Why on earth did this movie bomb?

Rating: 9/10 (22 January 2004)

My only guess for the dismal box office performance is that it was just too far ahead of its time. The superb movie-making abilities of Spielberg combined with an elaborate, star-studded comedy probably proved more than your typical moviegoer could digest back in 1979. '1941' is the only movie I can remember seeing that I thought was funny as hell when I watched it as a kid, and still thought it was funny 20 years later. The gags, characters, and elaborate sets lost none of their charm in the transition between preadolescence and adulthood (which is not usually the case).
The story takes place on the California coast less than a week after the Pearl Harbor attacks. Both civilians and soldiers are skittish, paranoid, and seeing Japanese soldiers everywhere they look. In no time they lose all self control in a desperate effort to fight off a (mostly) imaginary enemy. I think with the sole exception of General Joe Stilwell (Robert Stack) there is not one person in the cast who stays sane or levelheaded throughout the movie.
I am, of course, greatly oversimplifying the plot. The movie actually follows about eight or nine different story lines that eventually converge and feed off each other in a way seldom seen in cinema. The first 30 minutes are a bit slow as the movie sets itself up, but once it gets rolling you'll laugh till it hurts.