1941 - Opening scene (1979)

With Toshirō Mifune, Christopher Lee, Susan Backlinie, Bobby Di Cicco, Perry Lang. Written by Robert Zemeckis, Bob Gale, John Milius. Directed by Steven Spielberg. Produced by Buzz Feitshans. (1979)

[hyweljames]

One of the great opening sequences of any movie - beautifully filmed and hilariously self-parodying on Spielberg’s part.

[BabaBest]

The fact that a Japanese officer and a German officer are speaking to one another in their respective language with no translator is the greatest gag in movie history.

[petermueller]

This scene alone was an absoltue masterpiece. What an underrated movie!!!

[imyerpepper]

She's probably thinking "this is the last time I do a nude scene in a Spielberg movie" while he's basically yelling "all praise the booty!"

[charlessaint]

Toshiro Mifune, the submarine skipper, did serve in World War II. He was with the Imperial Army Air Service as an aerial photographer. Towards the end of the war, he was in Japan. His job was to photograph the Kamikaze pilots before their final mission. Story goes he told the young pilots to cry, “Go ahead and cry out for your mother. There’s no shame in it.” Years later, Mifune told his children that seeing these young boys leave was an utter waste of lives.

[babysealsareyummy]

I was about 10 when my somewhat strict parents let me rent this on dvd from blockbuster. They must’ve forgotten about this scene. I was watching it in my room on my portable dvd player and had the same reaction as the Japanese sailor 😂 RIP to the pause button

[downunderrob]

The Lady passed away on tge 11th of May.
Rest in Peace, Susan. 🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🦈

[THE-HammerMan]

I remember seeing this at a drive-in movie theater in San Diego when it came out. We all loved it. Movie critics don't know jack!

[michaellynes]

The girl who went swimming naked is the same girl who went swimming naked in the movie “Jaws”, but this time the naked girl comes face to face with a submarine of the Imperial Japanese Navy, clinging on to a periscope for dear life.

[PacerStudios]

I got a theory about this scene with Susan Backlinie parodying her own Jaw role. Assuming that this is set in the same universe as Jaws (1975), just set 34 years prior to Jaws, I speculate that the skinny dipper is likely to be Chrissie's mother. Yes Susan was just parodying her own Jaws role, but it's interesting to think that skinny dipping has been running in her family's history for years. The story goes that Chrissie's mother had been fascinated with skinny dipping, so Chrissie probably inherited this fascination from her mother.

[JamesBondStarWarsFan]

1941 along with The Black Hole with Robert Forster and Time After Time with Malcolm McDowell are the most underappreciated films of 1979 and I really like 1941. 1941 is a very underrated and good Spielberg film. 1941 had an excellent John Williams music score, the opening Jaws parody scene with Susan Backlinie was my favorite scene of the film, and the scenes with John Belushi and Slim Pickens were also great.
I also love both The Black Hole and Time After Time. The Black Hole is a very underappreciated and brilliant sci-fi Disney film, the John Barry music score was excellent, and The Black Hole had great characters like Dr. Hans Reinhardt, Maximilian, V.I.N.CENT, and Old B.O.B. The Black Hole had very good performances from Robert Forster, Yvette Mimieux, Anthony Perkins, and Maximilian Schell, Time After Time was an amazing time travel film with Malcolm McDowell, and Time After Time as well as 1941 and The Black Hole are all great cult classic films from 1979.

[Sonicphantom]

This is the kind of stuff I used to daydream about before I even knew what sex was

[Andy_Draws]

4:23 Well somebody’s periscope just went perpetually UP! Bahahahaaaa

I couldn’t resist lol

[chezsnailez]

Just when you thought it was safe to go backwards in time and into the water...

[uditha]

I watched this movie in 1983 as a little kid on the big screen. I always remember this opening scene. But never got a chance to watch this movie again. Thanks to you tube I am watching this again, at least the opening scene...

[turret]

The sub goes back down and she's like 'F--- this shit! I'm outta here!'

But those bits with the

[JamesBondStarWarsFan-byqp]

1941 along with Moonraker, Star Trek: The Motion Picture, and Time After Time are the most underappreciated films of 1979 and I always liked 1941. 1941 was a very good comedy film by Steven Spielberg, the opening Jaws parody scene with Susan Backlinie was awesome, and the John Williams music score was absolutely superb. John Belushi's performance as Captain Wild Bill Kelso was the absolute best thing about this film, the scenes with Slim Pickens were great, and the Ferris Wheel rolling scene was pretty cool.
I also love Moonraker, Star Trek: The Motion Picture, and Time After Time. Moonraker is a very underappreciated and brilliant James Bond film, Michael Lonsdale as Hugo Drax and the John Barry music score were both my favorite things about Moonraker, and Star Trek: The Motion Picture as well as Time After Time are both great cult classic sci-fi films. Time After Time with Malcolm McDowell was an excellent time travel film, Star Trek: The Motion Picture was a very good Star Trek film, and I will always have a soft spot for Moonraker, Star Trek: The Motion Picture, Time After Time, and 1941 from 1979. I can't believe that Moonraker, Star Trek: The Motion Picture, Time After Time, and 1941 are all 45 years old in 2024 and 1941 with John Belushi along with Moonraker, Star Trek: The Motion Picture, and Time After Time are all way more better films than The Rise of Skywalker.

[vstar]

Spielberg did it okay with this movie. The critics can kiss my ass.

[vinhmai]

“And that’s how I met your mother kids.”

[ricklong]

I love the fact that Lee is speaking German, Mifune is speaking Japanese, yet somehow the two of them are holding a conversation 😅