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Overview
User Rating:
Director:
Writers (WGA):
Peter Crabbe (story) and
Andy Rose (story) ...
more
Release Date:
18 April 1997 (USA) more
Tagline:
Dare to rock the boat. more
Plot:
Retired Lieutenant Commander Quinton McHale spends his days puttering around the Caribbean in the old PT-73 selling homebrew... more | add synopsis
Awards:
1 nomination more
NewsDesk:
(8 articles)
Magician/Actor Ballantine Dead At 92
(From WENN. 5 November 2009, 2:06 PM, PST)
Michael J. Fox wins Emmy No. 5 for 'Rescue Me'
(From Gold Derby. 13 September 2009, 10:23 AM, PDT)
User Comments:
Pants with a capital P. more (32 total)
Cast
(Cast overview, first billed only)| Tom Arnold | ... | Lt. Cmdr. Quinton McHale | |
| Dean Stockwell | ... | Capt. Wallace B. Binghampton | |
| Debra Messing | ... | Lt. Penelope Carpenter | |
| David Alan Grier | ... | Ensign Charles Parker | |
| Tim Curry | ... | Maj. Vladikov | |
| Ernest Borgnine | ... | Cobra | |
| Bruce Campbell | ... | Virgil | |
| French Stewart | ... | Happy | |
| Danton Stone | ... | Gruber | |
| Brian Haley | ... | Christy | |
| Henry Cho | ... | Willie | |
| Anthony Jesse Cruz | ... | Roberto Valenzuela | |
| Honorato Magaloni | ... | Castro | |
| Guillermo Ríos | ... | Jose | |
| Eduardo López Rojas | ... | Gonzales (as Eduardo Lopez Rojas) |
Additional Details
MPAA:
Rated PG for action/violence, mild language and innuendos.
Parents Guide:
Runtime:
108 min
Country:
Language:
Color:
Aspect Ratio:
1.85 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Certification:
Iceland:L | Germany:12 | Spain:13 | UK:PG (video premiere) | USA:PG
Filming Locations:
Company:
Fun Stuff
Trivia:
According to his book "If Chins Could Kill: Confessions of a B-Movie Actor", Bruce Campbell mentioned that McHale's crew were rarely given specific instructions in many scenes other than to follow Tom Arnold around. He and French Stewart were not given any direction at all for their sequence in the talent show, so they scripted out a vaudeville act using Naval and nautical terms all by themselves. Despite this, most of their sequence ended up playing in the background while the camera focused on Arnold and Debra Messing. more
Goofs:
Continuity: When Parker poses as Castro, McHale asks the officer for his clothes. The man puts his cigar in his mouth and does it again in the next shot. more
Quotes:
Lt. Cmdr. Quinton McHale: What a dick! more
Movie Connections:
Referenced in "3rd Rock from the Sun: Eleven Angry Men and One Dick (#3.7)" (1997) more
FAQ
This FAQ is empty. Add the first question.more (32 total)
Message Boards
Discuss this movie with other users on IMDb message board for McHale's Navy (1997)| Recent Posts (updated daily) | User |
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| Are You Kidding Me? | marcus2minion |
| Worst Movie Ever? | KaiserClub |
| Snow Shoes? | budt3 |
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| Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest | The Incredibles | Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan | GoldenEye | Star Trek V: The Final Frontier |
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| News articles | IMDb Comedy section | IMDb USA section |
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I watched this on a commercial station and between each advert break they flashed up the title card as 'McHale's War' instead of McHale's Navy, and that seemed to sum up the complete lack of interest this film generates in almost everybody. The TV station couldn't even get the title right. This is a bad film a comedy that is consistently and forcefully unfunny. I didn't laugh once throughout the entire hellish running time, and only managed the barest ghost of a smile on a couple of occasions. Let's face it any film in which Tom Arnold is the star is in trouble from the off. For all I know he may well be a wonderful person but he isn't a star and he isn't a comedian. The only time he's funny is during the 'action' sequences and when he tries to act serious: his nostrils flare a little and his eyes widen a touch and that's it it's a kind of one-size-fits-all expression for every emotion he is called upon to express. He's supposed to be one of those charismatic types in this film, the type of guy everyone warms to the moment he opens his mouth. That's right Tom Arnold. Did some casting executive read this part and really think to himself 'why, that's a part just tailor-made for that Tom Arnold chap? Hmmm. Dean Stockwell is also in this, he's quite a good actor but he's awful here in fact he hasn't been much good in anything since Married to the Mob. Tim Curry is just a cartoon character in a flesh suit these days and sleepwalks through his role. The running joke about his being the second greatest terrorist in the world is done to death in the first twenty minutes of the film and then thankfully forgotten. Only the ever-solid Bill Campbell is worth a look, but his part is woefully small. The TV show was around before my time, so I've no point of reference with regard to how accurately this film captures the atmosphere of the show, but somehow I can't believe it was as lame as this. If it was the film would never have been greenlighted.
Do yourself a favour and do what everyone involved in this mess should have done: give it a wide, wide berth.