Finest Comedy Ever Made

Rating: 10/10 (14 February 2005)

Stanley Kubrick's classic black comedy, Dr. Stranglove, is revered one of the greatest films ever made as it placed number three on the AFI's funniest comedies list. What makes this movie a great movie is that Kubrick brilliantly slipped in comedic excellence in a film dealing with controversial material at the time and did so in a way that makes the viewer of the film think.
Stanley Kubrick had set up a pie fight scene for the end of the movie, but in a wise move, decided not to include it in the film, realizing Dr. Strangelove was a satirical comedy and not slapstick.
I consider Stanley Kubrick to have only two classic movies, Dr. Strangelove, and 2001: A Space Odyssey. With these two films, Stanley Kubrick had set himself up for more critical successes in the future including "Barry Lyndon," "The Shining," and "Full Metal Jacket." Of the above three, I have only seen "The Shining," and realized, that, it shows a different side of Kubrick thus showing the visionary director can handle many different genres.
Now back to "Dr. Stangelove." Peter Sellers brilliantly takes three roles in this film, Lionel Mandrake, Dr. Strangelove, and my personal favorite, President Merkin Muffly. George C. Scott I think gives the best performance of his career (Give me a break, I haven't seen "Patton")as the lovable General Buck Turgidson who tries to convince the War Room representatives of commie conspiracy behind the use nuclear weapons on their own country.
The scenes with crazed General Jack D. Ripper make me laugh because he orders a nuclear attack because the damn commies are going to unpurify the water. Mandrake however realizes the general's insanity and acts to stop the bombing. However with this who situation, I love way how Muffly describes it as a "silly thing," makes me laugh every time.
What is great about this movie is the way it ends with Vera Lynn singing "We'll Meet Again" while mushroom clouds appear in the background.