Holy cow! I never thought I'd be able to watch a black and white film; I can never concentrate on them, I'm not sure why. But I sat through this, because I had a feeling it was something special (not to mention so many other people have said so). This must surely rate as one of the best "war" films out there, although it's barely a war film in the traditional sense. However it does carry an underlying of the futility/stupidity of war (and, in fact, politics), in particular nuclear war.

Despite being the titular Doctor, Dr. Strangelove is not really the main character. In fact, there is no main character. Instead, the film follows several groups of people - we have officials in the pentagon, the staff at a US army base (actually it might be an airbase), and the crew of a US bomber. It takes awhile for the plot to come together - you may well wonder where it's going for at least the first half. But it's not distracting - the point is you can see it going in quite a few directions, but I doubt you'll see the right one unless you already know the plot.

I won't spoil it, it is meant to be a bit of a surprise. The ending also has to rate as one of the strangest film endings i've encountered, without resorting to outright bizarreness. Last but not least, there're a number of classic scenes and quotes laced throughout the film, which have since been ripped off/lampooned/revered for their greatness. Such as the pilot riding the A-bomb to it's target.

A top-class film, everyone should see this. It proves you can tell a good story well, with humour, without the need for heaps of action or sex scenes or grossout comedy. If ever a film were worthy of getting 5/5, it's this'n.