Review of 1941 (1941) by Matthew K — 09 Jul 2011

After watching this film, it has left me to ask the question 'Was Spielberg bored when he made this?' Was he trying to pass the time while completing Close Encounters of the Third Kind and while writing the script for Raiders of the Lost Ark? Though the film isn't terrible, it is however, bad and should I say, pointless? I can understand if Spielberg made this to just have a fun time with an era he grew up loving, but the story he has told is both sloppy and over the top.

The script is what's sloppy, and written by Robert Zemeckis and Bob Gale(who later wrote the Back to the Future trilogy), this was not a good attempt... Now, this is a comedy, and looking at it that way(the way it was intended), there are a number of quick laughs at things, such as in the opening scene, it makes fun of the opening of Jaws where the naked woman goes out to swim, instead of being attacked by the great white shark, she gets lifted up into the air by a submarine's para-scope---a Japanese submarine with Japs full of intent on destroying the 'heart' of America---they plan to blow up Hollywood.

Another good(and quick) laugh is where John Belushi's character lands his fighter plane on a road and parks it next to a gas pump, where he gets out and tells the lady working to fill it up. There are a handful more of these little moments, but most of everything else is just not worth the time.

.. What disappoints me is that Spielberg has gone from classic and quality films('Jaws' and 'Close Encounters') to a film like this, where 'quality' is overtaken with 'quantity', and that focus of quantity is the great amount of gags and 'Three Stooges' moments that just doesn't seem to do its job in making us laugh hard.

Now, if you don't care about 'quality', then you'll probably like the 'quantity'. As much as I didn't enjoy this film made by Spielberg, I have of course forgiven the fact that it was made, because from the future onwards he has given us many more classics like the Indiana Jones trilogy, Schindler's List, Jurassic Park and Saving Private Ryan(which goes to show that every great filmmaker, once in a while, or LONG WHILE, makes a round of great films, then makes a DUD, but then continues with another round of great films.