Instant Favorite.

I wanted to like it more than I actually did... But much of the humor totally escaped me and I walked out only mildly impressed.

Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

Blistering performances.

WW2, the Mediterranean theatre. Captain Yossarian is the bombardier of a B-25 medium bomber. His squadron's missions largely involve bombing targets on the Italian mainland. A veteran of countless missions, he has become cynical about the war and pessimistic about his chances of surviving. He should have been rotated home a long time ago, but the Wing's Commanding Officer, Colonel Cathcart, keeps raising the number of missions required to rotate out. Yossarian hits upon a plan to get sent home. However, there's a catch.Great satire on the insanity and inanity of war, based on Joseph Heller's brilliant novel. Very funny, showing the silliness of bureaucracy, military rules and leadership and inept leadership in general. Over-the-top in its amping up and criticism of these structures. Some good general humour too.It's not all comedy though. Shows the consequences and casualties of the rules and ineptitude and does so quite dramatically.Great performances from an all-star cast. Alan Arkin is superb as Yossarian. Supporting cast are a who's who of the entertainment industry: Martin Balsam, Orson Welles, Bob Newhart, Anthony Perkins, Martin Sheen (in his third movie), Art Garfunkel, Jon Voight, Norman Fell, Bob Balaban.However, helps if you haven't read the book. I first watched this soon after having read the book and wasn't impressed. The novel is one of my favourite books of all time and the movie didn't capture what made the book so great - the clever, funny descriptions of situations. The movie tries to replicate these through visual gags and dialogue but, while these work fairly well, they don't quite have the impact. The movie suffers badly if compared directly to the book. Rewatching the movie now, more than 20 years since reading the book, I now appreciate how good the movie is in its own right.

This is a Review of the Film. Not the Novel, whose Numbers are by Book Standards Stratospheric (still sells thousands of copies every year).The Source Material may be Sacrosanct to those who have Read the Vietnam Era, Counterculture Icon and Love to Belittle its Cinematic Representation for Not Including......Fill in the Blank and Consider the Movie Not Worth Considering are in the Wrong Space. This is IMDb...Key Letter "M" (Movie).But Any Movie that takes on as its Source a Novel that so many People Find Endearing and a Significant Part of Their Maturation Process or at Least a Significant Part of Their Literary Litany, is Asking for it.It Doesn't Matter who is Directing, Writing, or Starring in the Film. It Doesn't Matter how Much Money is Spent on the Production. You Don't Mess with a Person's "Favorite" Book. It's Insane that Anyone would even Try (second time director Mike Nichols).The Insanity of War is what this Satire is Offering. The Film is Beautifully Shot, well Scripted (Buck Henry), and is Overall Funny, Depressing, and Well Made. The Movie is Long and makes it Message Meaningful if Elongated.Sputtering a bit by the End, the Heavy Handed Need for the Hammering Home of what Amounts to the "Horror" of War and the Military Industrial Complex it could be Said that it Cannot be Overstated.So it's a Deep and Disgusting thing to Contemplate, considering the Suffering. It's one of those Dilemmas. Laugh or Cry. Can You do Both at the Same Time? If that's Possible, this Movie does what it does just Fine and You Should See it.See the Movie.....Read the Book...Entertainment to be had from Both.

Joseph Heller's angry novel - pointing up the futility of war by cranking absurdity up to a comic level - becomes a large scale Hollywood movie which works hard at capturing the essence of the book but, perhaps, sinks somewhat under its own weight.It is well worth watching nonetheless - spectacular, and featuring a vast and starry cast, yet still intelligent and relatively small scale in terms of the intimate story of Yossarian's nightmarish war experience, it is held together by a passionate and committed performance by Alan Arkin as Yossarian, a victim (as are many of the characters) turned attempted protagonist.But I think I would recommend the book over the film.

I am in love with this book, so when I saw that there was a movie I flipped out and ordered it right away... and it was fantastic. I love the actors and I love how Nichols directed it. However, I was disappointed of the changes they made, where's Dunbar? He was like my 2nd favorite character. He was Yo-yo's best friend.... Also, they said it was Hungry Joe who was cut in half by McWatt, but it was really Kid Sampson, I could see how they didn't want to have too many characters to keep up with (in the book I felt like that was true) but still, Hungry Joe was...amazing, he was hilarious. Also, I'm not sure if I liked how Nately died, opposed to the books version. I suppose it made more since to kill him off when Milo's deal (the bombing thing), but it was when he died in combat mission that really broke Yossarian. I think Jon Voight did an fantastic job of Milo, he was really how I pictured Milo, I was really excited about that. The poignant walk through Rome that Yossarian takes, was so, perfect as well. But all in all, this was an excellent portrayal of the book, I totally imagined this movie (the settings, what Yossarian looked like, everything pretty much) as I was reading the book.