Product Details

• Actors: Damon Wayans, Ross Bickell, Scott 'Bam Bam' Bigelow, Joseph Blaire, Orlando Brown
• Directors: Nick Castle
• Writers: Joe Connelly, Bob Mosher, William Roberts
• Producers: Damon Wayans, Harry Tatelman
• Format: Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, Widescreen, NTSC
• Language: French (Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround), English (Dolby Digital 5.1)
• Subtitles: English, Spanish
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Studio: Universal Pictures
• DVD Release Date: January 5, 1999
• Run Time: 98 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (53 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 0783230494
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #5,331 in Movies & TV (See Bestsellers in Movies & TV)

  Popular in these categories: (What's this?)

  #16 in	Movies & TV > Military & War > Comedy
  #56 in	Movies & TV > Comedy > School Days

• For more information about "Major Payne" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
Let's face facts here: You don't watch a movie like Major Payne for its artistic merit any more than you'd watch Schindler's List for its comedy. If you go in thinking otherwise, you're bucking for a disappointment. So it's a pleasant surprise to discover that Major Payne is more entertaining than a barrel full of bad reviews would lead you to believe. It's a totally formulaic comedy about a bunch of misfit kids who turn into a crack squad of skillfully disciplined ROTC cadets, but Damon Wayans is spot-on hilarious in the title role as the hardened military bulldog who whips the little slackers into shape. Wayans plays the role as if killing and warfare were the only joys in life, and when he finds himself cast adrift without a military commission, a scene that directly parodies Apocalypse Now lets you know that Wayans (who cowrote the script) is going to bring something new to this routine scenario. Major Payne's idea of a good bedtime story is to recall his worst battlefield horrors, and Wayans gives it just the right twist of comedy to put Payne's bullet-pierced heart in the right place--he's really just a good guy with an iron-clad exterior. The young recruits strut their stuff in the final round of their cadet competition (their marching rap is good for a solid laugh), and director Nick Castle keeps it all from becoming too stupid or over the top. It's arguably only for Wayans's most ardent fans, but as a send-up of all the great movie drill instructors, Major Payne is painlessly enjoyable. --Jeff Shannon

Product Description
BONUS FEATURES: PRODUCTION NOTES, TALENT BIOS, FILM HIGHLIGHTS, THEATRICAL TRAILER AND WEB LINK. THE MILITARY WAS NEVER THIS MUCH FUN OR THIS WILD. WAYANS IS HILARIOUS AS A RETIRED MARINE OFFICER DETERMINED TO WHIP A RAMBUNCTIOUS GROUP OF CADETS INTO A WINNING TROOP.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A laugh-riot!, June 11, 2003

By	Kurt A. Johnson (Marseilles, Illinois, USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Major Payne [VHS] (VHS Tape)

When Major Benson Payne (played by Damon Wayans), a one-man-army in a Marine uniform, is discharged, he needs to find a new life. Given command of the Madison Academy Junior ROTC, he sets out to whip the gang of misfit youths into shape. Used to the toughest discipline and the hardest life, Payne is the children's worst nightmare, and there is nothing they won't do to get rid of him. Along the way, though, Payne and his command all learn a few lessons.

This movie is a laugh-riot! Wayans' Payne is hilarious, being just the right mixture of homicidal maniac and tender father figure, while the ROTC cadets make a perfect foil for the Major. My family have never laughed so hard at a movie as we did at this one, with my son being quite pleased with how the Major deals with a "monster" in a young lad's closet - "If he's still in there, he's not happy!"

This is a great movie, the one caveat being that there are quite a few colorful words tossed around by the Major and the cadets. That said, though, this was a hilarious movie that you and your family will like watching again and again!

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Total Remake of "The Private War of Major Benson", January 7, 2007

By	Joseph V. Certeza "vulcan8630" (USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Dear Reader,

It is true I was in training to be a film-maker of some portent...Yes, I was properly versed in the International Film Art scene, Avante-Garde and Film- Noir...I have been exposed to "Potemkin", "400 Hundred Blows", "The Bicycle Thief", "Day for Night", etc... but.......

Again let me indulge you in another one of my film "guilty pleasures"...."Major Payne"...

Yes, it is a remake of 1955, "The Private War Of Major Benson" but it's as opposite as the two Kirks in TOS, "Mirror, Mirror".....

The 1955 movie definetely has a feel of "gosh, golly, and swell".....Although "good" for it's time it generally has the "sickly sweet" feeling thoughout.

"Major Payne" takes a completely 180 degree turn....

That's right, the 1995 Major (Damon Wayans) is not a boisterous, chauvanistic, drunk....

No Siree, Bob! Major Winifred Benson Payne is a 100% killing machine...Out of his own platoon he not only captures the head "bad guy" but the bad guy's entire army! When one of his platoon mates is shot in the leg, the Major has a very "sick" solution to "Getting your mind off a that pain?" This Major is a "human terminator"; Great example is his story telling version of "The Little Train that Could"...I would go into detail but I won't as the children reading this may acquire horribly scarred pysche's...

The children in the movie are not the cute, innocent, gum chewers of 1955 but can be equally venomous and dangerous as the Major as seen in their exploits of getting rid of the Major....C'mon what kinda of kid tries to photograph a boy dressed up as a girl pretending to be sleeping with their ROTC instructor....

PRETTY DEMENTED KIDS!!!!

Yes, this movie goes way overboard on the Major's character (live ammo on the training grounds) and the children's character (payola to the local town motorcycle gang leader) but at least it has the guts to come forth and tell us just how hard it is to teach today's kids!!!!!

But, seriously folks, let your hair down and have a good hard laugh....Check out "Major Payne"....

P.S. Seeing the partial parody of "Apocolypse Now" at the beginning well worth seeing this movie!

Vulcan8630

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Major Payne has hurt my sides with laughter., October 30, 2006

By	Jenny J.J.I. "A New Yorker" (That Lives in Northern Nevada) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

"Major Payne" is one of the funniest movies that I enjoy to watch over and over again. I thought that Damon Wayans delivered a knockout performance as the loud-mouthed, gold-toothed, trash talking, squeaky voiced Major Benson Winifred Payne. He was so funny that I nearly had a heart attack while laughing at the same time.

After a major drug bust goes extremely well in South America, Major Payne (Damon Wayans) returns to Parris Island, South Carolina and finds out that the U.S. Marine Corps is throwing him out of the military back into civilian life. After two weeks of civilian life, Payne is let back into the military under one condition: go to Virginia and train a group of delinquents for an ROTC program at Madison Academy. Payne regretfully accepts the job and puts each of the boys into 8 weeks of living hell! It becomes a fight because the boys do what they can to put Major Payne out of their lives!

I have so many favorites scene through out this movie but the one that shines the brightest is when Wayans had a dance sequence at a club where he performs a series of moves (including a very nice "robot"), and with the help of music from 2 Live Crew. Many of the gags are side-splitting funny, and the vocal tones and mannerisms of Major Payne are just spot-on hilarious. And the kids in the film do a remarkable job in their supporting roles. The kids in fact steal the show (especially the younger ones). Lots of absurdity in the movie, but still here and there peeks through a poignant maturity on the deeper symbolism of what boot camp is all about

Of course, it is a feel good movie so you know everything will work out in the end. Base on some of the lower reviews you can see that this movie is not for everyone, but at the same time is worth seeing. If you don't like it by the time Payne does his "Failure to communicate!" line then maybe it isn't for you. As for me it's utterly brilliant.