Catch 22 reviews (1970)

Catch 22

1970

Overall rating: 3 out of 5

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Director Mike Nichols and writer-actor Buck Henry followed their enormous hit The Graduate (1967) with this timely adaptation of Joseph Heller's satiric antiwar novel. Haunted by the death of a young gunner, all-too-sane Capt. Yossarian (Alan Arkin) wants out of the rest of his WW II bombing missions, but publicity-obsessed commander Colonel Cathcart (Martin Balsam) and his yes man, Colonel Korn (Henry), keep raising the number of missions that Yossarian and his comrades are required to fly. After Doc Daneeka (Jack Gilford) tells Yossarian that he cannot declare him insane if Yossarian knows that it's insane to keep flying, Yossarian tries to play crazy by, among other things, showing up nude in front of despotic General Dreedle (Orson Welles). As all of Yossarian's initially even-keeled friends, such as Nately (Art Garfunkel) and Dobbs (Martin Sheen), genuinely lose their heads, and the troop's supplies are bartered away for profit by the ultra-entrepreneurial Milo Minderbinder (Jon Voight), Yossarian realizes that the whole system has lost it, and he can either play along or jump ship. Though not about Vietnam, Catch-22's ludicrous military machinations directly evoked its contemporary context in the Vietnam era. Cathcart and Dreedle care more about the appearance of power than about victory, and Milo cares for money above all, as the complex narrative structure of Yossarian's flashbacks renders the escalating events appropriately surreal. Confident that the combination of a hot director and a popular, culturally relevant novel would spell blockbuster, Paramount spent a great deal of money on Catch-22, but it wound up getting trumped by another 1970 antiwar farce: Robert Altman's MASH. With audiences opting for Altman's casual Korean War iconoclasm over Nichols' more polished symbolism, the highly anticipated Catch-22 flopped, although the New York Film Critics Circle did acknowledge Arkin and Nichols. Despite this reception, Catch-22's ensemble cast and pungent sensibility effectively underline the insanity of war, Vietnam and otherwise.~ Lucia Bozzola, All Movie Guide

Catch 22 details

Format:	15 DVD
Starring:	Paula Prentiss, Bob Newhart, Martin Sheen, Orson Welles, Alan Arkin, Buck Henry, Jon Voight, Martin Balsam, Anthony Perkins, Jack Gilford, Richard Benjamin, Art Garfunkel
Director:	Mike Nichols
Genre:	Comedy - Teen
Studio:	PARAMOUNT HOME ENTERTAINMENT

DVD 1 disc

Name	Discs
Catch 22	15 Feature

DVD Information

Run time:	1 hour 56 minutes
Rental release:	07 Oct 2002
Main languages:	English

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Most helpful review Catch 22

Unfortunately, this could never make the bar set by the book.

By Max from London , 14 Dec 2004

[Highly rated reviewer]

Joseph Heller wrote the book on which this is based, but was only really after the paycheck the movie offered and did not contribute personally to the script(apart from giving it the go ahead). It was widely understood that the movie format would be hard pressed to match the books unique and gritty take on World War 2.

As expected there were huge problems translating this magnificet piece of work to the silver screen and the idea was passed around hollywood for a few years before someone found the guts to do it (Mike Nichols). It has a great cast and is very entertaining but looses steam towards the end. The alternate ending is worth waiting for and it is reasonably funny but I wish they had been able to maintain a bit more of the wit and humour found in the book. Watch it, if you have read the book - it is not a replacement.
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American war movie, not a big hit for U.K. audiences!

By uniqueness (77 reviews) from Glasgow , 13 Nov 2012

Not sure many British audiences will get this movie.

The humour is American and we don't laugh at American stuff because it's just not funny.

We like black humour or irony, but this film is directly targeting U. S audiences.

In saying that, it's probably worth a watch but it's been hyped up by our American cousins and it really bombed for me.

If you liked M*A*S*H then this is the film for you as it's along those lines.
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Gem Of A film

By buffyrules (335 reviews) from southend on sea , 02 Oct 2012

Wonderful adaptation of the novel and stands out on its own as a cinematic treat. Its not for someone who needs everything spelt out or perhaps doesn't like fast, witty but ultimately true dialogue.
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MASH is THE movie...Catch-22 is THE book

By a customer , 08 Dec 2011

Coming out smack in the middle of an extraordinarily creative period in US cinema, the movie suffers by being deemed by many virtualy as unfilmable, compared as it always is to one of the greatest post-war novels. It never feels right. Maybe its the setting, too many big names, too much graphic violence and nudity. Its too black, and compared to MASH it just ain't a funny. Hard to say definitively, but worth seeing, not as entertainment, but as an echo of that febrile 1968-74 period of movie history. Was Paula Prentiss the only female they could get to strip for the part? Just OK. Just about.
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A Must See!

By a customer , 08 Dec 2011

I have seen this film many times over the years and I recently saw it again: it is still brilliant. Funny, bizarre, surreal, whatever you want to say about this film it remains a great piece of cinematic work.
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Not up to expectations

By a customer , 15 Jun 2011

A disappointment. The book has a great reputation, the film failed to live up to it. It may convey the absurdity of war but is very disjointed. Not an enjoyable watch and not particularly funny.
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