of "impure bodily fluids" that he would rather order the attack that ends existence.

Sound funny? It is. And now "Dr. Strangelove" has finally been given a thorough Blu-Ray treatment, its image cleaned up and paired with a potpourri of special features. Released on Tuesday, this is one of the few must-own Blu-Ray DVDs in circulation. A brilliant movie has finally been given a brilliant treatment on DVD.

Sterling Hayden (from Kubrick's "The Killing") is General Jack Ripper, in command of a wing of the Strategic Air Command. Under a new provision, he has the authority to send his bombers into the heart of Russia on a mission of destruction with only his approval. This rule orders the crew of the bomber to switch to a different radio frequency, and only alter their course if informed so on this new coded channel. The code is only known by Ripper. Supposedly, this provision seemed acceptable; if an attack destroyed the United States, they wanted to be able to send retaliation without a bogus Russian communication canceling the return attack. The only problem is that Ripper has gone off the deep end, with no intention of rescinding his order.

We later learn that his real problem with the communists is that once he was unable to perform sexually and he blamed this impotence on a communist infiltration of the water supply. This sexual fear is a real one of the McCarthy era, and is only one of the many subtle sexual innuendos (beginning in the opening, um, refueling process) that litter this film.

Ripper's actions have an unexpected consequence. While in the war room (one of the greatest set pieces ever), overseeing the impending disaster, president Merkin Muffley (Peter Sellers), testosterone-fueled General Buck Turgidson (George C. Scott) and disabled German scientist Dr. Strangelove (Peter Sellers) are realizing from the Russian ambassador that they too have a last-resort weapon. It automatically returns fire against the Americans in the instance of a nuclear attack, and there is absolutely no way to disarm it.

What's amazing is how this comedy of errors builds on itself. There is a scene in which a British general needs exact change to call the president and inform them of the code for the radio message that could save the world. The American officer who is holding him captive, unsure of his role in the happenings, doesn't have the change needed. Just let that sink in. And then there's Muffley, who informs the Russian president over the telephone that "Well, Demitri, he went off and did a silly thing." Dr. Strangelove meanwhile uses the impending apocalypse as a platform for a new Utopia, where humans live underground, with five women to each man for procreation purposes. As he says this, his body flails about, out of his control, excited not about death but by the thought of getting some action.

These brilliant performances, this cunning script, beautiful black and white cinematography of the war room and the bomber flight, and a message as true in its time as it is today establishes "Dr. Strangelove" as one of the greatest satires ever. If it's been a while since you last lost yourself to its charms, let this week's Blu-Ray release be your excuse to revisit the mayhem.

E-mail: SnyderReviews@hotmail.com