Military Intelligence and You: Grade D

D
Military Intelligence and You (2006)
Patrick Muldoon, Elizabeth Ann Bennet. Writer-Director Dale Kutzera.

Old World War II military training films and war footage are blended with live actors to create a black-and-white film of a WWII story about saving an Allied bomber squadron from German air attack (or something like that), complete with a romance at headquarters between the two principal actors. The story is a satire of old WWII movies, and of military training films, and a commentary on the futility of war in general, and of the Iraq war in particular. On top of all that, there is a voice-over that comes in from time to time, converting the whole project from a satirical war story to a military training film. Whew! The narrator’s comments are often funny, in the style of Mystery Science Theater. The war story itself is humorous too, with brazen stereotypes and soap opera exaggeration. Finally, the old training film snippets are somewhat amusing (they even include one with Ronald Reagan). But after a half hour, the same style, jokes, gestures and clips are just repeated. The writer was caught in an endless loop. A lost opportunity, this could have been a scorching social criticism. Too bad, but the first half hour is worth a look.