Operation Dumbo Drop (1995)

User Rating:

4.7/10   

Director:

Simon Wincer

Writers (WGA):

James Morris (story)
Gene Quintano (written by) ...

Release Date:

28 July 1995 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Comedy | Drama | Family | War

Tagline:

When you weigh four tons, it's hard to be a secret weapon.

Plot:

To keep the loyalty of a native village during the Vietnam war, a US Army officer and his unit struggle to deliver it a live elephant.

Plot Keywords:

Elephant | Vietnam | Lifting Person In Air | Cargo Plane | Airlift

Cast

Danny Glover	...	Capt. Sam Cahill
Ray Liotta	...	Capt. T.C. Doyle
Denis Leary	...	Lt. David Poole
Doug E. Doug	...	Sp4 Harvey (H.A.) Ashford
Corin Nemec	...	Sp5 Lawrence Farley
Dinh Thien Le	...	Linh
Tchéky Karyo	...	Goddard (as Tcheky Karyo)
Hoang Ly	...	Colonel Nguyen
Vo Trung Anh	...	Lt. Quang, NVA
Marshall Bell	...	Colonel Pederson
James Hong	...	Y B'ham
Long Nguyen	...	Jhon
Tim Kelleher	...	C-123 Pilot
Scott N. Stevens	...	C-123 Co-Pilot
Kevin LaRosa	...	Irish, Huey Pilot #1 (as Kevin Larosa)

Also Known As:

Dumbo Drop

MPAA:

Rated PG for war action and language.

Runtime:

107 min | Finland:104 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Vietnamese

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Iceland:16 | South Korea:All | Germany:6 (f) | Philippines:G | Australia:PG | Portugal:M/6 | Spain:T | UK:PG (video premiere) | USA:PG | Singapore:PG

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Walt Disney Pictures

Goofs:

Miscellaneous: When the elephant is sedated and the kid pulls a knife on Danny Glover, the way the blade bends, you can tell that it's a rubber knife.

Quotes:

[Goddard is singing along to a record of Mozart's "The Magic Flute" - badly]
Capt. Sam Cahill: Is it my ears, or has your singing actually gotten worse?
Goddard: Must be your ears, it was already as bad as it could be!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "The Nanny: Call Me Fran (#5.13)" (1998)

Soundtrack:

QUEEN OF THE NIGHT ARIA

Feel good for flying elephants

In something Walt Disney would actually have been proud of, Operation Dumbo Drop carries the old Disney tradition of making the audience feel good without regard to it's lack of plausibility. Danny Glover and Ray Liotta, along with Dennis Leary walk a tightrope of comedy in a real war-zone situation and carry this off with a real blend of comedic and acting talent. The acting in this movie is terrific. The cinematography and all the little things that go the extra mile. . like setting, direction, musical score, sound, etc, all come together nicely. And the elephant is a great character actor! The only problem is, of course, it is a terrible war and nobody is dying. This is something traditional with the Disney family genre, but in this picture it really becomes completely implausible and will probably turn off some viewers. That said, if one can ignore the actual ridiculous nature in this total lack of plausibility, I found this picture quite easy to like.