The epitomy of 70s comedy

Rating: 7/10 (9 March 2019)

If you approach this film looking for the loftiness of a Close Encounters of the Third Kind or an E.T. you are going to hate it. If you are a humorless, hard-core military supporter who views any kinds of jabs at the armed forces as an affront, you will hate it. If you didn't grow up in the 1970s, again, there's a good chance you will hate it.
1941 is a farce-not accidentally, but on purpose. It's a film in the repertoire of a director who established himself as a producer of high quality, often deeply reflective cinema who just wanted to let his hair down and have some fun. I don't think Spielberg ever wanted this film to be taken seriously, and it may have been that he made it to keep from taking himself seriously. Who knows? What I do know is that it's fun and funny and disarmingly irreverent-three traits that pretty much defined the comedy of the 1970s. In other words, it's a movie only Generation X can wholly appreciate.
I will never say this is a great film. But it is a good, fun film and not deserving of the bad ink that's been written about it. The only bad ink it should get is about the bloated Collector's Edition DVD release that throws in unnecessary deleted scenes that either kill the comedic timing or try to force us to take the whole thing more seriously with pointless backstory and plot exposition. The original theatrical release was the better version.
So, check you expectations at the door and simply embrace it for what it is.