Stanley Kubrick’s Dr. Strangelove features the War Room crisis at Burpelson Air Force Base.
The film begins when Brigadier General Jack D. Ripper orders a nuclear attack on the Soviet Union from Burpelson Air Force Base. His subordinate, Group Captain Lionel Mandrake, tries to stop the operation, while American officials gather in the Pentagon’s War Room to find a way to recall the aircraft.
The War Room is one of the movie’s most famous settings. Production designer Ken Adam created its enormous circular table, overhead lighting, and dark, imposing atmosphere, giving the supposedly rational command center an almost theatrical appearance.
Burpelson is fictional, so it should not be confused with a real United States Air Force installation. The movie’s fictional military geography supports its satire: the characters use formal procedures and strategic language while an uncontrollable chain of decisions threatens civilization. The film was released in 1964 during intense Cold War anxiety.