Based on the novel Red Alert by Peter George, Stanley Kubrick's Cold War masterpiece drops you right at the height of the tensions between Russia and the United States, world destruction literally at folks' fingertips. And General Jack D. Ripper (Sterling Hayden) has itchy fingers. Convinced that the Russians have infiltrated America's "vital essence," the crazed Ripper gives the go code to the 843rd bomb wing to attack Russia, setting in motion a series of darkly hilarious vignettes involving gung-ho soldiers, wacky generals, spying Russians, drunken premiers, battles with soda machines, fights in the War Room, and the Russians' top-secret Doomsday Machine.