1941 Summary
MPAA Rating: PG
Director: Steven Spielberg
Genres: Comedy
Rating:
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, Rovi
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