I enjoyed it far more than I did the first time around. I think the first time I was expecting way more jokes, but this time – and maybe especially coming off of watching a handful of mediocre 60s movies recently – I really enjoyed it as a consistently amusing (maybe one chuckle out loud) movie with a rather progressive political agenda. This is a movie about humanizing both sides of the war through focusing on their mutual fear and confusion. Instead of shooting off jokes through Nationalistic boasting or talking about how 'stupid' the other side is, the target of the ridicule in this movie is American paranoia, propaganda and bloodlust. The Russians come across as downright cuddly in comparison, and not just cause of Alan Arkin's mustache. There's the teenage love plot, the bloodthirsty male child, the old guard trying to recapture a glory they've built up in their minds, and then there's Carl Reiner's fish-out-of-water just acting as reasonably as you might in a situation where you don't really want to die.

The only downside to this movie (besides it being a bit over-long) is that it gets mired in its own sentimentalist ending, which comes across as a bit of a sellout appeal to Middle America, especially after two hours of trying to humanize Russians. But while it's corny, it's at least consistent with the message.