Deliciously decadent black comedy

Rating: Null/10 (29 November 1998)

If the average comedy hurls a cream pie at your face, THIS one grabs a dark chocolate mousse cake and rams the whole thing down your throat!
Kubrick's message seems to be "If we're all going to be blown to smithereens, we might as well go out laughing". Fortunately, the former still hasn't happened but every viewing of this film definitely results in the latter. Yes, there REALLY were military types who are this fanatical, and yes, they REALLY were THAT close to "THE BUTTON". Recent events on the other side of the world have diluted the initial impact of this film, so younger viewers might want to first steep themselves in the history of the Cold War before seeing it.
For the rest of us who lived through it (anyone remember "Duck and Cover" drills?), we can breathe a sigh of relief and laugh heartily at the way we were.