McHale's Navy (1997)

Director:

Bryan Spicer

Writers (WGA):

Peter Crabbe (story) and
Andy Rose (story) ...

Release Date:

18 April 1997 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy

Tagline:

Dare to rock the boat.

Plot:

Retired Lieutenant Commander Quinton McHale spends his days puttering around the Caribbean in the old PT-73 selling homebrew...

Plot Keywords:

Terrorist | Military | Shot In The Ear | Helicopter | Alcohol

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

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)

MPAA:

Rated PG for action/violence, mild language and innuendos.

Runtime:

108 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS

Certification:

Iceland:L | Germany:12 | Spain:13 | UK:PG (video premiere) | USA:PG

Filming Locations:

Barra de Navidad, Jalisco, Mexico

Company:

Bubble Factory, The

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.

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.

Quotes:

Lt. Cmdr. Quinton McHale: What a dick!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "3rd Rock from the Sun: Eleven Angry Men and One Dick (#3.7)" (1997)

Pants with a capital P.

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.