Rating:  Summary: A Director's Cut That Really Really Works Review: Doggone, but this movie works soooo much better with the cut material back in. Pace, character-- it all flows more smoothly. Still a flawed gem, but loads of fun with some killer set pieces. Toss out your video of the studio cut, cleanse your memory, and then watch this. It's afilm not even remotely deserving of the bad rap it's carried over the years.
Rating:  Summary: A thirty million dollar clinker Review: Every film maker, at some point, has a big flop in his time. Some of them have more, many more. Steven Spielberg is lucky to have had only two of them.That said, however, "1941" is still not a very good film. This is the only film of Spielberg's (aside from the equally bloated HOOK) that I could do without in my video collection. It is loosely based on a wave of war hysteria that broke out in Los Angeles when a Japanese sub was spotted off the coast (an event that actually took place in February 1942; the story backdates it to a week after the Pearl Harbor attack). Starting from a (presumably) hysterically funny screenplay by Robert Zemeckis and Bob Gale (who would later do BACK TO THE FUTURE), with help from right-wing gung-ho schlockmeister John Milius, Spielberg assembled a huge cast of stars: Dan Aykroyd, Ned Beatty, John Belushi, John Candy, Nancy Allen, Tim Matheson, Treat Williams, Robert Stack, Warren Oates, Slim Pickens, Lionel Stander, Dub Taylor, and many, many more. He also got a first-rate technical crew with him, which resulted in "1941" picking up three Oscar nominations. And there are certainly explosions, sight gags, jitterbug dances, facial mugging, and fight scenes by the score. The problem, however, is that very little of it is actually FUNNY. Isn't that what comedy is supposed to be?! A lot of other reviewers here said that they laughed their heads off. I won't dissuade them from feeling that way, but all I can say is that I didn't. This wasn't an out-and-out laugh riot like AIRPLANE!; and if it was intended to be a political satire, it fell way short of the mark. There are laughs in it, but it never manages to be consistently funny from start to finish. John Williams' unusually jaunty music score is the best thing about "1941". Other than that, however, this is a thirty million dollar clinker, one that thankfully Spielberg bounced back from.
Rating:  Summary: One of the Funniest movies i have ever seen Review: First watched this movie, borrowing from a Library. Though it is a old movie by now, liked it so much that watched for 6-7 times and planning to buy the DVD. discovered that master director speilberg had a master comedy film on his list.
Rating:  Summary: 1941 Review: Follwing the one-two hits of JAWS and CLOSE ENCOUNTERS, 1941 is a rare Spielberg dissapointment compared to his best work. Not to say that the film dosn't have it's moments, but the sum of it's parts works better than the movie as a whole. As Spielberg protege said: "Steven's direction was brilliant, the idea was terrible." Which pretty much sums up the whole film. But repeated viewings of this rather haphazard comedy shows that there are some clever comedic set-pieces, the film rests squarley on large-scale effects and screaming comedy, which is hardly cohesive. Dan Akroyd is good, as are the rest of the cast including John Belushi, Christopher Lee, Toshiro Mifune, Robert Stack, John Candy and Treat Williams. But the impressive cast gets swamped by the overly-loud visuals. This is also the one time when John Williams' brass, strident score hampers the film by making it even louder. Highlights include Wild Bill Kelso (Belushi)'s anitcs, the audacious attack on the amusement park and a large Ferris wheel falling into the sea. It's actually not as bad as what critics thought when the film had it's uncertain release in 1979, but not that good when compared to his best work. An interesting curio for fans, but it lacks the classic Spielberg touch that his previous efforts have.
Rating:  Summary: A fiasco, and an absolute must see Review: Here is why you need to see this movie: 1. It's amazing to look at--the period detail, the widescreen cinematography, the obviously loving (and expensive) re-creation of another era. 2. The worst acting of any movie ever. The timing is so off, the acting so broad, the delivery so bizarre...it is like watching a movie that just landed here from another planet, where the idea of comedy is different from our own on Earth. 3. The worst script of the 1970s (including TV movies). Is it possible anyone in this cast read this script (can you IMAGINE how it must read on paper?!). Scenes go on and come to nothing. The "characters," and their relation to each other, are so bizarre, so devoid of motivation and any depth whatsoever, it seems like it MUST have been intentional, like some kind of post-modern experiment. 4. It contains no laughs. Even boobie-movies from the early 80s were funnier. Because there are no comic "straight men", and everyone is so, uh, "wacky" it just isn't funny. Again, the comic set pieces (two guys on a ferris wheel wathcing for a Japanese sub, girl who only likes sex in airplanes, etc) are from some kind of alternate universe. What is any of this inspired by? What is it poking fun of? Who is this comedy aimed at? 12 year old veterans? 5. It is terrible...spectacularly, awesomely bad. Bad in the way only really, really big-budget movies can be bad. You will not believe your eyes and ears. And after seeing it, you can get a cup of coffee and curl up and read these positive (!) reviews on this website, and wonder what movie called "1941" these people actually watched....because it simply cannot be the movie on this DVD.
Rating:  Summary: One word says it all: TERRIBLE Review: Hey listen, I'm a HUGE fan of John Belushi, but this my be one of the worst movies you'll ever see. I'm not kiddin' you either. Spielberg did a bad job as a director. There is an all-star cast;Tim Matheson, John Belushi, Dan Akroyd, and John Candy. They tried to have John Belushi play the same type of character as in Animal House and it turned out to be a disaster. If you are thinking of buying or renting this film here is some advice; Do not rent it or buy it. It is a waste of a night.
Rating:  Summary: YOR OPINION IS THE ONLY ONE THAT MATTERS Review: hey man a great ww2 movie. the best of the best. of course the quality of the dvd itself isn't top quality its still great. don't expect all dvd's to be with the best picture and sound because they all aren't. this one might not have the best sound or picture but i still think its good. i know everyone else is saying there own personal opinons about this movie. but the only way to get the real truth is to see it yorself. rent it first to see for yorself. u don't have to know much about ww2 either. its fun for the whole family!!!
Rating:  Summary: Weak but funny movie, terrible DVD Review: I agree with those who say that this movie, while stupid, is still funny. No one, though, has said how truly bad this DVD is. I have about 150 in my collection, and "1941" is one of the worst for video quality. The print is murky and scratched. Colors are faded. It almost looks as bad as a VHS tapes; in some ways it's worse. On VHS, at least there is the excuse of that being why the quality is bad. On DVD, Universal has only itself to blame. Others in the Universal "Collectors Series", like "Dante's Peak" and "Apollo 13" have been great examples of what DVD can do. I know that "1941" was delayed a couple of times due to production problems. It probably should have been canceled, or at least held up until a full digital restoration could be completed.
Rating:  Summary: 1941 is not Anamorphic. Review: I am impressed with the extras on this 1941 DVD. It has good interviews in a long making of documentary,it has outtakes and is the directors cut with extra scenes. But why would they go to all this effort and not make it anamorphic? That would have improved the picture quality which is very disappointing.
Rating:  Summary: "Ahhhhhh, Dumbo" Review: I am sorry to hear that so many people did not like this film. It would have to be one of my all time favorites. Yah, there's a lot of screaming. Yah, there's a lot of running around. Yah, there's a lot of overacting, but this is what makes it so great. No thinking needed. A wonderful sit down-eat a snack-drink a beverage of your choice movie. Don't expect a high quality movie, but do expect a comedy that can leave you laughing. Some great names in there as well.
|