Whoops Apocalypse (1986) User Reviews

Indeed an underrated movie. And that is sad.

[revtg1-2 · 7/10 · 14 January 2007]

Name a genre of political or social satire. It is in this movie. Name a sacred cow that needs to be kicked in the udders. A swift kick is delivered in this movie. Here's a sample. Loretta Swit is selected as vice president of the US because it is "PC". His first day in office the president dies. Our first female president is faced with some serious foreign policy decisions and decides to seek the advice of the former president, Murray Hamilton. You get the first hint of outrageous satire when her limo arrives at the gates of a federal prison. Hamilton portrays a hilarious amalgamation of Lyndon Johnson and Richard Nixon in an understated performance that borders on genius. He takes a break from busting rocks and advises Swit with a lot of film-flam and jibber-jabber, then embraces the two Secret Services agents. They walk back to the limo talking about how the former president is the salt of the earth. When they turn around you see he has stolen the shirts off their backs while leaving their neckties and suit coats in place. After that the outrageous satire comes rapid fire in every scene. After every scene you think, "They can't upstage that." Then they do. In spades and doubled. It doesn't end until the end of the movie. See it with some friends. Laugh out loud.

Nowhere as good as the miniseries, but has some good moments...

[GrigoryGirl · 5/10 · 6 March 2022]

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.

Memory of a sad day

[malcolmgsw · 5/10 · 23 February 2024]

This was the film that I watched on the closing day of the ABC cinema Golders Green. It was a popular cinema but was sold because the fire Cannon Group had to have money to pay for their loans.

This film does have some funny moments in amongst some really silly scenes involving The Myall.

Peter Cook is the most prominent name in the cast. He plays all the absurdities with a straight face.

Herbert Lom,one of my favourite actors,plays the rebel General in his own inimitable way.

Loretta Switt,has a fairly straight part as the. United States President.

This film is no great classic,but it will not bore the pants off you.

Not Exactly Wodehouse but i haven't laughed more for some time

[spanishflea50 · 24 May 2004]

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

What have they done to this classic?

[jancyclops · 1/10 · 16 December 2003]

What an utter disappointment. Forget this abysmal film and get hold of the TV series instead. What on earth were they doing making the American president relatively sane? ALL the politicians should have been bumbling buffoons (Peter Cook is good as the British PM). It lacks the biting satire of the original, going instead for "lowest common denominator" slapstick. 1 out of 10 if I'm being generous! This is unfortunately yet another example of a remake which totally misses the point of the original, the difference with this one being that they were both written by the same people.

About as subtle as a sledgehammer

[amyghost · 4/10 · 24 December 2014]

but there are some very funny bits in this: Rik Mayall's manic SAS agent, Ian Richardson's Rear Admiral Bendish (you may need some familiarity with British slang to get the joke, but it's made clear soon enough), the incomparable Peter Cook's crazed Prime Minister and several other performances lend this sometimes fairly juvenile outing a good deal more comedic mileage than it probably would have gotten from a less talented cast. The ending does come close to ranking up there as a bit of a classic, and overall it's a pretty entertaining piece of silliness. It's not going to knock 'Dr. Strangelove' off of any pedestals for stinging anti-war satire, but it does supply some genuine laughs.

Michael Richards' portrayal of Lacrobat can't come close to John Cleese's handling of the role in the 1982 television series, but he gets some amusing business in; and the somewhat oddly cast Loretta Swit does a better job with her role as President Adams than might have been expected.

Eye wateringly funny

[ozzy1972 · 9/10 · 18 November 2006]

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!

Some may find this dated but those who lived through the eighties will find it hilarious

[Tweekums · 8/10 · 1 March 2012]

I bought this film on VHS in the late eighties and thought it was hilarious; after many years I thought I'd see if I'd still enjoyed it... I did! The film opens with the fascist Central American Republic of Maguadora invading a small British colony in the Caribbean; a task force is deployed and the colony is retaken. That isn't the end of the matter though; the Maguadorans employ the world famous terrorist Lacrobat to kidnap Princess Wendy and threaten to kill her if Britain doesn't had the colony to Maguadora. Once she has been kidnapped it is a race to find her before she is killed; an act that Prime Minister Sir Mortimer Chris says will be met by swift nuclear retaliation! If that wasn't bad enough it is learnt that the Soviet Union has its own secret missile base in the Caribbean which they promise to use if Maguadora is attacked.

I found this film as hilarious as I did when I first watched it; sure some jokes don't work as well as others but they come thick and fast so if you don't laugh at one joke another is coming very soon. The main plot is clearly inspired by the 1982 war to liberate the Falkland Islands after the Argentinean invasion and there are other sections inspired by real events such as the SAS storming of the Iranian Embassy and even the Cuban Missile Crisis. Funny moments are too many to list but highlights include solving unemployment by getting people in work to jump to their deaths off Beachy Head, the public crucifixion of cabinet ministers and best of all the storming of a wax museum by a squad of overly enthusiastic, dim-witted SAS soldiers. The cast includes a fine array of acting talent including Peter Cook, Ian Richardson, Loretta Swit, Rik Mayell, Herbert Lom and Alexi Sayle; some like Mayell are hilariously over the top but most play their parts straight which given the material makes it even funnier. While I expect most people will find this amusing it isn't really suitable for younger viewers or the easily offended as it includes such things as an accidental castration, a travelling sex toy salesman and a pile of severed heads!

OK spoof

[Penfold-13 · 8/10 · 14 September 1999]

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.

A very intelligent and very funny comedy

[druberwolf · 10/10 · 20 July 2022]

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.