Catch-22

The number of B-25s flying in the movie was awesome. They gave it some needed authenticity.

I feel good after watching it

This scathing war satire follows Capt. John Yossarian (Alan Arkin), a pilot stationed in the Mediterranean who flies bombing missions during World War II. Attempting to cope with the madness of armed conflict, Yossarian struggles to find a way out of his wartime reality. Surrounded by eccentric military officers, such as the opportunistic 1st Lt. Milo Minderbinder (Jon Voight), Yossarian must resort to extreme measures to escape his dire and increasingly absurd situation.

This is a funny, oddball, bizarre comedy taking the absurdity of war and the business of the same and exaggerating it, adding in some surrealism for an extra kick. The cast are brilliant, and the script is intelligently written. Though there are a number of eyebrow-raising moments and some culturally contemptible ones

Well worth watching. The film captures and embodies the strong anti-war sentiment of the late 1960s and 1970s (How I Won the War, MASH, Kelly's Heroes, The Sand Pebbles, Hearts and Minds, Cross of Iron, Johnny Got His Gun, etc.). Acting and characterization is excellent and quite memorable (Alan Arkin is perfectly cast); the satire is set to "10" on the dial, comedy is well delivered, and the irony is, well, very darkly delivered. Spoiler: Art Garfunkel bites the dust off-camera.

I was surprised this film didn't cross over into the 90s in Tomatoes' percent ratings, until I remembered that this film lampooned the one US military involvement of the last century that most everyone still regards as just, namely the overthrowing of fascism in WWII. It bears re-seeing now. With the benefit of time passed I now hear Groucho in much of the dialogue and NY dialects, which reminds me of the negative uproar when Duck Soup lampooned WWI. The satire of small-time commodifying within the ranks now smacks of a military industrial complex in embryo. There is not one actor who isn't brilliant here, razor-honed to the point of their caricature. A beautifully converted digital 60 fps version brings a contemporary, immersive feel to this old chestnut.

[3/17/21]: [DON'T HAVE NOTES ON MY THOUGHTS ON IT]. Captures the insanity of war, the repetitive futility of it. I do remember absolutely belly laughing when he steps forward butt nekked, that was great.

I loved it. To deliver such a story in a way that makes you laugh and simultaneously cry, is a feat rare in film. The cast, couldn't have been more perfect for its characters.

The film adaptation of Joseph Heller's classic novel Catch-22 lacks the satirical sting of the source material as the circuitous double-talk, so effective in the book, sometimes grows tiresome on the screen when compressed into two hours. Despite being inferior to the book, the film remains focused throughout on its goals of mercilessly ridiculing both capitalism and military bureaucracy. Alan Arkin is excellent as Captain Yossarian, an Air Force pilot desperate to escape the military before he is killed by trying to prove that he's crazy, an impossibility as a crazy person would never recognize that he's crazy and ask to be deemed as such. There are moments that fall painfully flat, but there are an equal amount of moments that are absurdly brilliant that make the film worth watching.

this is the only movie hollywood has ever done justice to the book