MovieChat Forums > Catch-22 (2019) Discussion > Misses the Point

Misses the Point

posted 5 years ago by r5d4d2 (679)
9 replies | jump to latest

The acting is good (considering it stars many young actors I have never heard of before). The production value is great.

However, this production misses the point that Catch-22 is first and foremost a comedy. A dark, brutal, gory, sad ... comedy. It should be along the same lines as MASH. Comedy in the face of true horror.

Another problem is that the Snowden theme is not mentioned until 20 minutes before the end of the last (6th) episode. Snowden is an all-encompassing theme in the novel. Very strange.

There are also several revisions to characters and the story which serve no purpose. Overall, the 1970 film follows the intent of the author much more closely.

6.5/10

[–] ebhaynz (3525) 5 years ago

It was pretty good and yes, it has many flaws..even though it does look great it almost seems like it was made on the cheap. What I mean is that many times nothing is happening, looks like their doing a Peter Jackson and stretching 3 episodes into 6. There's so much bad television nowadays I'll give it a 7/10 I would rank it higher if every episode was as funny as #5. Plus, George Clooney really should have been in it more, I don't care if he was the director or not.
Now I'm going to go watch the 1970 film for comparison.

[–] r5d4d2 (679) 5 years ago

Please let me know what you think of the film.

[–] ebhaynz (3525) 5 years ago

I will certainly let you know. I've already watched the first 20 minutes(I watch movies this way, on my laptop) and will finish by the end of the week and get back to you. I also will re-watch MASH, which came out earlier that same year(1970).

[–] ebhaynz (3525) 5 years ago

I've only been able to watch about half the film. It's on my laptop, I've tried to watch more of it but it's tough to get through many of the scenes, esp. the one's with Anthony Perkins, Orson Welles, and Martin Balsam. I will say it is fantastic to see actual B-25's fly and just as fantastic to see young, fresh faced actors like Martin Sheen, Alan Arkin, Bob Balaban(barely recognizable), Benjamin Harrison, Charles Grodin, Bob Newhart, and Jon Voight.
This is certainly a very expensive production, esp for 1970. I can't explain why I don't like it, except it makes me cringe much more than laugh. I have to agree with Wikipedia as to why this movie was mostly rejected by critics and the public, they basically say the movie is deeply flawed, the screenplay is disjointed and the only notable scenes are the limited aerial sequences.
Of course, MASH beat Catch-22 to the punch, coming out 6 months earlier and becoming a phenomenal hit. I'm going to watch MASH again to compare and contrast.

[–] [deleted] 5 years ago

The movie was fairly faithful to the novel, as I recall. Directed by Mike Nichols. He respected the source material.

[–] bobbynynex (1505) 4 years ago

this book is impossible to convert into a movie. the 1970 movie was awful, some books are hard to convert and this is one of them. watched 30min and it does a helluva better job than the movie thats for sure.

[–] maximmm (3034) 4 years ago

I'd say this was a good series - i haven't seen the film, by the way.

There is a good mix of comedy, horror and pure desperation from the lead, who sees that the war is being run by incompetent morons who treat human beings like cattle to be sent into the oven. If I were in the shoes of the lead, I'd have gone on a shooting spree on the base rather early on, after realizing that the command would not let me out until I am dead. Or.... perhaps I'd have done real harm to myself in order to get discharged - blow off my hand or something. When the insane run the war, even this insane act is sane in comparison.

But again, I'd say this was a pretty decent series and really picks up after the second episode - I wanted to binge watch it, but i had to go to work.

[–] Jes' Sayin' (5947) 4 years ago

There's a lot in it that's extremely funny.

[–] MikeCable (1658) 3 years ago

I agree with you. I haven't seen the movie for a good 10 years or so and I've never read the book, but I remember the movie having some really hilarious scenes, lots of dark comedy and the long, funny ridiculous conversations about the catch 22 predicament.

One unforgettable scene involves a toilet.