Dad's Army

1971 "At last! Their epic story invades the Big Screen!"
6.9| 1h35m| PG-13| en
Details

Dad's Army was a 1971 feature film based on the BBC television sitcom Dad's Army. Directed by Norman Cohen, it was filmed between series three and four and was based upon material from the early episodes of the television series. The film told the story of the Home Guard platoon's formation and their subsequent endeavours at a training exercise.

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Reviews

Lucybespro It is a performances centric movie
ChanFamous I wanted to like it more than I actually did... But much of the humor totally escaped me and I walked out only mildly impressed.
Derry Herrera Not sure how, but this is easily one of the best movies all summer. Multiple levels of funny, never takes itself seriously, super colorful, and creative.
Haven Kaycee It is encouraging that the film ends so strongly.Otherwise, it wouldn't have been a particularly memorable film
Karl Self Overall, the Dad's Army movie is very funny, although the humour isn't quite as catchy and sparkly as in the TV and radio series. So where does this leave us, the viewers? If you've never seen Dad's Army then the movie is a good way of bringing yourself up to speed and getting hooked on the mad world of Walmington o/S. The downside is that you might not "get it" because, as I said, the humour in the movie is a bit on the stolid side.For Dad's Army buffs the movie holds nothing new as the story is more or less a cutup of the TV series, but it's a unique chance of seeing your favourites in "high def" as compared to the shitty quality of the BBC video recordings.The movie also features what must be the lamest holdup sequence in the history of the universe. I can't make up my mind if that's a positive or a negative, though.
gtbarker I have to say that some of the other reviews of this film I have read show very little understanding of it or the original TV series it stemmed from. Dad's Army was a sitcom and therefore had humour and so is bound to have put a smile on the face of the dire situation. However the series carried very many serious messages such as the episode 'Branded' about the bigotry and ignorance that was attached to conscientious objectors. The film was faithful to the series and was simply like an extended episode. So I'm afraid the reviewer who claimed that Columbia improved the humour was quite wrong and let's face it - the BBC sitcoms of this period beat anything that came out of America hands down. Also comments referring to propaganda were also way off the mark. The Homeguard were people considered unfit for frontline service who still wished to serve. They were very brave men who knew they were sentenced to death as soon as they signed up as Hitler announced that anyone who did so would be executed if and when Britain was invaded. Thank you for allowing me the opportunity to set the record straight as it is always good to actually speak and comment on what has been seen rather making it up as you go along I find.
sandra small The film adaptation of Dad's Army exemplifies war as almost a joyous farce, and thus far removed from reality.It is in this film that Dad's Army illustrates how the Home Guard was a propaganda manoeuvre brought about as a means to induce a sense of patriotism among the British people. Therefore all Dad's Army had to defend the country was indeed propaganda, and little else.The propaganda induced patriotism has subsequently been undermined by the Hollywood hijacking of this piece of Britain, which ironically the Nazi's did not succeed in doing.I like the fact that Auther Low's character points out that it was in fact the Nazi's Britain fought against, thereby indicating that the German people were as much victims as us Brits in World War Two.As for the comedy aspect of the film, it is improved upon for Columbia pictures. Left to the BBC it would look more amateurish.Overall, an interesting look at how patriotism via propaganda roused the British spirit during WW2 for the purpose of defence. But what was being defended, and for what purposes, and for whom? These are what begs the questions.
walmington TV shows from the 1970's which were turned into films were usually terrible. Dad's Army is the big exception. The formula from the TV show worked just as well on the big screen and with the bigger budget it's lovely to see people walking around Walmington-on-Sea. The plot is similar to parts of some of the TV episodes, but that doesn't matter because they're still as funny. Other parts like when Mainwaring, Wilson and Frazer are stranded on the raft are classic. The only thing I can criticise it for is the sometimes obvious lack of input from the TV shows creators and writers, Jimmy Perry and David Croft. But beautiful performances from Arthur Lowe, John Le Mesurier, Clive Dunn etc.