Spielberg's 1941 - load of crap or underappreciated gem?

In the late Seventies, Steven Spielberg was the working definition of the term boy-wonder. He already had two films under his belt that could be argued as the most important films ever: one made you never want to go into the ocean again and the other made you keep your eyes on the night skies.

So there he was pondering his next step as a film-maker; what would his next film be about?

Interesting story: while making Close Encounters of the Third Kind, fellow director Francois Truffaut spoke with him about how well Spielberg worked with kids, commenting that his next film should feature kids as a focal point. Spielberg’s response was that he was planning on doing a comedy about World War II with lots of pratfalls and explosions. Truffaut’s response: “You are the child.” I’m sure he meant it as a compliment.

But that brings us to 1941, the last Spielberg movie of the Seventies and also the most notorious film Spielberg would ever make – not only because of its huge budget and small returns, but also because of its main star.

And no, I don’t mean Treat Williams. [read more]