nick kulasa (Kulasa@sbcglobal.net) wrote on IMDB:
One of the most satisfying things about reviewing movies is that you
get to defend the ones you love. Steven Spielberg's 1941 is a film that
has been ridiculed, vilified and just plain hated since it was released
in 1979. Yes, it's way overdone and quite cartoonish, but I think it's
damn entertaining.
Hey, blame Universal. They're the ones who kept throwing money at this
project when it was widely known throughout Hollywood that it was a
mess. But guess what? It's funny. Sure, it's a misfire and it lost A
LOT of money, but it makes me laugh every time I see it and I watch it
about once a year. Young Steven obviously bit off a little more than he
could chew on this one, and sometimes it threatens to explode like a
tube of toothpaste in a microwave oven, but let's examine the good
points: 1. The story--A small California town near Hollywood, in the
grips of war hysteria, believe they are being attacked by a Japanese
submarine and a fleet of airplanes. Turns out they're right, but it
doesn't really matter here. What matters is slapstick humor and a bunch
of destruction. I mean a LOT of destruction. (More on that later.) 2.
The cast--John Belushi, Dan Aykroyd, Tim Matheson, John Candy, Ned
Beatty, Robert Stack, Nancy Allen, Treat Williams, John Candy, Warren
Oates, Christopher Lee, Toshiro Mifune, Slim Pickens, Eddie Deezen,
Perry Lang, Bobby Di Cicco, even Michael McKean and David Lander (Lenny
& Squiggy) show up together. 1941 offers some great comedic characters
in just over-the-top ridiculous situations. (Would you fly a plane just
to sleep with Nancy Allen?) 3. The spectacle--The USO dancing scenes
are wonderful, Spielberg's Rube Goldberg-like contraptions are great,
everyone screaming things like "What the HELL is THAT?", and everyone
looks like they're having fun with this movie. (Indeed, it is well
documented that 1941 was NOT a "fun shoot".) This movie offers some
things that you've never seen in a movie before, and won't ever again.
Which leads us to.... [ show more ]
4. The destruction--Everything in this movie gets destroyed: Beautiful
mountaintop houses, giant Ferris wheels (in a classic scene), four or
five airplanes, dance halls, movie theaters, Santa Claus, and
especially people. There are pratfalls, huge brawls, nasty fistfights
and air battles. (Hey, it was co-written by Bob Gale, Robert Zemeckis,
and John Milius. These guys would go on to somewhat successful
careers.) 5. The rest--There are car chases, motorcycle chases, and
Japanese soldiers disguised as Christmas trees (in the director's cut.)
There's Slim Pickens being forced to poop at gunpoint, chubby Wendy Jo
Sperber desperately trying to make out with Treat Williams (who gives a
wonderfully sleazy performance), and nerdy Eddie Deezen as the world's
most annoying ventriloquist. There's Ned Beatty shooting an
anti-aircraft gun through his house, Dan Aykroyd frothing at the mouth,
smooth Tim Matheson trying to get some lovin', and John Belushi
sweating and flipping out every five minutes.
6. My reasoning--I've stated before that movies you love as a kid you
often feel very passionately about as you get older. (Although I have
since reconsidered my long-ago love for Scavenger Hunt.) An 11-year old
movie nut doesn't know anything about narrative or a director in over
his head. I watched this with wide-eyed amazement when I was a kid, and
I still do to this day. Although it's a satire, I wouldn't classify it
in the same vein as Airplane! or the like. It's more like a Mad
Magazine version of the war. I realize it's a mess, but it's a movie I
will always love and defend.
Disclaimer: It's tough for a movie like 1941 to earn any new fans,
because of its reputation as a monumental bust. This is no Howard the
Duck or Ishtar, you know. (By the way, neither of those movies is as
bad as the critical Armageddon they both received, either.) I think
Spielberg was due for some backlash thanks to the brilliant work he did
on Jaws and Close Encounters, and 1941 is certainly an easy target. I
wish more people liked this movie. It would make my life so much less
stressful.
Plus, you have to love a movie that has a tank drive through a paint
store, come out the other side looking like a rainbow, then having it
drive through a turpentine plant, only to end up spotless. It's just a
brilliant and wonderful waste of Hollywood money.
Yes, I give it ten stars. I do this because I love it and NOT because I
think it's a 'brilliant and wonderful' movie. Guilty pleasures are one
of the best things in life, and 1941 will always have a welcome spot in
my movie collection. And Spielberg knew what he was doing: When you
close your movie with a picture of each cast member screaming at the
top of their lungs over the credits, well that's just fun. Oh, and John
Williams contributes one of the great musical scores of the past twenty
years in this movie, period. [ show less ]
Written on IMDB a long time ago.
