Whoops Apocalypse

There's a genre of spy thriller which involves Presidents, Prime Ministers and other heads of government, top police and spymasters, an assassin like Carlos the Jackal, and the imminent outbreak of WWIII. Whoops Apocalypse is one of those.

Just as Airplane is a disaster movie.

Not that Whoops Apocalypse is as funny as Airplane - there are too many scenes when the plot advances in a reasonably pointful fashion for that - but there are some inspired spoof scenes. There's a beautiful one when the Navy Officer gets his orders to report to his ship by nightfall - there are reasons why this isn't quite as poignant as the similar scenes in b&w 1942 movies.

Some bits of it may well seem inexplicable unless you remember that it was made in Britain in 1986, with the Falklands War still fairly fresh in people's minds, Di-mania a-booming, and Margaret Thatcher still running the country in demented fashion.

The highlight of the film is Peter Cook's portrayal of Prime Minister Sir Mortimer Chris: a high-powered Sir Bufton Tufton, fearfully right-wing and, as we discover, stark staring bonkers. Loretta Swit plays the US President a la Carol Channing, and a number of others kick in with decent cameos.

I'd like to see it again, to find out whether I got all the jokes the first time round - Airplane must have taken a dozen viewings before I'd spotted some of the really subtle touches. I suspect there is less to discover in this second and third time round, but it's not a bad attempt, overall.

I hadn't seen this for years and just brought it on DVD. I've got up off the floor now! This film has it all. Insane politicians, evil terrorists (wanted for releasing the recipe for airline lunches, a crime that rates alongside killing), demented journalists, the SAS blasting the London wax museum (Madame Tussards) to pieces and a British princess enduring unenviable treatment at the hands of the baddie. I think anyone over 30 or those who survived the Thatcher/Regan era should see this film, it is just toooooo funny for words. Most of the jokes are still funny now and I will never ever make a cup of tea using a Liptons tea-bag ever again. Ian Richardsons camp admiral and Rik Mayalls SAS captain are guaranteed to bring tears to your eyes whilst Peter Cook as the PM is so funny you'll laugh till you burst your ribs. A classic and I'm off to watch it again right now!

I have also seen the tv-series, but preferred the movie, by far. It has aged well, like really good comedies typically do (see e.g. Life of Brian).

If you like British humour, you will love this.

If you're looking for the insanity and brilliance of the TV version here, look elsewhere. This is a pale imitation of the series, and a very dated movie. The movie version of Whoops is not like the TV series at all. In fact, it's really a remake in name only. The plot is completely different, centering around a skirmish in a small island run by the UK, and as a result, a royal princess is kidnapped and held for ransom until the island is returned to its people. This leads to a nuclear standoff with the Russians/Soviets. This was shot in the 1980's, so the plot mirrors the Falkland Islands situation at the time. While the original miniseries was also about the Cold War, it's much funnier and more timeless than this film. The film feels very compressed, rushing over things and trying to cram everything into a 90 minute running time. There are logic holes as well, especially dealing with the terrorist Lacrobat, played by Michael Richards. Lacrobat seems to be a magic man that has ready made disguises for every occasion and can outwit entire armies and nations in just a few minutes. Another issue is the rather silly ending. It feels lazy and even manipulative. There's also a really bad scene with a "rambogram" that feels like an outtake from The Naked Gun (which came out a year before this film).

Despite this, there are several great performances by Loretta Swit, Peter Cook, Ian Richardson, and as mentioned above, a funny turn by Michael "Kramer" Richards from Seinfeld. There are a few hilarious moments, mostly at the beginning of the film, but overall, it's a disappointing film.

One can always tell an excellent film if the opening credits make one guffaw ("The British partitioned the Island and took for themselves the upstairs rooms, fighting soon broke out of several mezzanines")and although the film wasn't quite Python it certainly had moments that made me snort my drink. The film did have a tendency to feel like a series of sketches but none the less Peter Cook's insane (although rather charismatic) Prime Minister is worth the purchase price alone. It was also some of the minor characters that provided some of the best laughs such as the former US president (looking the spitting image of Donald Rumsfeld) turned convict who published his memoirs "Commie Bastards I knew".

All in all an underrated classic