Back in the day's when Spielberg dared to be hilarious

Rating: 9/10 (26 May 2006)

I am writing this review on the day IMDb's daily poll question is "What is Steven Spielberg's most underrated film?". This one came in surprisingly low, considering how great it actually is. "Great" meaning not that it had a lot of hidden depth (you probably CAN write a treatise or two about paranoia and panic in times of war, as they are portrayed in this film, which is ever more important these days) or oh so much heart (like Spielberg's recent "Terminal" pretended to have) or anything. Fact is, it makes me laugh. An awful lot.
Spielberg just came off the success of "Jaws" and right the first scene plays with the audiences expectations regarding this director everyone was talking about. Once chaos takes hold of the Californian coast line, everything is possible, nothing that could not happen to make the next event more unpredictable, screams, explosions, belly-laughs. Aykroyd is typecast as a know-all sergeant who treats every situation as routine, Williams is delightfully menacing as psychotic "Stretch", Belushi somewhat unfathomable as ultra-macho lunatic "Wild Bill" Kelso. It all comes together to one big ruckus of a movie that turns every other thing upside down and always has me up in tears (of laughter) in the end.
Throw anything you think know about Spielberg today over board. He wouldn't make anything even vaguely approaching this today. He just doesn't dare to make hilarious comedies like he did here. Too sad.