1941 (1979)

Continuing my plan to watch every Steven Spielberg movie in order, I come to 1941.Spielberg totally gets this one wrong!! He even spoofs Jaws, right down to Susan Backlinie (Chrissie Watkins) reprising her role as the first victim in Jaws by playing a girl who goes skinny dipping at the beginning of this film. And whilst she has a nice bum, its in poor taste. You can check it out on youtube.There are plenty of familiar faces Christopher Lee, Murray Hamilton (Jaws) John Belushi playing the same guy he always plays, Lorraine Gary (Jaws) Ned Beatty (Deliverance) Dan Aykroyd (making his American feature film debut) Warren Oates (Wild Bunch) and John Candy but it feels like he has just shot a bunch of sketches together. We have no reason to care if any of the characters lived or died. Spielberg said "I'll spend the rest of my life disowning this movie."1941 grossed $31 million dollars at the domestic box office against a $35 million dollar budget. It was a modest hit though, as it made almost $95 million worldwide.

I like funny stupid movies, Dumb and Dumber, Something About Mary, Animal House to name a few. This movie just missed the mark on all the it's jokes. Things that should have been more goofy were too serious (aka Treat Williams as a total rapist psycho, somehow that was supposed to be funny?)I wanted to like this movie since it was Speilberg's first attempt at comedy but it is pretty bad and even though I read the previous reviews and heard all about how it stunk I still gave it a shot. It wasn't worth it. There are other way funnier stupid movies out there to spend your time on. Your not missing anything by not watching this one.

... but I love this movie. This type of all-star comedy broadly plays out, getting crazier and crazier as the plot unravels, is a slice of bygone Hollywood.Think "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World!" "The Russians are Coming, the Russians are Coming," "Cold Turkey" "The Great Race!" And the godfather of them all "Around the World in 80 Days" These films I saw as a kid at the local Drive-In called Route 66.Famous faces, dozens of cameos, broad humor and all presented with an innocence that longer exists in today's cinematic world.I am just asking you to view it once, Once, perhaps at Christmas, or because John Belushi is awesome or because there is a dance sequence that is so amazing, you might have to rewind and watch it twice!!

Steven Spielberg's "1941" ranks as one of that legendary director's artistic nadirs. His first and only pure foray into comedy was derided by critics as a bloated, unfunny mess, and due to its massive budget it failed to meet its studio's financial expectations in stark contrast to Spielberg's previous efforts.Set on the California coast prior to Christmas 1941, the plot is inspired by the real paranoia and fear of an imminent Japanese attack that gripped the U.S. West Coast in the immediate aftermath of Pearl Harbor. Even in 1979, this was questionable material for a slapstick comedy and some of the WW2 generation objected including some older Hollywood stars who passed on roles in the film. To make it even more questionable, the film also has a full-fledged violent riot based upon the infamous 1943 Los Angeles Zoot Suit Riots which were racially motivated between white servicemen and Mexican-American youths wearing "unpatriotic" Zoot Suits. War induced paranoia and race riots are not exactly the stuff of knee-slapping comedy. Yet, Spielberg, who allegedly couldn't stop laughing while he read the screenplay, soldiered-on.One can definitely see what Spielberg was aiming to accomplish. He wanted to make a late 70's version of 1963's "It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World," a very frantically paced, broad, and slapstick comedy with an all-star cast, combined with the cheeky sexual/fratboy humor of 1978's "Animal House." He even got John Belushi and Tim Matheson to reprise their "Animal House" roles except "Bluto" and "Otter" are respectively re-named: "Captain 'Wild Bill' Kelso" and "Captain Loomis Birkhead" in "1941."Sadly, the "It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World"/"Animal House" combo didn't work. "1941" is essentially a who's who of late 1970's comedic talents frantically running around and shouting their lame dialogue while stuff explodes and falls apart about them as they deal with both imagined and real Japanese air and naval attacks. It just tries way too hard to garner its few tepid chuckles. The spectacle can be amusing at times, but it's mostly just exhausting, annoying, and tiresome. Even Spielberg has referred to "1941" as his "unfunny comedy."The film does have some decent stuff:1) John Williams' rousing score.2) Slim Pickens' small role as "Hollis Wood."3) The choreography of the USO dance and ensuing riot.4) Nancy Allen and Dianne Kay (the hot blonde sister from "Eight is Enough") in 1940's outfits are very nice eye-candy.However, overall, it's a just a very loud, overlong, not particularly funny, and indulgent mess that fortunately Spielberg was able to dust himself off from and move-on.