Whoops, Apocalypse! review

Whoops Apocalypse is a film made in 1986 and is a basic adaptation of an ITV Series. The sense of humour is very British but surprisingly enjoyable. I was expecting the laughs to come from Peter Cook and nobody else, but in reality there is a lot of humour from several characters.

The character viewers will probably notice the most is Peter Cook, playing a mentally unstable Prime Minister and Conservative politican Sir Mortimer. From blaming unemployment on pixies (and believing in them and leprechauns in the first place) to getting the employed to jump off cliffs and crucifying members of his own party, he is clearly the one who you would fear most. His fellow members of parliament are played by Richard Wilson and another man who's name presently escapes me.

The other man who catches my eye is Rik Mayall, playing a hyped-up SAS officer. The section where the waxwork is shot up is hilarious, though I felt Michael Richards had a hollow part here considering it was a final scene for his character. I was expecting him to fight the SAS more, not just shoot a Private and end up with a tiger ripping out his throat.

References are made to recent events, for example the fighting for a British Colony parodies the Falkland Islands and the popularity increase of the country's leader as a result. While there is not much humour in the fighting, the stupidity of two American journalists results in the unfortunate wounding of a British soldier (read castration) and their dumping on a holiday campground, where Alexei Sayle tells them all hotels are booked and the lavatory has an eighteen-month long waiting list. After they discover a communist missile base, they are promptly killed.

More humour comes from an openly gay rear admiral (pun is probably intended by the creators) who ends up having to join a fleet and be put on a nuclear submarine, which is probably what dooms the world. After an entertainer proceeds to hypnotise him to think he is in a burning room and cannot get him out, he ends up going back into this state whenever somebody clicks their fingers, causing him to shout "Fire" when asked about what to do.

All things considered, it is a good film and made a nice reward to my exams.