While Dr. Strangelove approaches it's story as pitch-black dark comedy and Apocalypse Now is a serious drama, both films are exercises in surrealism, growing increasingly unhinged as they progress. It seems the only response to madness is increased madness, with the stakes being raised so often and so quickly that by the end insanity has become the norm, and what seemed unthinkable at the start has become the only acceptable option.

Both films are masterpieces directed by two of the great filmmakers of our era. Stanley Kubrick and Francis Ford Coppola have each made a number of genuine classics, and arguments can be made which of their films rank as their best work. I'd argue that Strangelove and Apocalypse belong at the top of their very impressive resumes. Each film is visually stunning, contains multiple classic sequences, and boasts unforgettable performances (with Peter Sellers' triple duty in Strangelove belonging on the list of all-time greatest comedic performances). They also carry a message about the insanity of war that will always be relevant due to mankind's inability to learn it.