McHale's Navy

All these crappy reviews must be from people who are die hard fans of the show. I've seen this movie multiple times and I always have a great time watching it. Just dont take it seriously and pretend it has absolutely nothing to do with the show.

So I just finished up with Down Periscope, so I'm off to the other Navy comedy. I have no idea why this is rated so low.

It's silly, but it's a comedy and is supposed to be. I can watch this one every so often and it's still funny. Relax a little bit and laugh, it's not real.

The original series starred Ernest Borgnine fresh off his film career which included an Academy Award winning performance as MARTY. The real stars of the show were Tim Conway and Joe Flynn, two comics with perfect timing. The rest of the crew was basically just wall paper (wall paper does have it's place, Gavin MacLeod made a career out of playing wall paper in this program, THE MARY TYLER MOORE SHOW, and THE LOVE BOAT). The humor of the show required that Conway or Flynn or both be on screen to get a laugh. Like many TV shows of the time, two theatrical features were made (in color) and the second only with Conway and Flynn. A remake of the whole thing flops mainly because of the lack of comic timing (a mix of slapstick and vaudeville) that Conway and Flynn brought to the original. About the same time as this remake Steve Martin and Dan Ackroyd attempted to remake another service related TV comedy SGT. BILKO. Martin and Ackroyd have timing and still flopped with the genre. So maybe the two shows could only be made at the time they were made with the people who made them. That makes them really special and why Nick at Nite and TV Land will have little competition from new Hollywood. Note: If you have any original ideas move to Hollywood, apparently there are no writers in Hollywood with original ideas. They can use you.

I watched this on a commercial station and between each advert break they flashed up the title card as 'McHale's War' instead of McHale's Navy, and that seemed to sum up the complete lack of interest this film generates in almost everybody. The TV station couldn't even get the title right. This is a bad film – a comedy that is consistently and forcefully unfunny. I didn't laugh once throughout the entire hellish running time, and only managed the barest ghost of a smile on a couple of occasions. Let's face it – any film in which Tom Arnold is the star is in trouble from the off. For all I know he may well be a wonderful person but he isn't a star and he isn't a comedian. The only time he's funny is during the 'action' sequences and when he tries to act serious: his nostrils flare a little and his eyes widen a touch and that's it – it's a kind of one-size-fits-all expression for every emotion he is called upon to express. He's supposed to be one of those charismatic types in this film, the type of guy everyone warms to the moment he opens his mouth. That's right – Tom Arnold. Did some casting executive read this part and really think to himself 'why, that's a part just tailor-made for that Tom Arnold chap? Hmmm. Dean Stockwell is also in this, he's quite a good actor but he's awful here – in fact he hasn't been much good in anything since Married to the Mob. Tim Curry is just a cartoon character in a flesh suit these days and sleepwalks through his role. The running joke about his being the second greatest terrorist in the world is done to death in the first twenty minutes of the film and then thankfully forgotten. Only the ever-solid Bill Campbell is worth a look, but his part is woefully small. The TV show was around before my time, so I've no point of reference with regard to how accurately this film captures the atmosphere of the show, but somehow I can't believe it was as lame as this. If it was the film would never have been greenlighted.

Do yourself a favour and do what everyone involved in this mess should have done: give it a wide, wide berth.

And it's not supposed to be. There are quite a few bad reviews of this movie -- bad acting, thin script, etc. All I got to say is get over it. This is one of those silly movies that you watch on a lazy summer day. The good guys win and the bad guys don't. Like I said it's not rocket science. However, if I had a choice between this movie and one of those equally implausible big budget Mission Impossible movies, I'll take McHale's Navy.