1941 DVD

1941
It's December of 1941, and the people of California are in varying states of unease, ranging from a sincere desire to defend the country to virtual blind panic in the wake of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Thus begin several story threads that comprise the "plot" of this strange period comedy, a sort of satirical disaster movie, from Steven Spielberg. The stories and story threads involve lusty young men, officers (Tim Matheson) and civilians (Bobby Di Cicco) alike, eager to bed the young ladies of their dreams; Wild Bill Kelso, a nutty fighter pilot (John Belushi) following what he thinks is a squadron of Japanese fighters along the California coast; a well-meaning but clumsy tank crew (including John Candy) led by straight-arrow, by-the-book Sgt. Tree (Dan Aykroyd), who doesn't recognize the thug (Treat Williams) in his command; and homeowner Ward Douglas (Ned Beatty), who is eager to do his part for the nation's defense and, despite the misgivings of his wife (Lorraine Gary), doesn't mind his front yard overlooking the ocean being chosen to house a 40 mm anti-aircraft gun. There is also a pair of grotesquely inept airplane spotters (Murray Hamilton, Eddie Deezen) who are doing their job from atop a ferris wheel at a beachfront amusement park; a paranoid army colonel (Warren Oates) positive that the Japanese are infiltrating from the hills; a big dance being held on behalf of servicemen, being attended by a lusty young woman of size (Wendie Jo Sperber) eager to land a man in uniform; and General Joseph "Vinegar Joe" Stillwell (Robert Stack), in charge of the defense of the West Coast, who can't seem to get anyone to listen to him when he says to keep calm. And, oh yes, there's also a real Japanese submarine that has gotten all the way to the California coast under the command of its captain (Toshiro Mifune) and a German officer observer (Christopher Lee), only to find itself without a working compass or usable maps. Its captain won't leave until the sub has attacked a militarily significant, honorable target, and the only one that anyone aboard ship knows of in California is Hollywood. By New Year's Eve, all of these characters are going to cross paths, directly or once-removed, in a comedy of errors and destruction strongly reminiscent of the finale to National Lampoon's Animal House (as well as several disaster movies from the same studio), but on a much larger and more impressive scale. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide

Cast Dan Aykroyd as Sgt. Tree Ned Beatty as Ward Douglas John Belushi as Wild Bill Kelso Lorraine Gary as Joan Douglas Murray Hamilton as Claude Toshiro Mifune as Cmdr. Mitamura Christopher Lee as Von Kleinschmidt Nancy Allen as Donna Robert Stack as Gen. Stilwell Tim Matheson as Birkhead Warren Oates as Maddox Treat Williams as Sitarski Eddie Deezen as Herbie Bobby Di Cicco as Wally Diane Kay as Betty John Candy as Foley Frank McRae as Ogden Johnson Jones Perry Lang as Dennis Slim Pickens as Hollis Wood Wendie Jo Sperber as Maxine Lionel Stander as Scioli Iggie Wolfington as Meyer Mishkin Joe Flaherty as USO M.C.

Crew William F. O'Brien - Art Director Michael Kahn - Associate Producer Sally Dennison - Casting Paul de Rolf - Choreography Judy Van Wormer - Choreography Deborah Nadoolman - Costume Designer Jerry Ziesmer - First Assistant Director Steve Perry - First Assistant Director Steven Spielberg - Director Michael Kahn - Editor John Milius - Executive Producer John Williams - Composer (Music Score) Abe Olman - Songwriter Bob Troup - Songwriter Jack Yellen - Songwriter Dean Edward Mitzner - Production Designer William A. Fraker - Cinematographer Buzz Feitshans - Producer John P. Austin - Set Designer A.D. Flowers - Special Effects Robert Glass - Sound/Sound Designer Gene S. Cantamessa - Sound/Sound Designer Terry J. Leonard - Stunts Bud Ekins - Stunts Mario Roberts - Stunts Terry J. Leonard - Stunts Coordinator Robert Zemeckis - Screenwriter Bob Gale - Screenwriter Donald Myers - Special Effects Technician

1941
One can look at 1941 today and justifiably wonder, "What was Steven Spielberg thinking?" Or was he really thinking clearly at all? Long before the events of September 11, 2001 made sneak attacks on the United States a serious matter for modern audiences, 1941 seemed a grotesque misfire of a comedy; most of the material that's supposed to be funny seems silly, and most of the actors seem to be straining to be funny, and going so far over the top as to be ridiculous. Not that there aren't some good moments and scenes, as well as portrayals that, in a more careful and subtle production, would have worked -- Ned Beatty and Lorraine Gary are funny, John Belushi, Slim Pickens, and John Candy have their moments, and Wendie Jo Sperber steals every scene in which she appears. Even Dan Aykroyd (doing what amounts to a dry run for his portrayal of Joe Friday in Dragnet) and Robert Stack do well in straight, nicely understated performances. But the rest -- and there's a lot of "the rest" in a cast of over 50 and a running time of 146 minutes -- is so over-the-top, between the multi-layered stunt work, the bathroom humor, and the compound (and ultimately repetitive) slapstick comedy, and so off-balance and off-putting as to render the movie never more than moderately amusing. All of that makes this picture a chore to enjoy, albeit an interesting one. What makes 1941 so odd is that Spielberg and company did succeed in creating several more subtle layers of humor, though these mostly take the form of in-jokes that only movie professionals, critics, and pop-culture fanatics could appreciate: Dan Aykroyd's first scene is a brilliant parody of Cliff Robertson's opening scene from Midway (another Universal production), and the opening credits and the time and date references covering the scene changes also parody the style of Universal's large-scale disaster movies, most notably The Hindenburg and Earthquake. Even John Williams got into the act with his score, which is a good parody of his own epic style and displays one element of extraordinary subtlety (for Williams) -- the music associated with John Belushi's crazy pilot utilizes a chord structure heard in the patriotic song "Reuben James," in a way that would be reverential in any other context but here comes off as totally loopy. The movie was released at 118 minutes; however, in keeping with Universal's approach to network showings of its major films, 28 minutes of material was restored for the network presentation of 1941, and was fully reintegrated, in full Panavision aspect ratio, for the mid-'90s laserdisc and the subsequent DVD edition. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide
 

A.D. Flowers: Academy, Best Visual Effects (nominated) Don MacDougall: Academy, Best Sound (nominated) Gene S. Cantamessa: Academy, Best Sound (nominated) Gregory Jein: Academy, Best Visual Effects (nominated) Robert Glass: Academy, Best Sound (nominated) Robert Knudson: Academy, Best Sound (nominated) William A. Fraker: Academy, Best Cinematography (nominated) William A. Fraker: Academy, Best Visual Effects (nominated)

General Specifications: Language Options: English Subtitle Options: French, Spanish, English Sound Processing: DD5.1: Dolby Digital w/ sub-woofer channel Additional Features: Restored footage not included in the original theatrical release Original documentary "The Making of 1941," including interviews with Steven Spielberg, Bob Gale, John Milius, Robert Zemeckis, and others involved in the film Steven Spielberg's home movies and behind-the-scenes footage Theatrical trailers Outtakes from the film Storyboards and production photographs Original advertising, marketing, and publicity materials DVD Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1: Cinemascope MPAA Rating: NR DVD Discs Included: 1 DVD Sides: 1 DVD DVD Region Code: 1 Content Length: 146 min Part of Series: Universal Widescreen Collector's Edition   DVD Chapters: Side #1 0. Chapter List 1. Main titles: to defend their homeland.... [1:23] 2. The Northern California Coast. [2:21] 3. Something honorable to destroy. [2:56] 4. The dancing dishwasher. [3:56] 5. Miss Fitzroy's rules. [1:13] 6. The boogie-woogie suit. [2:20] 7. War nerves. [1:44] 8. A state of insanity. [1:44] 9. Planes on the brain. [3:24] 10. No bombs dropped here. [3:46] 11. The Douglas home. [4:21] 12. Guns in the house. [2:12] 13. For the civil defense. [1:06] 14. Sitarski's manners. [3:54] 15. The landing party. [2:15] 16. Hollis "Holly" Wood. [2:18] 17. The ace of the air. [1:32] 18. Prisoner of the Axis. [2:53] 19. The prize in the popper Jacks. [1:53] 20. The acrophobe and the idiot. [3:47] 21. Dishonorable discharges. [3:15] 22. A message from the madman. [2:54] 23. Dinner at the Douglases'. [:54] 24. A father-daughter talk. [:59] 25. Combat-ready. [1:37] 26. The suits and the sailors. [2:12] 27. Hollywood nights. [3:39] 28. A man in uniform. [3:02] 29. The jitterbug contest. [1:37] 30. The big brawl. [2:23] 31. Madman Maddox. [1:41] 32. Back at the brawl. [3:00] 33. The suicide mission. [1:22] 34. When I see an elephant fly.... [2:07] 35. Wild Bill comes to Barstow. [1:31] 36. The "enemy aircraft". [3:21] 37. Like a bunch of Tojo Stooges. [1:15] 38. After the brawl is over. [1:57] 39. Red alert. [2:59] 40. Invasion!. [1:11] 41. Hellcats over Hollywood. [3:22] 42. He's wearin' the stripes. [3:22] 43. This is war!. [1:52] 44. The invasion of Ocean Park. [3:05] 45. Betty besieged. [:35] 46. Kelso's crash landing. [1:56] 47. Get that sub. [2:27] 48. We're sinking a sub tonight!. [1:23] 49. Right in their sights. [3:23] 50. The long way to Ocean Park. [1:38] 51. Ward takes his shot. [1:26] 52. Sitarski's sayonara. [2:09] 53. Ward's last shot. [1:23] 54. Trapped like beavers. [1:21] 55. A long roll off a short pier. [1:58] 56. The tank and the torpedo. [2:01] 57. Take me to Tokyo. [2:23] 58. The morning after. [3:37] 59. Bringing down the house. [1:44] 60. End titles. [2:23] 0. Chapter List