John Belushi in Steven Spielberg’s “1941 – Where to Hollywood”
John Belushi and Steven Spielberg were two of the hottest names in Hollywood in 1979. Spielberg had just enjoyed the crazy success of Jaws and Close Encounters of the Third Kind, and Belushi was on the rise thanks to Animal House and his constant appearances on Saturday Night Live. in a real frenzy.
Bringing the two together for a film seemed to reek of success. The only problem was that the film, 1941, was a comedy about Los Angeles residents fearing an attack on the mainland after Pearl Harbor.
The characters in “1941” are completely uninteresting
Nothing about it worked on any level. “This film was never thought through on a fundamental level in terms of characters and story,” wrote Roger Ebert in a scathing review. “All sorts of things happen, but we’re never clear why they have to happen, and we haven’t learned enough about the characters to care about whether they survive or not.”
Spielberg bounced back immediately with Raiders of the Lost Ark and ET, leaving 1941 as just a (half-forgotten) blip. “1941” screenwriters Robert Zemeckis and Bob Gale turned to a film about a 1980s teenager who travels back to 1955 and meets his own parents. Went quite well.
More epic fails in film history
Belushi’s story is rather tragic. After getting back on track with Blues Brothers in 1980, his drug-fueled lifestyle caught up with him and he died in 1982.
This translated text comes from the list “The 50 Worst Decisions in Movie History” our colleagues from the USA
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