Product Details

• Actors: Joe Flynn, Tim Conway, Bob Hastings, Gary Vinson, Billy Sands
• Directors: Edward Montagne
• Format: Closed-captioned, Color, HiFi Sound, NTSC
• Language: English
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Universal Studios
• VHS Release Date: March 31, 1998
• Run Time: 91 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 078321734X
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #15,509 in Video (See Bestsellers in Video)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Flynn and Conway are hilarious turn in a classic performance, August 31, 1999

By A Customer

I had seen this movie when I was a kid, but I had forgotten HOW funny it was. I laughed myself silly. The opening scene is a little contrived, with Binghamton blowing his cool and pushing the crew one by one into the water. But the real laughs begin when the crew, along with "Old Leadbottom," arrive in port is Australia. One of the movie's highlights is the scene with Parker trying to take Binghamton's picture and then trying to help him up the ladder. The action progresses quickly, and then next thing we know (or so it seems), Parker is the "navigator" on a DC-3, with Binghamton also stuck on board. The laughs don't stop until the movie is over.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A "McHale's Navy" movie without McHale? Sure. Why not?, November 7, 2003

By	Lawrance M. Bernabo (The Zenith City, Duluth, Minnesota) - See all my reviews (TOP 10 REVIEWER)    (COMMUNITY FORUM 04)

If you thought it was strange that the ABC situation comedy "McHale's Navy" was given the opportunity to make a theatrical film in 1964, then you might not know what to make of the decision the following year to release another film in which the title charcter played by Ernest Borgnine does not appear. Granted, Borgnine's character always seemed to working on a different level than his hair brained crew and the inept base commander, but you would have to think that having their Academy Award winning star (for "Marty") skip this sequel would have been a fatal flaw.

The two reasons it is not is because Tim Conway, as Ensigh Charles Parker and Joe Flynn as Captain Wallace B. Binghamton are still engaging in their zanny antics. The rather strange title comes from the idea that Parker is mistaken for a hot shot fighter pilot in the Air Force (which, of course, was still the Army Air Corps during World War II, but for some reason historical fidelity was not high on the producer's list). Of course, every time Parker screws up he gets promoted. Obviously, with Borgnine apparently on vacation (the series would air through 1966), Parker and Flynn get more slapstick to do, but the script by John Fenton Murray, based on William J. Lederer's story, actually slips in some satire to go along with the physical comedy.

Is 1965's "McHale's Navy Joins the Air Force" better than the 1964 "McHale's Navy" film? Well, yes and no. This one is actually funnier because of the free reign Conway and Flynn have, which is a good thing, but getting so far away from the original series (and its star) still bugs me. But despite that potentially fatal flaw this odd little film is actually an enjoyable experience for fans of the series. For others it is a reminder of what military situation comedies were like between "Sgt. Bilko" and "Hogan's Heroes" (i.e., before "M*A*S*H").

Actually, that last aside should be more specific in reference to the early couple of seasons for "M*A*S*H" when the series was very much in the mold of Bilko/McHale/Hogan. It was not until the classic episode "Sometimes You Hear the Bullet" that we first saw how "M*A*S*H" could become television's first true dramedy.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Mostly for fans of the t.v. show, February 15, 2007

By	Spikester (Oregon, USA) - See all my reviews

Even though this movie doesn't include the main character in the television series (Ernest Borgnine), I enjoyed this a great deal. The Ensign Parker (Tim Conway) and Captain Binghampton (Joe Flynn) interactions are as well done as any in the T.V. series. Think of the movie as McHale's Navy starring Tim Conway and you will be close to what this movie is all about. Another plus is the fellow that plays the leader of the Russian sailors was chief Uhuru (sp?) in the t.v. series. I have it on vhs tape and the picture and sound quality are first rate. I think I paid around $10 for it and watch it more often than many of the movies in my video collection.