McHale's Navy | |
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Directed by | Bryan Spicer |
Written by |
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Produced by |
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Starring | |
Cinematography | Buzz Feitshans IV |
Edited by | Russell Denove |
Music by | Dennis McCarthy |
Production company | |
Distributed by | Universal Pictures |
Release date |
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Running time | 108 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Budget | $42 million [1] [2] |
Box office | $4.5 million [3] [1] |
McHale's Navy is a 1997 American military comedy film directed by Bryan Spicer, and starring Tom Arnold, David Alan Grier, Dean Stockwell, Debra Messing and Tim Curry. The screenplay by Peter Crabbe and Andy Rose is based on the 1962-1966 television series of the same title. Ernest Borgnine was the only member of the series' cast to appear in the film.
McHale's Navy was theatrically released on April 18, 1997, by Universal Pictures to critical and commercial failure.
On the island of San Moreno, a trio of important-looking men (a Chinese militant, a Russian General, and a European businessman) are meeting with the island's governor. After paying him a suitcase full of money for a special operation, the three men are joined, via helicopter, by Major Jake McPherson Vladakov, the second best terrorist in the world, who will oversee the operation. This entire event is witnessed by a young boy named Roberto who takes pictures of the governor, the Major, and his men.
The next morning finds retired Lt. Commander Quinton McHale making his way to the Naval Base of San Ysidro, where he does some trading with the officers. Such goods and services include selling home-brewed beer, ice cream, and swimsuit calendars to the men in exchange for things like medicine and satellite photos to help the people of San Moreno. The satellite photos are his way of spying on the opposing children's baseball team. Stationed at the base are his old crew: Virgil, a cigar-chomping ladies' man and gunner; Happy, the team lookout who lives in a treehouse; Willie, the team techie and moonshine maker; Gruber, a slightly portly card-player and cigar hoarder; and Christy, the group's musclehead who can unscrew a bottle cap with his eye.
However, Captain Wallace B. Binghamton and Lieutenant Penelope Carpenter command the base now. Capt. Binghamton believes his men have gone native and confiscates all the products McHale has sold them. He wants to resurrect his career after having mistakenly sunk a luxury cruise liner, for which he is famously known.
Vladakov takes control of the baseball field and beach on San Moreno to set up his base of operations. After Roberto inadvertently alerts Vladakov to McHale's presence, (mostly thanks to the jersey that McHale gave him and the team), Vladakov uses his new stealth boat to blow up McHale's home and nearly destroys his PT-73, a decommissioned PT Boat, which reveals that they have a bad history with each other. When the governor tells Vladakov that his operations are disrupting the lives of the villagers, Vladakov and his men invade the village during their fiesta, blowing it up, and displacing everyone that lived there.
At the Pentagon, Cobra, an admiral, finds out about Vladakov's presence on San Moreno and instructs Binghamton to stand down in favor of McHale, revealing that he was once a highly decorated, top covert operative. This shocks Binghamton, but he relays the message to McHale. McHale rejects the mission, saying he wants nothing to do with it, or with Binghamton. Upon learning that the village was destroyed, McHale accepts the assignment with the stipulations that he be given his old crew, men stationed at San Ysidro, and complete autonomy from Binghamton. Binghamton appears to agree but enlists Ensign Charles Parker (David Alan Grier) to spy on McHale. Slowly both Parker and Carpenter realize that Binghamton is an incompetent officer.
McHale sets up a camp site for the villagers and, after invading Vladakov's base to find out what's going on, heads to Cuba for supplies to fix the re-commissioned PT-73 and to combat Vladakov. McHale and his crew use a pirated variety show broadcast to prevent Vladakov from stealing missile launch codes and entertain the villagers. Binghamton, tired of sitting on the side lines, attempts an attack on Vladakov's base but upon arrival, it is vacated and shown to be a front. Vladakov has killed the men that hired him to blow up The Pentagon as his motives are finally revealed. He was monitoring communications between McHale and Cobra and is aware that Cobra is en route to San Moreno to help take out Vladakov.
Vladakov attempts to kill Cobra using his stealth boat. Roberto is aboard and he tries to short out the boat to no avail. He is captured by Vladakov, but manages to jump ship. After Ensign Parker saves Roberto, McHale successfully kills Vladakov using a torpedo he bought in Cuba, as revenge for Vladakov killing Roberto's father in Panama. Cobra lands safely and reveals that he is McHale's father, none other than now Admiral Quinton McHale Sr. and former WWII era commander of the PT-73.
Finally, the film ends with the commendations of McHale's crew, and the promotions of Lt. Carpenter and Ensign Parker, the US Navy rebuilding the baseball field, McHale re-retiring so that he may pursue a relationship with Carpenter, and Binghamton's apparent demotion to umpire for a kids' baseball game.
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The film earned $2,128,565, ranking 7th place at the box office in its opening weekend. Its final total came to $4,529,843, against a production budget of $42 million. [1]
Sidney Sheinberg, whose production company The Bubble Factory produced the film for Universal, said: "McHale’s Navy was a disaster. I'm not pretending it wasn’t a disaster". [4]
On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 3% based on 29 reviews, with an average rating of 2.01/10 and the consensus: "About as funny as a keelhauling, McHale's Navy will leave most viewers feeling they've been the victim of a particularly dishonorable discharge." [5] Metacritic reports a weighted average score of 18 out of 100, based on 10 critics, indicating "overwhelming dislike". [6] Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "C+" on scale of A to F. [7]
Mick LaSalle of the San Francisco Chronicle wrote in a very negative review: "By the end, this soporific comedy makes 105 minutes feel more like a two-year hitch." [8] Leonard Klady of Variety wrote: "Time and adapters have not been kind to the fun-loving series." [9]
McHale's Navy was nominated for a Razzie Award for Worst Remake or Sequel, losing to Speed 2: Cruise Control . It won the awards for Worst Actor (Arnold) and Worst Resurrection of a TV Show at the 1997 Stinkers Bad Movie Awards.
Ernest Borgnine was an American actor whose career spanned over six decades. He was noted for his gruff but relaxed voice and gap-toothed Cheshire Cat grin. A popular performer, he also appeared as a guest on numerous talk shows and as a panelist on several game shows.
PT-109 was an 80-foot Elco PT boat last commanded by Lieutenant John F. Kennedy, future United States president, in the Solomon Islands campaign of the Pacific theater during World War II. Kennedy's actions in saving his surviving crew after PT-109 was rammed and sunk by a Japanese destroyer earned him several commendations and made him a war hero. Back problems stemming from the incident required months of hospitalization at Chelsea Naval Hospital and plagued him the rest of his life. Kennedy's postwar campaigns for elected office referred often to his service on PT-109.
Charles or Charlie Parker may refer to:
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David Gene Parker, nicknamed "the Cobra", is an American former professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball as a right fielder from 1973 to 1991. A seven-time All-Star, Parker won two National League batting titles and was the 1978 National League Most Valuable Player. He was a member of two World Series championship teams, winning with the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1979 and the Oakland Athletics in 1989.
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McHale's Navy is an American sitcom starring Ernest Borgnine that aired 138 half-hour episodes over four seasons, from October 11, 1962, to April 12, 1966, on the ABC television network. The series was filmed in black and white and originated from a one-hour drama titled "Seven Against the Sea", broadcast on April 3, 1962 as part of the Alcoa Premiere anthology series. The ABC series spawned three feature films: McHale's Navy (1964); a sequel, McHale's Navy Joins the Air Force (1965); and a 1997 sequel-remake of the original series.
Joseph Anthony Flynn III was an American actor. He was known for playing Captain Wallace Binghamton in the 1960s ABC television situation comedy McHale's Navy. Flynn was also a frequent guest star on 1960s TV shows, such as Batman, and appeared in several Walt Disney film comedies.
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Robert Francis Hastings was an American actor. He was best known for his portrayal of Lt. Elroy Carpenter on McHale's Navy and voicing Commissioner James Gordon in the DC Animated Universe.
Donald Marshall Carpenter was an early naval aviator in the United States Navy flying from the USS Langley (CV-1) and USS Lexington (CV-2). These were the first two aircraft carriers of the U.S. Navy. He graduated from the U. S. Naval Academy in the Class of 1916 representing Pennsylvania. He is the namesake of the USS Carpenter (DD-825).
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Edmund Michael Burke was a U.S. Navy Officer, Office of Strategic Services (O.S.S.) agent, Central Intelligence Agency (C.I.A.) agent, general manager of Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, CBS executive, and President of the New York Yankees, the New York Knicks, and Madison Square Garden.
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McHale's Navy is a 1964 American technicolor comedy film based on the 1962–1966 black and white television sitcom McHale's Navy starring Ernest Borgnine, Tim Conway and Joe Flynn, which had in turn originated with a one-hour anthology drama starring Borgnine entitled Seven Against the Sea. The film version was directed by series producer Edward Montagne and its supporting cast includes Carl Ballantine, Gavin MacLeod, Jean Willes, Claudine Longet, and George Kennedy. The film was followed by a sequel entitled McHale's Navy Joins the Air Force which did not feature Borgnine or Carl Ballantine. A remake entitled McHale's Navy, was released in 1997 and features an appearance by Ernest Borgnine playing a 75-year old McHale. The filming location for New Caledonia is the same as the one used in the series. For more information on the main characters see the TV series McHale's Navy. The movie was released on DVD for Region 1 on January 31, 2011.
McHale's Navy Joins the Air Force is a 1965 film based upon the television 1962–1966 sitcom McHale's Navy. Series supporting players Joe Flynn and Tim Conway are the leads for this sequel to the first film made in 1964, also named McHale's Navy. Most of the film is based on their two characters, particularly Ensign Parker.