It's the end of the world as we know it. And it's hilarious.

Rating: 8/10 (16 November 2012)

At the height of the Cold War the fear of nuclear obliteration was quite real. If the United States and the Soviet Union engaged in a nuclear war there would be no winners. Stanley Kubrick made a film about this impending doomsday. This was obviously a very serious issue so the film would have to be dark, dignified and grave. Or maybe it wouldn't. Instead it would be one of the most hilarious black comedies the world had ever seen. What to do when faced with the end of the world? Laugh.
As the American president would later tell the Soviet premier an American base commander "went and did a silly thing." This quite insane commander ordered his planes to attack the Soviet Union. When these planes drop their nuclear bombs the Soviet doomsday device will be activated and that for all intents and purposes will be the end of the world. Well that doesn't sound very funny. Oh, but it is. Kubrick played this dire situation for laughs and, helped to no small end by his amazing cast, created a comedic masterpiece.
Everywhere you look in this film you see great actors turning in legendary performances. By virtue of the fact he played three different roles Peter Sellers gets most of the acclaim. And he is magnificent in all his various guises. He's the president, a British officer and Dr. Strangelove himself, a mad German scientist who has a hand with a mind of its own. Sellers was actually supposed to play a fourth role as well but that part, bomber commander Major Kong, eventually went to Slim Pickens. And while Sellers probably would have been fine in the part Pickens is simply perfect. A true-life American cowboy, patriot and total yahoo. Playing the truly insane base commander who starts the clock ticking to disaster is Sterling Hayden. It is a quite unique madness which afflicts this character and Hayden performs the role beautifully. Sellers, Pickens and Hayden are all fantastic. And there is a terrific supporting cast which notably features a young James Earl Jones. With all these great performances it would be near impossible for one man to steal the show. But George C. Scott comes really close to doing just that. He plays General Buck Turgidson who is ostensibly working to recall the American bombers but who quite clearly actually relishes the idea of mushroom clouds over Moscow. Scott's manic, over-the-top performance is comedic gold. His facial contortions alone are enough to induce side-splitting laughter. Scott may well be the best thing this film has to offer. And in a film this good that's really saying something. It's a film with a great story, great humor, great performances. Just for good measure Kubrick also tosses in one of the great movie sets of all time. How magnificent is that War Room? Do remember though that you can't fight in there.