Review of 1941 (1979) by Rj M — 02 Jun 2008

An unsung classic from the same team that brought us the Back To The Future trilogy. Written by Robert Zemekis and Bob Gale, and directed by Steven Spielberg. An all star cast goes for broke in the story of how paranoia gripped America in the wake of the attack on Pearl Harbor.

Everyone was sure they were next. Commies were everywhere, they were sure of it. John Belushi is "Wild" Bill Kelso, a renegade army pilot that is convinced that he's hot on the trail of hidden squadrons of Japenese Zeros.

A wayard tank company led by Dan Aykroyd asks family man Ned Beatty to post an anti-aircraft gun in his front yard. Toshiro Mifune is the commander of a lone Japenese submarine that is determined to blow something up, having missed out on Pearl Harbor.

So he and his crew set their sites on Hollywood. In their quest, they capture a local man named Hollis Wood, played ultimate redneck Slim Pickens. All of this going down while soldiers, saliors, and marines break out into an all out brawl during a USO dance.

Lost of laughs and action, and some of the best miniature special effects work in cinema history. Standouts in that area is an attack by the Japenese on an amusement park (watch the ferris wheel), and a dogfight over Los Angeles between Belushi's P-40 Tomahawk, and an unarmed plane containg to hot and heavy lovers whose entry into the mile high club accidentally gets them identified as an enemy fighter.

Steven Spielberg supposedly issued an apology for this movie when it bombed in theaters. No apology necessary, Steve. You should be proud of it. You've made FAR worse movies (Hook, AI, The Terminal).