The movie does not do the book justice .... nice try but a disappointment.

This is one of those "Emperor's New Clothes" movies. Say you hated it, and you're instantly judged as being too shallow and stupid to 'get it', because it's "mesmerizing" and "brilliant" and a classic. Well, maybe. I suspect most of the people who fell in love with Catch-22 in 1970 were enthralled with the idea of a 'censored' movie made from a banned book (ooo... I'm so hip and enlightened!). And now, almost half a century later they're shaking their canes at the philistines who don't know a good film when they see it. By all means borrow this book from the library. It'll be a good reminder that you should make up your own mind, and not fall for the ratings game.

This film does not stand the test of time; the book does.

what's not to like about this wonderful movie, good script, great cast, superb cinematography and direction, with celebrated scenes you're not likely to soon forget, for instance, Luciana crossing the street to Strauss' "Zarathustra" - four if not five stars

I try to watch all the movies that have been acclaimed for good work this one was a very slow WALK to China that ultimately never arrived at the destination proclaim-ed! AWFUL! See Young Lions though with Brando AWESOME!

I couldn't get into this one. It's dated -- definitely has a '70s feel to it even though it's about WWII, with its scattered flashback thing going on; Buck Henry's corny humor is unmistakeable, and not overly funny... It's too bad, because the cast is great. The film is just too strange and disjointed. For me anyways.

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Much more than just a story about a group of pilots in Italy during the Second World War. Joseph Heller's novel and this movie brilliantly take an anti-war stance when the lunacy of raising the number of bombing missions drives the lead character, Yosarian, to insane measures to escape the madness (Jack Gilford's line explaining Catch 22 is still true today----if applied to any of our government's military misadventures in the past 60 years.) The cast is outstanding with Alan Arkin, Orson Welles, "Major Major" Bob Newhart, "Chaplin Chapman" Tony Perkins, and other young future stars like Richard Benjamin, Martin Sheen and Jon Voight. AND the last group of real B-25's ever to fly together since the war. Don't miss the crash scene---it's an actual B-25 that wasn't worth restoring. But you may have to watch this several times to get what's going on with the flashbacks and all.