Under-Rated, Forgotten Film Worth a Few More Viewings

Rating: 8/10 (6 July 2006)

I don't know how to describe this movie: a dark comedy, an action film? A drama? Some parts are so serious and dark while other segments are mindbendingly hilarious.
The main character, Yossarian, is trying to get out of flight duty because his superior keeps raising the number of missions. One by one his men are getting killed or going crazy (or both). There are suicides, friendly fire attacks with propeller blades, a sexual assault and a man who practices crashing his plane in the ocean. So Yossarian tries to escape and discovers the catch (Catch-22): A man can only be taken off flight duty if he's crazy. But if he reports himself crazy, he must be sane enough to know flying is a bad idea and is therefore deemed sane and forced to fly. Hence, there is no way out.
The cast is phenomenal: Bob Newhart, Orson Welles, Anthony Perkins, Martin Sheen, Art Garfunkel, and Jon Voight. As well as others, of course. Voight particularly shines in this film as a capitalist who overtakes his unit and tries to cash in on the war to the point of being a dictator. He not only sells his men's parachutes but even makes a deal with the Nazis where he will bomb his own base.
The sound and music is minimal. But this pays off for the movie because the few instances of music are more prominent. The directing is good, although I'm confused by much of the colorization.
The most confusing part is trying to figure out why the same scene is replayed over and over again (each time revealing a few more moments). In the end, I think this makes more sense. At least it did for me.
Check this film out. Where else can you find accepting a medal buck naked from Orson Welles? You certainly won't find that in "The Stranger" or "Citizen Kane"...