Colonel "Madman" Maddox: To Hollywood... and glory!
Private Foley: Now Sarge, what is the loading and firing procedure for the 75-millimeter cannon? Sergeant Frank Tree: [delirious] There are five basic components... Private Foley: This is it, pay attention. Sergeant Frank Tree: ...to the new General Electric refrigerator: one, the freon compressor, two, the freon tube...
Captain Loomis Birkhead: [to Donna] It's big. The biggest one here. You know what else? It's got a lot of range. You know what I mean by range, don't you? I mean it can stay up for a long time. A very long time. And it's built firm and solid. Because it has to be. Because of its tremendous forward thrust. And when this baby delivers its payload... devastating.
[Looking at the Japanese sub through binoculars] Angelo Scioli: Hey, there's a Kraut on board too. We got the whole damn Axis here.
Captain Wild Bill Kelso: Kid, you gotta get that sub. Wally Stephens: What sub? Captain Wild Bill Kelso: The Jap sub. Wally Stephens: Where? Captain Wild Bill Kelso: The ocean, lame-o.
Trivia:
The dialog between Claude and Herbie was written along the same lines as Ralph Kramden and Ed Norton. In fact, Jackie Gleason and Art Carney were offered the roles but Gleason refused, saying he would not and could not work with Carney any longer.
The gas station where Captain Wild Bill Kelso (John Belushi) lands to refuel was the same one used in Steven Spielberg's movie Duel. Lucille Benson, who plays the gas station owner, appeared in Duel as the Snakerama owner at the same station.
Both John Wayne and Charlton Heston were offered the role of General Stilwell. Wayne phoned director Steven Spielberg, who had given him the script, and not only turned it down due to ill health but tried to get Spielberg to drop the project. Wayne felt it was unpatriotic and a slap in the face to WWII vets. Heston is thought to have turned it down for the same reasons.
Spielberg exposed one million feet of film over 247 shooting days.
Credits Fun:
End credits feature scenes showing cast members screaming.
DVD Easter Eggs: (Hidden So You Don't See Anything You Don't Want To See)
Edition: Universal
Region: 1
Description: Isolated music score
From the disc’s main menu go to the 'Language Selection' and there select 'Spoken Language'. As one of the entries you will then see 'Isolated music score'. Select it and you will be able to enjoy John Williams’ fabulous score in its entirety.