It's lots of fun, especially if you were a fan of the 1960's TV series which for the most part outside of the very bad 1997 remake has been forgotten. Oscar winner Ernest Borgnine slammed by going to TV sitcoms as McHale, the My. Commander who somehow manages to get out of any and all serious missions. He's still a nightmare for Captain Joe Flynn who is desperately trying to find a way to get him reassigned. In this big screen theatrical movie, Borgnine becomes involved with attempts to enter a horse race with a thoroughbred he finds in the middle of the Pacific Islands and desperately seeks to hide the horse from plan before he and his gang head out to the races.

There's lots of silliness ahead in this amusing but often juvenal comedy that has a lot of laughs out loud moments but a few that are real groaners. Tim Conway as Borgnine's sidekick and Bob Hastings as Flynn's right hand man provide good support (or in Hastings' case a humorous lack of support), and blowsy Jean Willes gets laughs as the owner of a bar that wants to get Borgnine down the aisle, something that makes no sense to me. It's all in good fun with Borgnine a likable neer do well, and pretty scenery to boot. Obviously not a challenge for the brain but good for fixing a few blues.

It's 1943 somewhere in the South Pacific and the misadventures of PT73. Skipper McHale (Ernest Borgnine) delivers money to an isolated orphanage. He returns to find his men have expanded the operation without his approval. They get on the wrong side of a horse race and owes everybody about $2k. Captain Binghamton (Joe Flynn) in a plane tries to catch McHale but incompetent Ensign Charles Parker (Tim Conway) shoots him down thinking it's the Japs.

It's a lot of silly slapstick comedy. I never saw the TV show. If this is any guide, it's a pretty low grade sitcom. The show is in black and white while this is in sharp bright colors. It could be funny in half hour spurts but it feels tiresome after awhile. It does allow Conway to riff on extended jokes. However, even he feels a bit too extended just like the movie. It is what it is and what one expects.

Joe Flynn, gone too soon . . . the outtakes of the TV show prove he was funnier "off screen" than on. Ernest Borgnione, Tim Conway and the rest of the gang remind me of Peanuts at sea (Charlie Brown, Linus, Snoopy, etc. at sea). Just as Charlie Brown and Linus hang-out on the ledge of the stone wall in the comic strip--the crazy gang of Mchale's Navy do the same. And the movie is in color! Its two hours (about) of comedy that is unmatched by this generation. Mchale's navy now would be just a bunch of put-down humor and Adam sandler jokes. It was funny when Tim Conway ventures near the occupied hut and funnier when we see what runs out on a Japanese Island in the pacific. Boy oh Boy . . . .Mchale's Navy . . . the show, the movie there's not much difference except the color . . . thanks guys for a wonderful time. Mchale's Navy forever!!! the movie and the show . . . Joe Flynn singing with the boys in the outtake is a must see!!!!! Thanks again: a real laugh riot -everytime