Customer Reviews

Military Intelligence And You!

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As both Groucho Marx and George Carlin have famously (and astutely) observed, the phrase "military intelligence" may very well be the ultimate oxymoron. Writer/director Dale Kutzera takes that concept one step further in this unique film. Military Intelligence and You! cleverly mixes the political satire of Dr Strangelove and the skewering lunacy of Catch-22 with the film parodist sensibilities of Mel Brooks and the Zucker brothers to deliver a volley of not-so-subtle allusions to the current administration's all-to-real comedy of errors at home and abroad since 9/11.

Using the technique of seamlessly incorporating film clips from vintage B&W movies and historical archive footage with newly shot narrative (a la Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid and Zelig), Kutzera frames his story as a faux-WW2 military training film, released circa 1944. The "film" is replete with the laughably stilted dialogue, over-the-top melodrama, uber-patriotism and jingoist stance that one expects in a government-sanctioned wartime propaganda production. It is all lorded over by the real star here, a ubiquitous Narrator (Clive van Owen) who delivers in a style that falls somewhere between a vintage Ed Herlihy newsreel and the droll voice-over in Dr. Strangelove.

The story is divided between the intrigue taking place at an army intelligence HQ and the ordeals of a downed and captured bomber crew in a Nazi POW camp. Back at HQ, intelligence officer Major Nick Reed (Patrick Muldoon) is convinced of the existence of a Super Secret German Fighter Base that has been launching damaging sneak attacks on Allied bomb squadrons headed for Germany. Reconnaissance missions have failed to produce evidence of these (ahem) weapons of mass destruction, and Reed is having a tough time convincing his fellow Major, Mitch Dunning (Mackenzie Astin) and the boss, General Jake Tasker (John Rixley Moore) that this Nazi "ghost squadron" airfield even exists. The only one who has faith in him is his trusty aide/ex-squeeze Lieutenant Monica Tasty (Elizabeth Ann Bennett, alternately spoofing Lauren Bacall and Veronica Lake).

Meanwhile, back at the POW camp, our intrepid flyboys are teaching us the "Dos and Don'ts" of dealing with Gestapo interrogators, whilst the narrator duly notes whose example we should be following and whose we shouldn't (like the guy who spills the beans after letting the commandant liquor him up in front of a cozy fire...that's a no-no!).

The lion's share of the actual WW2 era training film footage used by Kutzera is blended into the POW camp segment, and comes from a War Department film called "Resisting Enemy Interrogation". The rest of the film is seasoned with well-selected scenes from vintage Hollywood WW2 action movies, which infuses Kutzera's modestly-budgeted production with an impressive roster of "supporting" stars like William Holden, Alan Ladd, Elisha Cook, Jr. and Van Heflin. There is also a notable appearance by a young and particularly gung-ho fighter pilot by the name of Ronald Reagan, who really gives it to those evil empire builders-with a purposeful squint and a pair of hot blazing barrels.

Although it is basically a one-joke premise, I found it a very amusing one. Kutzera's script may not hold a candle to the timeless quality of Terry Southern's pointed barbs in Dr. Strangelove, but for right here and right now, it's pretty much on target. Not all of the laughs rely on the nudge-nudge wink-wink factor; every time the fictional German city of "Riboflavin" was mentioned, I fell out of my chair. Then again, I still find the running "blucher!" gag in Young Frankenstein hysterical. What the heck-I'm easy.

With tank-loads of laugh-out-loud jokes, this film is a solid parody of WWII training films. The parallels to present day US military situations are obvious and yet still hilarious and the old footage is fascinating!

A campy remake of WWII drama with clips from real training films mixed in and redubbed. Low budget, but generally enjoyable, if only for the famous actors that appear in the old War Department movies.

On the one hand, we have our intrepid intelligence officer struggling to gain credibility with the pilots, with only the faith of the tasty lieutenant - Sorry, strike that -the faith of Lieutenant Tasty to buoy him up through it all. On the other hand, there is a bomber crew in the hands of German interrogators... The two threads are woven together fairly smoothly. The depiction of the interrogation is fairly interesting despite the over-the-top narration.

Good fun with some real merit to it.

E. M. Van Court

The other reviews here make this movie seem to be in a similar vein with "Dr. Strangelove". I cannot agree. I found "Military Intelligence
and You!" to be totally unamusing; it bored me to death. The military provides a never-ending supply of sardonic material to poke fun at.
I just didn't see any in this film.

The tagline quote on the back cover of this says it's "A parody in line with Dr. Strangelove". While i'm not sure it reaches that level, "Military Intelligence and You" is quite amusing. I'd first heard of this movie in the LA Times - they hilighted it as a low-budget indie that was very clever. The film incorporates actual WWII training films in with newly filmed B&W footage of military intel officers (one is played by Patrick Muldoon, who was on the original Melrose Place, i believe?) as they go about commanding military operations during WWII. THere's a fair amount of rah-rah Americanisms that are pretty funny (We invented popcorn; the USA is on the world's speed-dial whenever anything goes wrong anywhere) and there's some clever subtext that's applicable to the Iraq war (lines about being sure of your intel before you invade, etc). Overall, very clever use of vintage footage (somewhat like "Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid") adds up to a quite enjoyable and breezy viewing experience and, for my money, a much better movie than "In the Loop", which addressed similar themes. The DVD also contains an interesting 20 minute vintage documentary newsreel on the actual Army Air Force film unit that made the training films incorporated into the movie.