twhiteson 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.

ofpsmith After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor paranoia swept across the nation as the United States was swept into World War 2. One of the most prominent areas of paranoia following December 7th was the West Coast, in particular California cities like Los Angeles and San Francisco. Nothing like the films events occurred in real life, but at the time it was a real concern. The plot of 1941 is in the context of this paranoia. While the film isn't great (especially by Steven Spielberg standards), to say the film is boring would be false. One of the best things about the movie is the characters. There are a few throw away characters but those played by Dan Akroyd, John Belushi, Toshiro Mifune, Christopher Lee, Ned Beatty, John Candy, Warren Oates, and Slim Pickens are a lot of fun to watch, even if some of them aren't in the movie very long. There's also a bunch of great gags. But the flaws are pretty prevalent as well. As funny as some of the jokes are, there's also other ones that are just painful or awkward. In conclusion, the film is relatively enjoyable but the flaws can leave you imagining how it could have been a better movie. I do recommend it as it is very entertaining, but the flaws exist.

chaz7227 I just love this movie so many great scenes with so many classic actors... I am not sure why this great movie is so underrated & so unappreciated it is truly one of the greatest movies to come out of 1979 as I consider it one of the greatest comedies of the 80's & of all time...Just look at some of the individual scenes on their own...The great Jaws opening spoof... John Belushi is incredible with both of his characters...Dan Aykroyd and John Candy fantastic especially later in the tank scene...Timothy Stack, Treat Williams, and Nancy Williams all great...Warren Oats and Robert Stack both great...Every scene with Slim Pickens just classic the Submarine scenes some of the best pure gut laughter the spoof of Dr. Strangelove great stuff...And the dummy just hilarious my god the dummies right...If you don't laugh at this wonderful film you are dead inside...Steven deserves some recognition for this well directed film!!!

eric262003 If you like war-themed comedies like "Kelly's Heroes", "MASH" and sitcoms like "Hogan's Heroes" didn't tickle your funny-bone, maybe Steven Spielberg has the key to find your sense of humour. When it came out in 1979, "1941" was custom made for fans who want to avoid subtle comedy and love their comedy to be loud, punchy and over-the-top. Sadly, this movie failed at the box office, But when I got the DVD, I actually enjoyed it, not like in a life-changing perspective, sort of like a guilty pleasure.There was once a rumour that went on the before Robert Stack ("Unsolved mysteries") took the role of General Stilwell, dramatic actors like John Wayne and Charlton Heston were considered for the part. But they rebuffed at the request because of their military background, they thought this movie was irreverent to the real Pearl Harbor incident.However, setting of the story is real and the details were very accurate. In the year 1941, Americans had a look of concern after they bombed the Japanese, fearing that the Japanese would retaliate by bombing the United States, particularly California as the entire city of Los Angeles was abuzz with fear, paranoia and it showed America at war with a different perspective in their emotional stances. Not to offend anyone, but Americans have made us think that they were brave, fearless and practically laughed in the face of danger. But here we see a refreshing look that proves otherwise. American soldiers were no different from other nations as fear, insecurity and uncertainty was manifesting through the minds of millions of Americans. Japan actually got their revenge, but it was in Washington State, but it didn't last long. Americans protected themselves by setting up concentration camps towards Asian-Americans.And yet, Spielberg had succeeded to take the time to actually find reason to laugh at all the hysteria. No wonder Wayne and Heston refused to participate in the movie. Sadly for them, this movie was absolutely hilarious in a slapstick manner that works on many levels. the plot was quite narrow thin, just a plethora of gags and spoofs that carry the film in its two hour duration. It may not be for everyone, but before you make any judgments, see it for yourself, even if its for a rental.The DVD extras feature some very special tidbits, but one of my favourite feature is the "making of" and the cast interviews. There's a cornucopia of details in that relates to the scenes featured and scenes they attempted, but didn't quite work including the torpedo coming after civilians. Mr. Spielberg takes the liberty to showcase some home movies that he filmed himself as an inspiration for the making of his project.The cast is filled with top notch comical actors including the late John Belushi, Dan Ackroyd, John Candy, Slim Pickens among others. Not to mention lesser comical performers like Christopher Lee, Robert Stack, Tosiro Mifune and Treat Williams.The interface can at times be quite troubling. For instance when selecting a scene, it shows sets of six per scene. Unlike other DVD's in this movie, choices are not featured unless you press ENTER. Unless you remember the scene options you will likely be lost. It's unorthodox that they refrained from automatic switching like on every other DVD. It may not be anamorphic, but it's still in letterbox.If you're into comedy especially the crazy antics of John Belushi and company as it spoofs a weak point in American history during WWII. And if you're all good sports about a comedy poking fun at a time when there was little to laugh about, then you might enjoy this movie. Even if this movie is not your cup of tea, at least check it out before you start to cast the first stone.