Funniest moment for me was when the Japanese soldiers were trying to get a huge 1940 ‘s radio through the hatch into their submarine and one says to the other “We got to figure how to make these things smaller”.
“Are you seeing any planes?!” “No, Sir….but we’re shooting at them!!” SERIOUSLY underrated film, LOOSELY inspired by an actual event: The Battle Of Los Angeles. Feb. 1942🇺🇸
It's not as funny as it wants to be but there are definite laughs. For me, the appeal of the film is the grand spectacle of it all. Plus visual effects are top notch. Williams score. And you've got a great cast. Far from one of his better films but it's worth watching nonetheless. Personally, it is one of my favorite films. The musical number and choreography are excellent. It's the only reason I'm willing to give Spielberg's upcoming West Side Story a chance.
mark griffiths I wouldn’t say that’s it’s only redeeming quality. It’s still fun to watch. There are just somethings that could have been done better or different to make it more appealing to the masses
John Williams is a genius! All the movies he's composed music for is unreal. All blockbusters star wars, Jaws, Indiana jones, Superman, Jurassic Park and the first few Harry Potter movies
John William only composed in the incidental music, not the large scores..These are original 1930's compositions such as Sing, Sing, Sing written by Louis Prima but made famous by Benny Goodman. Williams arranged them, but didn't write them.
@@guitarfoundry This is not Sing Sing Sing. Sounds similar but the swing tune in this Soundtrack is called Swing Swing Swing. A play on Sing Sing Sing, but quite different and all composed by JW.
I was working in the Hollyweird production business at the time. The word around town was that this film was brilliant technologically, but short on entertainment. Boy were they wrong....can't watch it or listen to the track without smiling.....
My grandfather was a WWII veteran and I remember when I was young this movie was on and he enjoyed the humor in the film. He was not offended. Great movie with the best cast I have ever seen!!
Still love seeing that P-40 coming in for a landing on a country backroad .... Get my popcorn and candy and have a few hours of distraction this winter .... 2018 and this movie is still going strong
John Landis (who directed "Animal House," "The Blues Brothers," and "An American Werewolf In London") had a cameo as well portraying Mizerany. *General Joseph W. Stilwell:* "You know, son, Colonel Maddox is mad." *Cpl. Mizerany:* "He is?"
Oh My God, They Gave Him A Gun! Ward Douglas, dont you dare fire that gun in this house! BAM and all the windows blow out. When this on e first came out, I made the mistake of listening to the reviews. Saw it later on cable and kicked my self for not seeing it in the theatres. Classic screwball comedy that most people did not get. It was not meant to be serious. Speilberg let his hair down and my life has been the better for it. One of my all time favorite guilty pleasures.
Yeah, my friends and I went to see Star Trek: The Motion Picture, instead. Really wish we'd gone to see this one. Such a waste of money and a movie. =(
Revisited this movie today as my brother passed last month. As a fifteen and sixteen year old. We went to see Star Trek that had just came out on a whim and found we had two hours to kill. Being Saturday Night live fans we thought John Belushi? Hell yeah! Man was this a kick in the head.
"Did I get it?"...."Close, real close". " Ward Douglas don't you DARE fire that gun IN THIS HOUSE!" BAM!!!!!!!!!..... "oh, my plane, my plane, my SUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUB!!" "STREEEEEEEEETCH!" LMAO!!! This movie still cracks me up to this day, one of my all time favorite comedies. And the all star cast this film had, incredible.
Released in theatres on December 14, 1979 on the same day as "The Black Hole" the Disney-oriented science fiction flick,and this opened a week after "Star Trek:The Motion Picture" as one of the BIG Christmas attractions of 1979. While "Star Trek" and "Disney's The Black Hole" were given solid positive reviews, the Steven Spielburg action-comedy "1941" was a boxoffice flop upon its initial release. "1941" was Steven Spielburg's only attempt at a comedy not to mention Spielburg's special shoutout to Stanley Kramer. Even though it was a flop at the boxoffice, Spielburg came back roaring strong two years later with the movie that would define his career as a director..."Raiders of the Lost Ark"
It wasn't a "flop" at all, while it made money, it simply didn't do the blockbuster business Spielberg's previous films did. I saw it a few days before Christmas 1979 and the theater was packed! I saw it again in late January 1980 and there was still a good sized crowd!
1941 appeared to be Spielberg's attempt to do a It's a Mad,Mad,Mad,Mad,World/The Russian's Are Coming,the Russians Are Coming epic comedy. '41 isn't as great as those 2 films are but it has some hilarious scenes in it.And John Williams score is sensational!
"1941" was Steven Spielburg's first and only attempt at an action-adventure-comedy. When it was first released in December of 1979,the movie didn't sit well with critics,but audiences loved the slapstick humor with its all-star cast that featured Dan Ackroyd, John Belushi, Robert Stack, and Toshiro Mufune.
Hallelujah! You're back! What seems a Long time ago, when I first discovered your channel-I made no bones about it automatically becoming my favorite in the future. Months later, Every time I visited, I got a few movies plus "soundtrack packages" and all my old favorites were gone. After repeated visits of the same thing, I gave up- I figured maybe RU-vid has put you out of business. When I found this- John Williams' 1941- on my RU-vid feed ( last I looked: $100 for CD on Ebay- Not in MY lifetime!) I revisited, and lo and behold: Dozens and dozens of new music scores to my favorite movies- that I own on DVDs and VHS on my shelves ( the movies themselves, that is )You have been busy! But most important, all that glorious music to the best soundtracks of all time are available for me again. Thank you!!! ( Any favorite charity of yours you'd like me to contribute to $ to?? )
GROUND CREW! (What kind of lunatic runs this place.) I loved it when it came out. The film editor really screwed up a lot of the continuity that wasn't corrected until the director's cut came out.
Wild, whackey, and probably containing just a grain of truth as Americans tried to cope with the after-effects of Dec. 7. The dancing great, the actors - Belushi and Ackroid - nuff said, one of the best soundtracks ever, what's not to love! .
Too bad this soundtrack never got it's due, since it was married to Spielberg's first bomb. I have the vinyl and think this score is, in many ways, as huge an accomplishment as the score to RAIDERS. Thanks for posting!
*Here's the reason why Steven Spielberg's 1941 failed at the box office:* *Best parts of the movie - Dan Aykroyd as tank commander Sergeant Frank Tree and his tank crew(except for Treat Williams' character, who was a jerk); John Belushi as fighter pilot Captain "Wild" Bill Kelso and his P-40 Warhawk/Tomahawk; Tim Matheson as Captain Loomis Birkhead and love interest Nancy Allen as reporter/airplane enthusiast Donna Stratton; Toshiro Mifune as Japanese submarine Commander Akiro Mitamura and Christopher Lee as Nazi SS Captain Wolfgang von Kleinschmidt; and Robert Stack as Major General Joseph W. Stilwell.* *Worst parts of the movie - The entire main plot involving Wally and Betty's romance and the dance contest, and Betty's family having an anti-aircraft gun put in their backyard.*
***** Well, that's exactly the point. I wouldn't set the film in Los Angeles at all, or if I did, I wouldn't do the plotline involving the family and the dance contest. I'd probably set the film overseas, make Tim Matheson and Nancy Allen's characters the main romantic angle, and have Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi's characters as the main comedic leads, with as much emphasis on the tank and the fighter plane as possible. Still, I liked some elements of the film, which really showed Spielberg's interest in World War II combat and foreshadowed greater things to come, such as Raiders of the Lost Ark and Saving Private Ryan.
***** Well, it was actually Robert Zemeckis and Bob Gale who wrote the script for 1941, so that was mostly their idea. They wanted to combine the post-Pearl Harbor paranoia on the west coast with the "zoot-suit riots"(which didn't occur until 1943), along with an incident involving a Japanese submarine that actually appeared off the California coastline and fired on an oil refinery before retreating, as well as spoofing the Army putting anti-aircraft guns in civilians' yards, which also apparently happened. I just think it was way too much, and the movie got bogged down in the whole Wally/Betty story involving her family and the dance contest, which was pretty unnecessary. But I did love the other characters(whom I thought the movie should've focused on), and the special effects, sound, music, and cinematography were great.
+44excalibur The reason this movie failed is because the American public was not ready for a 2 hour episode of a Family Guy style comedy set in WW2. Ultimately that is 1941 at its core; a series of gags, jokes, physical comedy sketches and period pop culture references linked together by a periously thin plot. I'm also seriously disappointed that you omitted the hysterically crude scenes with Slim Pickens in your 'Best Parts' paragraph.
spinocus Well, there were other comedies at the time, such as 'Stripes,' for example, that did manage to be successful while mining those same gags that you mentioned. I think that '1941' problem was that the plot, like you said, was very thin. They should've focused on all of the good points of the movie that I pointed out, and omitted the entire Wally/Betty storyline and the part about Betty's family getting that stupid anti-aircraft gun. Oh, and I'm sorry for omitting Slim Pickens' scenes, but since I did mention Toshiro Mifune and Christopher Lee's scenes on the Japanese submarine I figured that included Pickens' scenes with them.
the person playing oboe in JAWS is Speilberg. Williams wanted someone who could couldnt play but not real well. I love the theme from all his movies even 1941. Williams has never done a crappy sone. Closest to mediocre was the Patriot with Mel Gibson.
When you put aside the big hits like Jaws and think about what are considered Steven Spielberg's "lesser" films like this wonderful, fun, fast-paced romp, you watch his new one "The Fablemans" and wonder what the HECK happened to that man? NO pace, NO fun, a 2.5 hour endless drudge through disfunction with 10 minutes of good stuff near the end. Damn shame, but glad his classics and offbeat efforts like this are still around.
David Widdowson Huh?Sounds........Nothing like Elmer Bernstein! John Williams is the most Distinctive sounding film composer in the history of Film and TV-Olympics etc!thanks!
PERFORMED 1983 WITH THE PRIDE OF CINCINNATI DRUM & BUGLE CORPS 1941 THEME , BRINGS BACK FOND MEMORIES , THANKS A BUNCH ! AWESOME MOVIE TOO ! WHATTA FILM CRITICS KNOW ANYWAY !?
Secretly brilliant but misunderstood film with an incredible soundtrack. Was a total misfire at the box office and with critics but in my opinion, the film has aged very well and shows Spielberg's ability to poke fun at himself. There are admittedly some super cringy things in the movie but honestly, it adds to the delight of the film for me. William's score is SO GOOD for this film, I believe it may have contributed to the movie's initial reception. The score is very whimsical, but may not be what a late 70's audience would relate to a satirical comedy, more likely at the time people were left with confusing feelings of the movie. If 1941 is considered to be among Speilberg's worst films he has quite a solid record.
Lost of comments on why the film did not do well. My take is the film is like a family shooting a 8mm film. You have bits and pieces but as a viewer you have no idea where it is going. From wild Bill to the submarine to the dance to the fields to the home and the gun. So if you like Saturday night live this is for you. I liked the film and the music but many people just don't get the movie.
Love this film and it's one of my favorite guilty pleasure films. Also the score might of inspired Alan Silvestri to make the score to Back to the Future cause I heard some cues that sounded like early Back to the Future cues.
