"Well, boys, I reckon this is it: nucular combat, toe to toe with the Roosskies!"

Rating: 10/10 (14 November 2010)

Stanley Kubrick's end-of-the-world comedy was merely topical back in 1963; today the film is essential viewing. No other Cold War feature (and certainly no straight-faced drama) so accurately depicted the lethal absurdity of the arm's race, and the chilling consequences of one rational madman pushing the wrong buttons. The stark overhead lighting and low-level camera angles aptly illustrated the combined myopia of the military, scientific, and political communities, with all three represented by the versatile Peter Sellers in a characteristic triple performance. The supporting roles are no less memorable: George C. Scott as Air Force hawk Buck Turgidson; Sterling Hayden as General Jack D. Ripper (who initiates the apocalypse to "protect and preserve our precious bodily fluids"); Slim Pickens as B-52 pilot Major Kong (riding the Bomb like a bucking bronco to oblivion). The giveaway names only underline the broad simplicity of the satire, but oddly enough the sometimes childish (black) humor makes an already frightening scenario all the more plausible.