![[box cover]](../../reviewimgs/00/1941.jpg)
1941: Collector's Edition
After the bombing of Pearl Harbor, panic-stricken Californians expect an imminent Japanese invasion, and zany, madcap hilarity ensues. Not really. 1941 is zany and madcap, but, amazingly and painfully, never remotely funny. Director Steven Spielberg brought his first golden age to a deadening thud with this misconceived "comedy" that relies on unmotivated broad actions instead of comic build-ups and pay-offs. With the unlikely team of Robert Zemeckis, Bob Gale, and John Milius collaborating on the screenplay, it should be no surprise that this was one of the biggest disasters of expectation in Hollywood history. Check out this cast: Dan Aykroyd, Ned Beatty, John Belushi, Lorraine Gary, Christopher Lee, Tim Matheson, Toshiro Mifune, Warren Oates, Robert Stack, Treat Williams, Nancy Allen, John Candy, Elisha Cook, Patti LuPone, Slim Pickens, Lionel Stander, and even hard-boiled director Samuel Fuller. But don't check out the movie. It stinks. Nevertheless, this Collector's Edition (are there actually "collectors" of this film?) is generously overflowing with extras, which only extend the misery. Presented in 2.35:1 widescreen and Dolby Digital 5.1. Extras include video interviews with Spielberg, Gale, Milius, Zemeckis, and composer John Williams, Spielberg's home movies and behind-the-scenes footage, outtakes, storyboards and productions photographs, advertising concepts, and marketing and publicity materials.
—Gregory P. Dorr
