nothing funny about this mission

Rating: 10/10 (3 February 2017)

There is really nothing I can add to the many and various writings on this unique film. It was certainly strange watching this afresh with the knowledge of so many strange and unpredictable things going on around us. Watching this on the Criterion blu-ray I was able to appreciate those wonderful Ken Adam sets but it is still the amazing performance of Peter Sellers, in all his roles, that marks this out as something exceptional. I know that Kubrick's original instinct was to play this straight but with Sellers on board and reputedly improvising much of his dialogue, this was only going one way and he had the sense to bring in Terry Southern and go with the black comedy. And it is funny to this day. The fact that all the B52 crew play this straight ensures that whilst there may be laughs in the airbase and the war room, there is nothing funny about this mission.