A brilliant film that helped define a genre

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

One of the film's great tricks is that, for a time, you think it will go down a rabbit hole of unrealistic glorification.

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

Captain Yossarian (Alan Arkin) is a WWII bombardier desperate to quit the war by claiming to be crazy. However Dr. Daneeka explains that there is a catch-22. People who are willing to fly the risky life and death missions are crazy. He is bound to release crazy people as long as they make a request. However if they ask, then they don't want to fly and therefore by definition are not crazy. Colonel Cathcart (Martin Balsam) is the callous commander who keeps increasing the missions required to go home. Tappman (Anthony Perkins) is the incompetent Chaplain. Captain Major (Bob Newhart) is given the squadron command seeing that he's the only Major around except Major is just his name and not his rank. Dobbs (Martin Sheen) is the bomber pilot. Milo Minderbinder (Jon Voight) is using various items in convoluted trades with wide ranging places taking the silk parachutes from the planes.This is very similar in tone with MASH. This is much more surreal. They're both anti-war black comedies. They both came out around the same time and of course, Catch-22 got crushed by the better MASH. The story feels like a bunch of disjointed skits. Some of it is hilarious. Alan Arkin is especially funny in his mania. Some of it is less funny. I would like a more straight forward story concentrating on fewer characters or maybe only Yossarian. I'm not a fan of the various 'dream' sequences since they usually stalls the movie. Later, it devolves into a series of Kafkaesque dream scenes. Most of it doesn't really work but it does recover somewhat.

I had many questions in mind when I watched this film, the first among them being, "Why was this movie made?" and a few more questions followed- "Didn't Mike Nichols read the script and suggest any revisions?" and "Couldn't it be a little more funnier, may be not as much as the book but funny nonetheless?".Adapted from Joseph Heller's one-of-the-kind satire novel, the movie failed to live up to the hype and humor the book created. Mike Nichols, fresh from winning an Academy Award for 'The Graduate' somehow lost his brilliant directing skills to a poorly written screenplay. Yes, there were jokes and funny moments, where you'd guffaw no matter what, but those moments were too few as compared to those in the book.MASH, the book, by any standards, couldn't match Joseph Heller's novel. But when it comes to Motion Picture and presenting it, Mike Nichols lost it to Robert Altman's MASH.And no one else would have made a better Yossarian than Alan Arkin. Jon Voight and Balsam were impressive too.

This is a film I saw many years ago… I didn't really understand it then and so I thought I'd give it another look (having matured a bit in the meantime). I must say it's very weird, anarchic at times and has a lot to say politically… it's also quite compelling. Based on Joseph Heller's famous novel which, I have to confess, I've never read so you'll be getting my opinion of the film as a stand-alone piece. But enough of my prattling; let's have a crack at a synopsis before I give you my thoughts.Whilst flying missions in Italy during World War II, Capt. John Yossarian decides he wants out and tries to get himself certified insane… But there's a catch… Catch-22 to be precise. I won't tell you exactly how it works here; but needless to say, it's a pretty cunning way of keeping the boys flying. We also meet all of his crew and the locals they associate with when not on duty. There are also those who are out for themselves; Col. Cathcart, Maj. Danby and 1st Lt. Milo Minderbinder to name but a few. All this is interspersed with flashbacks to Yossarian's efforts to help a young airman who is injured on a mission. I really don't want to say too much, it's one of those you have to see for yourself to get a grasp of. Also, the Spoiler Police will be selling off all my stuff.This is an interesting film that has a lot to say about many things; not least war and capitalism. I won't go into the political questions it raises, but needless to say the point is put across quite forcibly. Decent performances all round, particularly from Alan Arkin as Capt. John Yossarian; he did a first rate job here! Honourable mentions go to; Martin Balsam as Col. Cathcart, Richard Benjamin as Maj. Danby, Art Garfunkel as Capt. Nately, Jack Gilford as Dr. 'Doc' Daneeka, Buck Henry as Lt. Col. Korn, Bob Newhart as Maj. Major Major, Anthony Perkins as Chaplain Capt. A.T. Tappman, Paula Prentiss as Nurse Duckett, Martin Sheen as 1st Lt. Dobbs and Jon Voight as 1st Lt. Milo Minderbinder. Finally a special mention for Orson Welles who played a brilliant cameo as Brig. Gen. Dreedle.Although I found this film entertaining, I did find it did drag on a bit towards the end. About 20 minutes shorter and it would have been ideal (for me). It's all very well shot, but I'm afraid it suffers from having the feel of some 'Frat-house' comedy which didn't really endear it to me too much. That aside, I did find parts of it were quite compelling although I did struggle to have much empathy with any of the characters… even the lead. For its day though I thought it was quite groundbreaking and quite an eye-opener (in more ways than one). At the end of the day an interesting adaptation… I'll have to read the book sometime.My score: 6.9/10.IMDb Score: 7.1/10 (based on 10,995 votes at the time of going to press).Rotten Tomatoes 'Tomatometer' Score: 87/100 (based on 23 reviews counted at the time of going to press).Rotten Tomatoes 'Audience' Score: 62/100 (based on 9,365 user ratings counted at the time of going to press).

This film did not try to recreate the book, and so it succeeded. I am happy to say that this film just keeps getting better year after year. It's hard for me to fathom that it came out 40 years ago! For me, it was another reminder (how many do I need) of the absurdity and futility of war, every war. Thank you Joseph Hellar, thank you Mike Nichols, thank you Buck Henry. And what a fantastic cast! Too bad that the film came out in the same year as MASH. But, I must say, that I find this film far superior to MASH. Whereas MASH did a good job at keeping things light, Catch 22 managed to show the absurdity of war while not shrinking from some gritty, realistic moments. Alan Arkins' scene of discovering the truth of Snowden's death (including bloody guts exposed to the cold air) is a scene I will never forget.