This is without a doubt one of the greatest movies ever made. Stanley Kubrick has an insight into human behavior that no other person can match. Peter Sellers is beyond genius and George C. Scott and Slim Pickens fit right in with the rest of the cast to help produce the greatest satire ever made. This is the key to the greatness of the movie, it is not a just a comedy, it is a SATIRE, that is also very funny. If you understand the use of symbolism, irony, and ridicule to expose the folly of human behavior, you will get how wonderful and smart a film Mr. Kubrick has given us to enjoy.
Anyway, I saw it again today and I have to say it is still one of my favorite movies and just great fun to watch. However, I do feel sorry for some of the people who are posting here that do not like the film. One person wrote; "What the hell is this? Is it a comedy? It's not funny (at all). I did not even smile once, was I supposed to?" Another wrote; "real comedy to me is White Chicks and Nutty Professor."
I can only say that the movie is not intended to be a true comedy, it is a satire, in which human or individual vices, follies, abuses, or shortcomings are held up to censure by means of ridicule, derision, irony, or other methods, ideally with the intent to bring about improvement. Although satire is usually meant to be funny, the purpose of satire is not primarily humor in itself so much as an attack on something of which the author strongly disapproves, using the weapon of wit. Maybe, before you see this movie you should read something about the time it was made, about the cold war and the real fear people had about nuclear destruction. Or you can read the review posted here by tieman64 from United Kingdom" called "Ethnic cleansing, 26 July 2008". It is a brilliant insight into what Mr. Kubrick was trying to achieve.
Anyway, I saw it again today and I have to say it is still one of my favorite movies and just great fun to watch. However, I do feel sorry for some of the people who are posting here that do not like the film. One person wrote; "What the hell is this? Is it a comedy? It's not funny (at all). I did not even smile once, was I supposed to?" Another wrote; "real comedy to me is White Chicks and Nutty Professor."
I can only say that the movie is not intended to be a true comedy, it is a satire, in which human or individual vices, follies, abuses, or shortcomings are held up to censure by means of ridicule, derision, irony, or other methods, ideally with the intent to bring about improvement. Although satire is usually meant to be funny, the purpose of satire is not primarily humor in itself so much as an attack on something of which the author strongly disapproves, using the weapon of wit. Maybe, before you see this movie you should read something about the time it was made, about the cold war and the real fear people had about nuclear destruction. Or you can read the review posted here by tieman64 from United Kingdom" called "Ethnic cleansing, 26 July 2008". It is a brilliant insight into what Mr. Kubrick was trying to achieve.