Catch-22
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Movie Reviews of Catch-22
Movie Review: "It's the Best There Is!"
Summary: 5 Stars
Finally ...... one of those DVD re-releases I've been practically holding my breath for, and was not disappointed. This criminally overlooked gem was trashed by critics upon its release in 1970, and never enjoyed a video transfer worthy of the filmmaker's effort, not even on laserdisc! And as you can see from the varying reviews, the controversy rages on. Which just proves how alive and well and timely a film Catch-22 truly is.Mike Nichols captures the essence of Joseph Heller's defining anti-war classic quite admirably, with a faithful adaptation by Buck Henry (who can be seen along with a veritable Who's Who period ensemble cast), with an eye as removed and objective as Kubrick, yet at times very visually subjective ..... an approach used to great advantage in his previous hit film The Graduate. All the verbal and ethical contradictions of the book bring its dark humor to demented life, through a kaleidoscopic cavalcade of archtypical characters who make up the living nightmare of one Captain Yossarian, who has decided he can no longer bear to fly the combat missions his superiors have made it impossible to get out of. To get out of flying, he has to be officially diagnosed as "crazy", and must request to be grounded ..... but if he requests to be grounded, then he's not really crazy, and is therefore eligible to keep flying missions. That's some catch, that Catch-22.
This film, like the book on which it's based, is not so much an indictment of the insanity of war as it is a look at how the corporate mentality can find its way into the noblest of causes, and how beurocratic manipulations devaluate basic human principles, which take a back seat to merely "looking good". A timeless theme indeed. This skewed logic is cheerfully accepted by all the story's characters ..... until our Yossarian's eyes are opened to the product of that logic literally disemboweled at his fingertips (yes, that scene was put back in!), and suddenly he is the outsider whose prime mission is to avoid any more missions. Which is not an easy thing to do when Brass keeps adding more after you've completed your tour of duty.
As far as the transfer itself: It has probably never looked better since the original theatrical release over 30 years ago, especially being the first widescreen release of this title, which is the only way to experience it as intended. The transfer team did the best they could with the mono soundtrack, I'm sure, which does get compressed and distorted at times, something we enthusiasts of early films live with.
Mike Nichols' Catch-22 may only enjoy cult status, but it is DVD releases like this (and that other oddball, star-studded 60's curiosity Candy) that make one truly appreciate what is being done with this revolutionary medium. Hey, not all movies can be for everybody. Long live the Anti-Blockbusters!
Movie Review: Yossarian: "That's some catch, that Catch-22!"
Summary: 5 Stars
On its release in 1970, CATCH-22 was rated 'X' due to graphic images of bodily injury and simulated fellating.
Based on Joseph Heller's novel, Mike Nichols' anti-war film is perhaps the greatest of its kind. An all-star cast make this an unforgettable experience. Very highest recommendation!
WHO'S WHO in "22"--
Capt. John Yossarian (Arkin) is a bombardier stationed in Italy. He's flown too many missions, seen too much tragedy and now just wants OUT.
Col. Cathcart (Balsam) and Lt. Col. Corn (Henry) are stonewalling masters who keep raising the number of missions needed for rotation home.
Maj. Danby (Benjamin), the squadron's mission briefer is an eternally optimistic airhead and the exemplification of "no brain, no pain."
Doc Daneeka (Gilford) gets flight pay even though he's never been in a plane, as Yossarian's pilot, McWatt (Bonerz) falsely lists Doc on his mission manifests.
Maj. Major Major Major (Newhart) is a do-nothing laundry captain who's promoted to squadron commander solely because of his newly created name. He's literally "the man who wasn't there."
Capt. Aardvark (Grodin), Yossarian's new pilot is a deviant with a penchant for forcing himself on scarlet women.
Chaplain Tappman (aka "Padre") (Perkins) is a kindly man who's in way over his head. He wants to help Yossarian, but doesn't know how.
Lt. Nately (Garfunkel) will be 20 on his next birthday-- if he lives. He naively falls in love with one of Rome's streetwalkers.
1st Lt. Dobbs (Sheen) is much like Yossarian-- he just wants to survive, to go home.
Orr (Balaban), Yossarian's bunkmate is an eccentric pilot that constantly gets shot down. His Mediterranean splash landings are "good practice."
Gen. Dreedle (Welles), overall air base commander, has a goofy son-in-law aide (Pendleton) and an hourglass-shaped WAC secretary/girlfriend (Benton).
Milo Minderbinder (Voight), through connivance and pure gall manipulates his way from mess officer to CEO of MM Enterprises. Milo sells unwanted cotton to the Germans in exchange for having his own airbase bombed by our planes!
Snowden (Korkes) is a new man who's mortally wounded by in-flight flak. Yossarian's inability to help Snowden is the catalyst that steels him to escape this war's insanity.
Parenthetical number preceding title is a 1 to 10 viewer poll rating found at a film research website.
(7.1) Catch-22 (1970) - Alan Arkin/Martin Balsam/Richard Benjamin/Art Gafunkel/Jack Gilford/Buck Henry/Bob Newhart/Anthony Perkins/Paula Prentiss/Martin Sheen/Jon Voight/Orson Welles/Bob Balaban/Susanne Benton/Norman Fell/Charles Grodin/Austin Pendleton/Peter Bonerz/Jon Korkes/Jack Riley/Richard Libertini
Movie Review: Worthy of Heller's novel
Summary: 5 Stars
Growing up in the '60s, I thought that Joseph Heller's Catch 22 was one of the great literary achievements of my lifetime -- and I still do.When Mike Nichols' film version came out in 1970, I was disappointed. I'm not sure why I felt that way, except that it's impossible to capture the richness and the many layers of Heller's satyric masterpiece.
Just today, I [watched]the recently released DVD version of this film ...for the first time in 30 years. All I can say is, I was blown away. I can't imagine what my 20-year-old self was thinking in 1970 ... this is simply one of the greatest films I have ever seen.
Start with David Watkins' astonishing cinematgraphy ... it's reason enough to buy the DVD version. ...he does more dazzling things in the first 10 minutes than all the multimillion dollar special effects in .... There's one scene midway through the film, when Watkins shoots from in front of Yossarian's B-25 in flight -- with his entire squadron behind him -- that has to be seen to be believed.
Seeing it again, Buck Henry's script is a masterful adaption of Heller's Rabelasian masterpiece. I think he captures the essense of the novel and even makes a couple of useful additions. Seeing the way he uses the comic elements reminds me of Robert Heinlein's explanation of humor: "We laugh because it hurts to much to cry." (from Stranger in a Strange Land, the OTHER seminal book of my youth!)
Alan Arkin's Yossarian is superb -- The highest praise I can give is that it's hard to imagine anyone else playing the role. But the supporting performances are also uniformly excellent -- from Jon Voight to Martin Balsam to Bob Newhart to Jack Gilford to Bob Balaban to Martin Sheen to Art Garfunkel (in his first role). Special mention to Charles Grodin, especially in his final scene after mudering the young girl.
One other performance deserves special mention -- the final film appearance of the great Marcel Dalio. Although only on screen for a brief time as the old man in the Roman whorehouse, his performance is, I believe pivotal to the film. It's the moment where the light, almost farcial tone of the film turns into a dark, Fellinieque nightmare. Watch Dalio after he finishes his conversion with Garfunkel, while Arkin takes over the dialogue and the old man sits quietly in the foreground, saying nothing, but continuing his lecture to Garfinkel with his eyes.
There's so much more I could rave about ....
Pardon my enthusiam. I'm still too overwhelmed by my viewing of the DVD (with a very, very useful commentary by Michael Nichols and Steve Sodenbergh) to sort everything out.
But one of the DVD extras did help me understand just a little bit why the movie wasn't more successful -- it had to boast the worst theatrical trailer ever made.
....
Movie Review: an excellent dvd
Summary: 5 Stars
"Catch-22" is a beautifully designed, shot and executed movie that, in the end, doesn't really work. However, it's too elaborately staged and too ambitious to be considered a "bad" movie. And the extra features that accompany the DVD help the film transcend a "thumbs up/thumbs down" rating.First and foremost, it looks amazing. I loved this film when I initially saw it on tape in 1990, but it was only recently that I was able to see it in a widescreen format -- letterboxing reveals what a brutal disservice pan-and-scan does to the compositions of "Catch's" 2.35:1 aspect ratio. If you've only seen this movie in fullscreen, you haven't really seen this movie.
The transfer is also incredible. I'm so used to seeing the grainy print of my VHS copy that I hadn't realized how great a lot of the cinematography is. The use of front-projection during the air-combat scenes is astonishing and the detail and color really surprised me.
But the main reason to get this DVD is the commentary. Director Mike Nichols is joined by Steven Soderbergh to talk about "Catch-22" and through their discussion, one really gets a sense of how Nichols (who had just directed back-to-back hits with "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf" and "The Graduate") took on this project with the best intentions and inspiration... and quickly got swallowed up by the massive project and even bigger budget. Soderbergh is, in my opinion, one of the best directors doing commentary these days (he gives a perfect mix of technical details and storytelling) and he really knows his "Catch-22" ---though I find it a little incredible that he never noticed the changing portraits in Major Major's office, as he claims while watching the scene.
This movie is a great mix of Fellini, Laugh-In, Welles and Salvador Dali. Some may feel there's not enough Joseph Heller here but it would take a mini-series to cover all the bases of such a deep, rich novel. At times, this movie can try your patience (like most Catch-22's often do) but it's definitely worth seeing and hearing in this new format.
Movie Review: Catch 22
Summary: 5 Stars
i have read the book Catch 22, by joseph heller, its an amazing book which i will recomand every person to read.Catch 22 is a marvels book, which shows the impact of WW2, and the Army over soldiers. The book starts telling us about the second half of ww2, Yossarian, the main character, is a captain in the air force squadron on the island of Pianosa, near the Italian coast in the Mediterranean Sea. Even though he is a great soldier, he hates the war and killing, mainly because his friend Snowden died in his arms. Yossarian wants to stay alive and he know that fighting in WW2 wont give him a good chance for living, so for that he goes and pretends to be wounded so he could stay in the hospital and not go out to fight. But as well this doesn't work for a long time and the people in a higher level then him keep on sending him into the war to fight. So he doesn't know what to do for a while, after couple of days/ weeks he realizes that the perfect way of getting out of the army and the war, will be telling he is insane. This brings me back to my point before the summery, in the thesis, Catch 22. Catch 22 also is found in between character, for example when he went with his friend Nately to Rome, Nately falls in love a Hoe and basically tries to get her, but as soon as she notices him back and return his love back he gets killed. So after Nately's death Yossrian was in a shock, thinking about how the war took his friends away, and how people around him don't realize they r in a war. After a while being in Rome he gets arrested for being in Rome without a pass. He gets arrested and his Colonel Cathcart and Colonel Korn, which offers him later on a choice, either face a court-martial or be released and sent home with an honorable discharge. There is only one condition in order for him to be released, he must approve of Cathcart and Korn and state his support for their policy, which requires all the men in the squadron to fly eighty missions. As he thinks about it, he chooses to run away to Sweden, which gives him the power to do what ever he wants and not going after Catch 22's rules.