Customer Reviews

Mchale's Navy [VHS]

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

"McHale's Navy" was a military situation comedy that aired on ABC from 1962-1966. Basically the show was a naval version of Phil Silver's classic "Sgt. Bilko" show, where the main character is a con artist who is out to make a buck and almost always ignores regulations. This time the main character of Lt. Commander Quinton McHale was played by Academy Award winner Ernest Borgnine ("Marty"), and that Oscar might well explain why this was one of the few television shows in the Sixties to get to do a theatrical film. Still, the timing of this film is strange since McHale commands a World War II P.T. boat and the commander of the most famous P.T. boat in history was assassinated in Dallas the previous November.

So, you must be asking yourself, what sort of plotline too big for the small screen did they come up with to justify a theatrical film? Well, it seems the crew of P.T. 73 bet their money on the wrong horse in a race, so now they need to raise the money to cover their loses. The result is a long string of bits where the crew tries to raise the money, involving lots of slapstick and funny dialogue. In other words, just like the television show, only 93 minutes long, so fans are going to enjoy this movie while others sit and slowly shake their heads. The result is certainly a lot better than the pathetic 1997 film version (this film gets 4 stars to ensure it is two stars better than that film) and is actually a bit better than your standard "McHale's Navy" episode.

Fans of Tim Conway should enjoy his scene stealing antics as Ensign Charles Parker, while long suffering Captain Wallace B. Binghamton (Joe Flynn), known to the boys as "Old Lead Bottom," suffers indignities at every turn because he is always a day late and several dollars short. Veteran character actor Carl Ballantine plays Lester Gruber and future televison star Gavin MacLeod is "Happy" Haines. My favorite was always Billy Sands as "Tinker" Bell, obviously because of the attendant irony.

When this movie was released in the sixties, McHale's Navy fans were finally treated to seeing their heroes presented in wide-screen technicolor. A low-budget film, yet funny and entertaining.

IF you liked the Tv show you will LOVE this first of two theatrical motion picture offerings based upon the original characters and stars of the show. This chemistry is faithful and entertaining the way Tv shows and movies used to be. If you like this concept then THIS is for you !

The transfer is vivid up to today's tech standards for a dvd release !

JUST GIVE ME MORE MCHALE'S NAVY...THE REAL SHOW CHARACTERS and not the remake un-McHale offering that came out in 1997 with Tom Arnold !

As a fan of the television series, this movie follows through with the same style of fun and entertaining antics of the crew of the PT-73. My memories of viewing the movie many times on television broadcasting always center on the hilarious, unbridled talents of Tim Conway, who carried his comedic skill over to the Carrol Burnett Show, where he would ofttimes bring the skits to a brief halt when he would take control and just be himself, leaving the other show participants in side-aching laughter. My only problem being why on earth is this not on dvd?!? But with the series season one out, and now due out is season two, perhaps the movie will soon follow. It deserves to be on dvd. Forty-three years is long enough!

Now that the tv series is complete on dvd, it is time to restore and put the two movies of McHale's Navy on dvd ("McHale's Navy" & "McHale's Navy Joins the Air Force") Let's hope Universal Studios will be doing this soon. Let's complete our McHale's Navy set.

With the success of the TV series, the extension of the basic plot into a movie length feature and also onto colour film, would have been a major step for its time.

McHale's Navy was popular in Australia when it was first released and was a feature on TV for many years after, in popular time slots. Watching the TV shows now,preserved on DVD, they are just as hilarious as when I first watched them over forty years ago.

I also enjoyed this movie with the crew (as usual) getting into strife, thanks to Gruber and his scheme of taking bets on the running of the Australian Derby and then waiting for the results of the race via the mail plane run. This plan comes unstuck when almost every bet is for the race favourite, a horse named 'Silverspot'. The outcome is a lot of upset personnel, including some irate Marines. McHale and the crew go to New Caledonia in an attempt to borrow some money off an old 'flame' of McHale and as usual, end up in more trouble when Ensign Parker rescues a local damsel in distress and wrecks the town dock with the PT-73. They encounter Captain Binghamton who takes command of the PT-73 back to Taratupa. During the return journey McHale and the crew are requested to assist with a distress call from an Australian freighter and encounter 'Silverspot', who has somehow been put in a native hut on an island near where the freighter put in the distress call. McHale and the crew return to New Caledonia,with 'Silverspot' and a disguised Fuji who is going to ride the horse in a local Bastille Day race with the plan to use the winnings to square up all their debts. To add to the mayhem, 'Silverspot' is also heavily disguised with fake fur and Ensign Parker ends up in an Australian Army Warrant Officer's uniform in order to collect the winnings and get back to the PT-73. As the race is being run, 'Silverspot's' fur disguise starts shedding and McHale and the crew use a smoke screen to try and hide the fur shedding. Just as the race is completed and the racetrack is covered in smoke, the Japanese Navy arrive in the form of a submarine that had been following the PT-73 with 'Silverspot' on board. The PT-73 captures the submarine after a brief battle and the New Caledonia is saved. Also the grateful towns people cancell all the debts of the crew, letting McHale and the crew off the hook as well as getting them out of trouble with Captain Binghamton when the crew of the submarine are brought in as prisoners.

This first movie had Ernest Borgnine, along with the full crew and of course, Captain Binghamton and the ongoing duel of wits between them. I enjoyed the movie; however it is only on VHS at the moment and putting it onto DVD would be fantastic.As a late addendum (late 2010) Mad Man video in Australia have released both of the McHale's Navy movies as a twin DVD set, which now has all the McHale's Navy series on DVD. Fantastic!

It is quite surprising that a studio release DVD has not been made in the U.S. of the McHale's Navy films. In Australia, we're one up on our American cousins. Madman with Universal have released both films as a 2 disc set with extensive cover notes, special features, a reproduction booklet called Sportsman's Manual on the second film and a great overall package. The DVDs are in Region 4. It was released in 2010 and completes the McHales Navy story in that the entire TV series and both movies have now been released. Hopefully this will filter through to the U.S. very soon. You shouldn't have to put up with a DVD-R copy of films that have had a studio release Down Under.

I bought my mchales navey on a web site call ioffer and it came color pappered sealed on like you would get at a store i only paid 24.00 for all four seasons and they have a part where whats left of the crew do an intervue man what a rip off amizons charging 4 times the price i paid ha ha what a joke.

I loved this show as a kid, and have the complete series on DVD. Always wanted the two movies on DVD. Just waiting to get second one to complete the collection. This movie is way better than the remake.

i have been looking for this movie on dvd for years.the movie was enjoyable as i remember it and the quality was exceptional