I actually like this movie and never understood the critical hatred for it. Spielberg's made campier fluff than this and got off the hook for it.
Does anyone else agree though that this movie looks and feels more like a kindred movie to Animal House, Caddie Shack, and Stripes?
It is less kindred than vaguely genre-related. 'Animal House' is a Screwball Comedy in which protagonists are pitted against a plethora of killjoys and antagonists who wield disproportionately greater power over the protagonists; despite this the protagonists prevail, often defying logic and common sense to assure a happy ending for all (duly documented in the film's final moments); in this respect it is Classic Comedy, whose roots actually go back to Roman times, unlike toga parties. '1941' is a Screwball Comedy in which traditional characters have been replaced by more realistic, ordinary, everyman-types, whose flaws and difficulties preclude any such 'happy ending', although their respective fates are left relatively ambiguous in the face of war and the need for communities to pull together and join into a coordinated effort. As for the other films cited, they all came out after '1941', thus it is safe to say the earlier film may have influenced them in some relatively small way.
shareI wonder if Spielberg used Animal House as inspiration because you're right it doesn't seem like a Spielberg movie at all.
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