Gung Ho

I was glad to find this well remembered film at such a low price. The video quality of this release is not great. But it's doable. Deserves much better technical treatment.

Michael is a great actor and is his usual self. His Japanese(forgot his name) counterpart is a great in this movie too!

Family game night Since we were missing game pieces, we decided on Gung Ho. A film family of 3 kids , parents and grandparents loved the laughsAnd ending showing how people can work together. Bonus music and funny

It was good

Michael Keaton gave one of his best performances in this film about the Japanese takeover of an ailing auto plant in Pennsylvania. It is a "comedy" that has a serious side too. This 1986 film reflected the anxiety Americans then felt about economic competition from Japan. That the anxiety has now passed should not keep anyone from watching, laughing, and enjoying the film -- and thinking about its themes.One theme is "us" vs. "them": The new Japanese managers and the American workers both think everything will be fine when the others change. This moderates (for the characters in the story, and for the film viewer) as the story unfolds. It diminished by the end of the film when the Japanese managers and the American workers have come, at least part way, to understanding one another.It is now more than 20 years since the film was released. Japanese companies have now built and managed many American auto factories. American businesses have now embraced many "best practices" they learned from Japanese management. And Americans buy Toyotas, Nissans, and Hondas because of the Japanese commitment to quality and zero defects that sparked conflict on the assembly line in the film."Gung Ho" has a number of verbal and sight gags -- like the town of Hadleyville turning out (Chinese) dragon dancers to greet the new Japanese management team at the airport. Another is Japanese managers saying one thing, with Michael Keaton hearing something different. Murray Chapman's screenplay was quite skillfully written.To my mind, though, the most interesting dimension of the plot and Michael Keaton's performance was to highlight the difficult situation of the person who moves (or negotiates or mediates) between cultures, especially at the beginning when the two cultures/companies/parties don't know much about one another. In the plot, Keaton tried to finesse the differences with the force of his own personality. It worked for awhile, but it wasn't sustainable in the end. The film could be profitably viewed in training sessions that deal with intercultural negotiation, change, binational meetings, and joint ventures.-30-

I liked this movie when I first saw it, it was fun, but who REALLY knew that globalization would affect us? The sick thing is that if there were a sequel to this we would see that the factory still eventually closed down and all that work only extended the inevitable a few years. I would challenge someone to make a comedy about what really happened after the car industry moved to every other country but ours. My father was a tool and die maker and luckily he was able to retire and draw a pension, by the time it happened to his company, but so many people had generations of family members who supported their lives working at factories - the car industry being the most "sure " and lucrative. None of these people ever thought it would end. When the corporations pulled out so they could exploit workers around the world, people were surprised and whole towns were devastated. Anyway, things must change in life and i hope those who were affected have moved on to better things.

This is a really fun and sometimes quite realistic depiction of culture clashes and the conflicts between labor and management. But all the problems in the movie are eventually resolved in a comedic way, and in the end everyone is happy. If you want to see how things might have actually played out in real life, check out the documentary "American Factory". The parallels between this movie and the documentary are uncanny: there's also an auto factory that has just been shut down, there's a foreign firm that invested millions to re-open the factory and supposedly saved the day, and then there are conflicts and tension between different cultures, and between workers and employers. The difference in the documentary is that, this time the investors are Chinese, who may not always have the best opinion of America or Americans, and the ending is not exactly happy for everyone.

I saw this movie as a kid and didn't get it. I saw it recently with a Japanese friend who laughed more at Japanese-Americans' allegedly terrible Japanese than at the movie, but we both laughed at the caricatures of American and Japanese work culture and family values.*spoiler alert* the scene at the union meeting where Michael Keaton's character butters up the crowd by asking something like "who works better than American workers?" and the union response is "nobody!" and then lays on the challenge was one of the funnier scenes but it also made me reflect on my values as a person born in the USA.Previous generations of Americans won independence from England, won independence from slavery, won two world wars, and led the rebuilding of Europe and Asia after WWII. Such valor still pays dividends but what has this generation done to deserve the respect of the world? When workers in other countries can make more with less and for less while maintaining a better attitude, how can this generation claim they are superior just because of the heroics of their ancestors?In other words, at its surface, Gung Ho is a funny movie, but underneath it is very philosophical.

Im not a keen fan of Michael keaton and Id seen this movie years ago and couldn't remember why I liked it, so found it and bought it on Amazon.The story, American factory workers unemployed. Japanes car manufacturer wanting to expand -yo Michael keaton. In a position of sales Keaton has to sell the Idea of American workers to Japanes car manufacturers to open a plant in America Yeeah!Keaton plays his usual 'I don't give a damn/ whats up buddy/ this can be solved buddy' character and it plays out really well in the film.The plant is opened in America and between the American workers and the Japanese boss and his underlings, emotions are high.A challenge is made from Japanes Boss to Keaton for workers to produce so many vehicles in a month to match Japanes workers in Japanese plants.Keaton not being truthfull to his workers on what demands are etc ends up on his bones, or so you think!The euphoria makes you pround regardless.I would recommend this for the feel-good factor, and especially the quote near the end of the movie from the Japanese Boss to Keaton ..."you make me laugh!"

A blast from the past very entertaining very funny in places, it could have been made 15 years later and it still would be relevant

This film is typical quality of Michael Keaton, very funny and a message in the background.Well worth watching even though it is a little dated now.Good viewingDave K

Yes, a very funny movie from the 1980s on culture clash and US-Japanese work ethics - Michael Keaton was very funny, recommended.

top film very funny