In Spielberg's first Second World War movie he takes a rather unusual look at the period, especially when now we know what emotional brilliance he later brought to the screen. 1941 is a crazy slapstick comedy! It is a combination of 3 young filmmakers full of energy and excitement as they brace the film industry. The screenplay is written by Robert Zemeckis, Bob Gale, and John Milius, of which separately created films such as Back To The Future, Apocalypse Now, and Forrest Gump. I do personally think that 1941 is a good film that is very harshly rated. It is on the same comedic format of films like Airplane and Naked Gun.

Industry folk in the late 70s seemed to desperately want Spielberg to fail. This fresh filmmaker created the summer blockbuster and cinema's highest grossing movie ever made (at the time), surely he couldn't keep going? For me I believe he does, it is not an exceptional movie but it is definitely entertaining. Spielberg's movies tend to linger around or above the 2 hour mark, however, this one would have benefited from a shorter length. Around the 90 minute mark would have knitted the story more tightly together and took out any of the unnecessary loose ends.

There are a plethora of characters involved in 1941, which maybe adds to the dislike of this film. Some characters feel like a recurring joke from a sketch show, simply being used for a quick laugh before the story continues. John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd are tagged as the big stars on the DVD cover but neither of which contribute to the story nor are exceptionally funny. John Belushi's character was supposed to be very minor at first but when Belushi was cast they decided to make his role more prominent, however, I feel this was a mistake. Belushi does a couple of comedy gags here and there but he is possibly the most unnecessary character of them all, destroying the flow of any story that there is in this film. Dan Aykroyd is also very forgettable, playing another questionable character in regards to his contribution to the story.

Spielberg himself later stated that what killed the comedy from 1941 was the amount of destruction and the noise level that drowned any humour out of it. Originally, the character of Wally (Bobby Di Cicco) was supposed to make an impact on everyone else within the story, which would have created a structural link, however, Bob Gale (screenwriter) said that this was lost in post production. This unfortunately leads us with a mix of differing characters that do not really have any relation to each other leading us to question their purpose. In the end we do not particularly care about what happens to the characters, which shows the lack of character depth implemented, but they are enjoyable to watch and mostly all likeable. We are only watching for the comedic set pieces, which it does deliver on.

Parts of the film were apparently based on real events according to Bob Gale. It is true that Los Angeles believed that there was a Japanese plane above in '41, so they started shooting into the sky, but in fact nothing at all was there! I like the idea of this as it keeps the comedy, knowing that some parts actually happened. The special effects are also brilliant as with any Spielberg film, especially considering it is without CG, however, as Spielberg himself said in later years this may be its downfall. Too much effects and too many explosions!

Altogether, the film did get some bad reviews, but it was NOT a box office flop. Columbia and Universal both came away happy with the profits it made, and I think it's a rather good, fun, and crazy film too. For any haters of this film at least you can surely admit that Spielberg made it up to you by bringing out a cinema classic just two years later with Indiana Jones...

I was really excited to see 1941 when it turned out to be on Bravo's 100 Funniest Movies, not to mention that when I looked at the cover at Hollywood Video, this movie had Dan Aykroyd, John Candy, John Belushi, among some of Hollywood's greatest actors. Now the fact that Steven Spielberg directed the movie got me more excited. When I checked out the rating for 1941, I got scared, I mean 5.5 isn't that exciting. Especially for a Spielberg film, usually most people get excited and love the film. Now granted, Spielberg was never the king of comedies, but 1941 is a decent film that gives you a few laughs, it's just a screw ball comedy, I admit some jokes are a little random, but over all this is a film that works and is just plain fun. Yes, it's a bit long and sometimes a little odd, the story though was something that was fun because sometimes we just need a little fun with history.

It's 6 days after the Pearl Harbor bombing and now the Japenese are coming after United State's pride and joy, Hollywood, lol. Basically, we just go through California citizen's lives and what they are going through. We have the wacky couple who can't seem to stay together. A silly guy with huge pride for his country. An army who seems to have a hard time getting how to actually fight. A crazed air pilot, crazy German captains, along with the Japenese who invaded the country are dressed up as Christmas trees. Well, let's just hope that they'll be alright with this silly invasion.

1941 is at times very random and doesn't know wither to be a mental comedy or a screwball comedy, but it still delivers a good laugh to those who are just looking for a fun movie. Don't go by the rating here on IMDb, I actually had fun watching this film and I'm not sure why people are giving it a hard time. But it looks like the cast had a genuinely good time making this film. The story is a bit much to follow, but it's worth a watch at least. 1941 is all in good fun, so just grab the popcorn and have a few laughs, I'm sure you'll get it with at least John Belushi's character.

7/10

Director Steven Spielberg's first theatrical misfire has bombastic humor and amped-up energy to spare--all it needs is a sharp, merciless editor to eliminate its excesses. Made up of equal parts "I Wanna Hold Your Hold" and "Animal House", the film opens with a spoof of "Jaws" that is funny and well done. The USO sequence is alive and crackling (any of the scenes with Bobby DiCicco and Dianne Kay are good), however John Belushi's Captain Wild Bill Kelso is a nuisance (perhaps recasting Belushi in Treat Williams' role of Corporal Sitarski might have saved some time). Buried under the morass is a fitfully funny spoof of wartime, although I tired easily of Ned Beatty running around with a shotgun. Robert Stack is wonderful, and the scenes between Tim Matheson and Nancy Allen in the airplane are fine if overextended, just like most of the bits and pieces in "1941". It has gloppy cinematography, messy comic staging and unconvincing sets. Spielberg's hopes for a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad War surely include isolated moments of inspiration--even brilliance--but those moments get trampled in the traffic. ** from ****