1941

Steven Spielberg followed up Jaws and Close Encounters with 1979's "1941". Billed as a "comedy spectacular", it's like a Mad Mad World for the late 70's with a HUGE cast, millions of dollars splashed on the screen and more misses than hits in the laughs department. Weeks after Pearl Harbor, Los Angeles is on high alert for a potential Japanese attack. A huge cast of soldiers (John Belushi, Tim Matheson, Dan Aykroyd, Robert Stack) citizens (Ned Beatty, Murray Hamilton) and enemy commanders (Christopher Lee, Toshiro Mifune) converge on Santa Monica and Hollywood in this madcap farce. It starts off strong with a brilliant JAWS parody and then becomes pretty rough going for the next hour. Spielberg redeems himself in the last hour with everything clicking once the big dance kicks off. Spielberg apparently believes that BIGGER is better when it comes to comedy, because everything and ten kitchen sinks are thrown against the wall in the last half. This was a hugely expensive film and the money is there for all to see. The dogfight over Hollywood is excellent. The dance sequence and the ferris wheel attack are fantastic. However, the only adjective appropriate for the rest of the movie is LOUD. This movie is L O U D. I promise you one thing: LOUD does not equal funny. If it did, this would be the funniest movie ever made. What 1941 really is: proof that even Spielberg can have an off day, but his off days still have sequences that will knock your socks off. We'll blast 1941 with a VERY, VERY loud C, but enough really enjoyable and brilliantly directed scenes to make it a true guilty pleasure.