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1941 (1979)
Rate:
1
Viewed:
10/25
10/25:
1941, Ishtar, Hudson Hawk, and
Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot...
These are "What the Fuck Were They Thinking?" films. Even harder to believe is 1941 was directed by Steven
Spielberg who had come off legendary masterpieces of
Jaws and Close Encounters of the Third Kind. This is something that
John Landis would've done instead. Not a minute passed when I thought there was a story.
It doesn't take me long into 1941 to ask, "Is this meant to be the WWII version of
Dr. Strangelove?" My suspicion would be confirmed in two ways: the
appearance of Slim Pickens and Dan Aykroyd's Peter Sellers-esque line: "If there's one thing I can't stand
seeing, it's Americans fighting Americans." Ironically, Stanley Kubrick thought that the film was impressive but
didn't work as a comedy, telling Steven Spielberg it would've played better as a drama.
All I saw are people being thrown around, chasing or fighting each other, and crashing into anything and stuff
being blown up repeatedly. It's amazing people back then thought this passed for entertainment. At the same
time, what a waste of a star-studded cast. Because of the gargantuan mess, I didn't realize Mickey Rourke,
James Caan, Murray Hamilton, Warren Oates, and Samuel Fuller, among others, were in the film until afterwards.
I have to point out the cinematography. The movie runs for 146 minutes, but I couldn't make out a lot. Either
there's a strong light in the background or the lighting is so soft as if somebody put a thin wax paper over
the lens. The same technique would be successfully readjusted in the first two
Indiana Jones pictures.
Regardless, it's hard to believe William A. Fraker was Oscar-nominated for Best Cinematography.
Oh, the Jaws parody at the beginning? Let me ask you this: if a woman goes
out swimming in the beach, how far would she go and how deep the water would be? All of a sudden, a submarine
comes out of nowhere from a total of maybe five feet of depth? Yeah, right.
All in all, 1941 is offensive to everybody who served in WWII.