美国空军将领杰克•瑞（斯特林·海登 Sterling Hayden 饰）怀疑苏共的“腐朽思想”正在毒害“正直善良”的美国人民，他于是下令携带核弹头的飞行部队前往苏联，对敌人进行毁灭性的核打击。苏联方面得知此事，立即致电美国总统墨尔金•马夫雷（彼得·塞勒斯 Peter Sellers 饰），并威胁如若领土遭到攻击，苏联将不惜一切代价按下“世界末日装置”。该装置的威力足以摧毁地球上所有的生命。 nbs; nbs; nbs; nbs; nbs; nbs; nbs; nbs; nbs; nbs; nbs; nbs; nbs; nbs; nbs; nbs; nbs; nbs; nbs; nbs; nbs; nbs; nbs; nbs; nbs; nbs; nbs; nbs; nbs; nbs; nbs; nbs; nbs; nbs;一场有关全人类乃至整个地球命运的战争就这样悄然且荒诞地拉开了序幕…… nbs; nbs; nbs; nbs; nbs; nbs; nbs; nbs; nbs; nbs; nbs; nbs; nbs; nbs; nbs; nbs; nbs; nbs; nbs; nbs; nbs; nbs; nbs; nbs; nbs; nbs; nbs; nbs; nbs; nbs; nbs; nbs; nbs; nbs;影片根据彼得•乔治1958年的小说《红色警戒（Red Alert）》改编而成，与《2001漫游太空》、《发条橙》并称为“未来三部曲”。