Dad's Army

This is a film version of a famous and funny TV series of the same name. In the last war the home guard consisted of mainly older men protecting Britain's shores: the series and now this movie portrays their comical adventures. Unfortunately most of the characters in the movie version are inferior clones of the series. The making of this movie seems to have been rushed. A script that is mostly poor and unfunny and I could not wait for the picture to end. In the TV series what made it so amusing was the strong interplay between the main male players. The lead actors wife was talked about but never seen nor were female recruits visible if at all. The film makers have ruined the picture by failing to give us a picture that does justice to the original series. 2 and a half, rounded up = 3/10

Apparently the new Dads Army movie has some bad press. Well tonight I went to see it and the casting is spot on considering the huge shoes they had to fill. Toby Jones was brilliant and some laugh out loud moments. Loved it, good old school humour. Remember, this is Dads Army not Animal Farm so I'm not expecting high brow and yes the story is a wee bit far fetched but hey, so what, it's good clean humour with the odd double entendre thrown in. Loved seeing Mrs Mainwaring and thought it was great casting of one who should be obeyed and not seen in the TV series. Mrs Fox, Pike et al were great too and the lovely Catherine Zeta Jones brightened up the viewing. All in all a pretty good effort.

I was around when Dads Army originally aired and I took to it immediately.The marvellous theme tune sung by my favourite,Bud Flanagan,the great cast and the writing which was spot on.I saw the original film and the West End stage show.I watch every episode on BBC.Now I did not think it was heresy to make a new film and I have looked forward to it.Sadly I was to be disappointed because the film is not funny.I didn't laugh once.I was disappointed at the way some of the characters were changed.Jones who was undervalued and confessed to being in the catering Corp.Elizabeth Mainwairing was a very good addition.However the plot was silly and the humour wasn't there.All I can ask is was this wise.

Dads Army (Like most 1970's British comedies)is a much loved T.V show that is still enjoyed to this day. Its characters and catchphrases are iconic and part of British culture. So when the news came that it was being remade in 2016 I thought that it was going to fail. I was shocked they were going to ruin the legacy of one of this much loved programme. But when I saw the film I was wrong. It was funny,well written and FELT like a British comedy. The cast were all fantastic (Bill Nye was great as Sgt Arthur Wilson) and the jokes were funny. Plus Ian Lavender and Frank Williams (Private Frank Pike and Reverend Timothy Farthing) are in it so keep your eyes open for them. To conclude it was a fun,enjoyable film that I really enjoyed. Its not as good as the Dads Army show or the 1971 film but I still think its worth a watch.

I grew up with the 1968 series Dads Army. It sat cheerily alongside other quality Brit comedies in a similar vein, such as It Ain't Half Hot Mum and complimented top US military comedy shows, such as Hogans Hero's. That said, much as I desperately wanted to love the new film based on this wonderful series it simply lacks the clever comedic wit and wry humour of its predecessor. Indeed, it would be fair to say it comes armed with everything except humour. This film offers up great sets, a good choice of location, excellent costumes, a predictable but not unlikable story and a stellar cast. Sadly, that's about it. The comedy is thin on the ground and a good portion of any humour there is amounts to very innocuous, mildly sexual jokes, mostly directed at Catherine Zeta Jones, spy character. "Did you slip her a sausage?" one woman asks Jones the butcher. Simply put, this is such a terrible waste. A more polished script, infused with comedy of the period and maybe a few new twists, could have seen this film shine, paying homage to a wonderful series I can still happily watch 47 years later. Instead, what you get, is weak tea without the sugar. I'm sure Arthur Lowe's, Captain Mainwaring, would not have been impressed. Four out of ten from me.

Trying to duplicate an evergreen TV series such as Dad's Army is about as plausible as trying to re boot Laurel and Hardy. This was a unique show fronted by unique characters. The plots were simple and depended a bit on slapstick, but more than anything the presence of the late Arthur Lowe. Unfortunately, Toby Jones couldn't come near character of the stuffy but lovable Capt. Mainwaring. Without that it's not Dad's Army. The production is filled with top actors such as Bill Patterson,Tom Courtenay and Catherine Zita Jones. But they had little to work with in a rather unfunny script for a far too serious plot. Bill Nighy does his best at stayed Sgt.Wilson. But he had little to work with against an equally unfunny Jones. I wasn't expecting too much from this film,so I wasn't disappointed a great deal.

As someone who watched Dad's Army a long time ago and still puts the DVDs on from time to time I loved it and laughed the whole way through. The casting was excellent. The characters were close enough to the original but still bought enough of their own version to make something new. In discussion with other Dad's Army fans we were worried that this might be a disappointment but on the contrary, I thought it was very well done. If you are new to Dad's Army, it might be a puzzle or may not stand well enough on its own but otherwise go and see it.

The original series was a masterclass in ensemble acting, brilliant script-writing and nuanced acting by the cast and still remains hilarious, fresh & peerless to this day. I was sceptical about the remake, having been such a big fan of the original series since childhood, so saw this as a potential disaster-in-waiting. However, when I saw the casting and and quality of the acting talent involved I became cautiously optimistic. Basically, this is abysmal. The movie lacks everything that the original series (and to some extent the original move) had in spades - brilliant & relentlessly funny script, fantastic cast dynamics, subtlety, pathos... This is a disgraceful waste of the formidable talent of the actors involved and is frankly an insult to the original cast (a couple of whom appear pointlessly in cameo roles) and even more to the original writers, who would be turning in their graves. I stuck the film out, despite wanting to leave after about 10 minutes and thought seriously about self-harming at one-point to alleviate the tedium. Seriously, if you're a fan of the series, stick to the repeats on TV and don't waste your money on this turgid, witless waste of space.

Have to say I'm one of those that on hearing they were making a new Dad's Army film, threw my arms in the air in disgust and vowed I would never go to see it out of respect to the original and much beloved TV series - but as the release date has drawn closer and I've read and watched interviews with various cast members, I've found my interest being piqued more and more to the point that we went to see it yesterday (two days after release). Having done so, I have to say that I've taken back everything I ever said about disrespect and not being able to come anywhere close to the original's genius - the film has proved my initial fears to be totally unfounded. Sure it's not the original and doesn't even feel like the original BUT it doesn't try to be. I put it elsewhere that it's like a good cover version of a song - it shows the original respect whilst presenting it differently enough not to just be a straight copy, or even try to be. There are numerous points of reference back to the original throughout, these vary from catchphrases to the classic map with the Union Jack arrows fending off the advancing swastikas that appeared in the original's opening titles (and do so very cleverly too). Yes the plot is a little flimsy and Godfrey's sisters methods of arriving at the denouement of the spy is a little implausible - but to be honest how many of the original series plot lines were that plausible? One or two of the characters lose something in this "re-imagining", Jones and Hodges being two of them - but then all of the actors involved have gone to great lengths to say they didn't want to imitate the original characters, more put their own interpretations on it, and with only 90 minutes or so to develop and show those characters limitations have to be expected - although personally I'd like to have seen the Jones character be given more visibility. The cinema we saw it in was packed and there were plenty of real laugh out loud moments where everyone was laughing - and all in all I think a laudable job has been done which as I started off by saying shows no disrespect to the original. Oh and make sure you stay to the end of the titles, there are some funny outtakes in there and a rather touching homage back to the original conducted by all the main cast of the platoon. Now I'm off to eat my hat (and my original words about the project along with it)

Lets face it, everyone involved in this was on a hiding to nothing from the start. If this film had too many nods to the original (and beloved) TV series, it would be criticised. If it tried to be its own beast, it would be criticised. In the end it fails as a film because a) it tries to be a bit of both, and b) it just simply isn't funny. There are some talented people involved, all doing very respectful takes on the original characters, but they are working with a weak (and often historically inaccurate) script that means they are lumbered doing imitations, rather than putting their own spin on the roles. It's a shame this isn't good, but I can't say I'm surprised.