Ready, Steady, Charlie! (2003)

Good movie but grossly overrated

Absolutely the worst movie.

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

"Achtung, fertig, Charlie!" is a Swiss comedy movie from 12 years ago and possibly the most famous from Switzerland in terms of the genre when it comes to 21st century movies. However, I did not think it was really that funny. For both lead actors, it was the first performance in a film and I am not really sure about their performances. Honestly, it may be one of these cases of looks over talent why they got cast, especially for the male protagonist. He also does not really have a career in acting now over a decade later, but he focuses on directing. Melanie Winiger, the female lead, still does some acting here and there and managed to build a successful career from this film. The only one I was familiar with here is Marco Rima. He was actually a fairly known comedian for a while, even here in Germany. Director Mike Eschmann went on to direct another military comedy a couple years later, but he is not really working today anymore in the business. Same can be said about the two writers. And honestly, I am not particularly surprised. This 90-minute film here is not really memorable at all in my opinion. The comedy is rarely funny and there are a handful pretty cringeworthy scenes/references. Not recommended. A bit sad that this is the best Switzerland has to offer in terms of comedy.

I really don't see why so many people are slamming this movie for its admittedly formulaic style. its a teen comedy, why are you expecting edgy scripts and high class thespians? its a piece of light relief intended to amuse for a couple of hours! the film itself may not have the most original of premises and DUH its not realistic that failing to reply to your call up for military service probably won't have you taken away from your bride on the wedding day - its called a plot device, yeah? the fact remains that it is a genuinely funny movie that certainly matches eurotrip or American pie for sheer quirkiness. it has some moments that don't perhaps gel so well but overall its a good film that will provide you with a few proper laugh-out-loud moments. Don't watch it and expect it to change your life, but do expect it to challenge your stereotypes of chocolate cuckoos cheese and neutrality. Switzerland is still very much a "traditional" society where women aren't as well respected as men and there is a bit of gender inequality and this is highlighted. the military is seen by many swiss people as a period where they have to turn up yeah, but the weekends are a huge excuse for getting drunk/stoned with your squad-mates and this film shows this admirably. Great cinema no. Funny? hell yes.

Well, AWFUL is just the first name. This movie is a cliché-ridden piece of junk. A high school comedy setup in a military training camp. I'm sorry I had to give this 1 star which it did not deserve.THIS MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS:Just about everything is totally forced, unconvincing and unrealistic. The HEPO (military police) will not come to get you if you don't make your appearance, especially not on your wedding day. The actors were pretty embarrassed during this scene, because the scene didn't work as it was so highly unlikely. You can sense it in their voices. Even if they were not such bad actors, they wouldn't have been able to save the scene. Next the guy has to exercise in his wedding suit. No, there was no time to get him an uniform first. Man, this is great cinematography! I will remember this scene for the rest of my life.There are also GIRLS in the camp--exciting--one of'em even a model, though not looking that great--and the baddest actress I've ever seen. I doubt in Hollywood they would let her say a single line in a B movie. Okay girls in the military! Now this is getting fun. The girls are even placed on the same floor, so we can sneak to their room at night! In reality they would be placed in a different building a quarter mile away, separated by two fences with barbed wire. There are tanks available we can use for a fun ride in our spare time, of which we have plenty. No, the tanks are not locked, and the ignition keys are inserted. No one will notice the engine sounds, especially not at night.There is a bunch of sex scenes and references and all are below the waste line. We need those so the sexually obsessed Germans will like the movie as well. Switzerland is too small a market for any feature film. Well done!One sex scene takes place in the kitchen. Surely, none of those facilities are ever locked. The military routines are as sloppy as they can get.In the end of the brainless flick, the mafia hit men are about the take revenge on the poor guy trying to shoot him! Because he deserted his fiancée! Sure I buy that, the Italians are that way--a jealous bunch (not). The bad guys attempt to do this in open daylight with two dozen eyewitnesses. Not at night in a dark alley. Again, military training grounds (where there is shooting with live ammo) are open to the public, anyone can freely drive or walk in there. There are no such things as guards or fences. The deed however is prevented by the good captain timely launching a rocket into the Italians' car. The explosion knocks the hit men and the enraged fiancée off their feet. No one in 40 feet distance is hurt when the car is blown to smithereens. It's a COMEDY, remember.Okay. It's a comedy, I got that, and I can live with that. No realism needed. Filmmakers can easily get way with this if it is hilariously, side splitting funny, or entertaining, interesting, challenging. Unfortunately it is none of those. It's just embarrassing. A rip-off from brainless American comedies. The latter are at least done professionally, with no amateur actors.It is pretty boring and predictable, a waste of time and energy, especially to those sitting through the entire movie as I unfortunately did. Yawn.

Seriously - avoid this movie at any cost. I just saw it in my first "sneak preview" ever and although I paid non-refundable money for it, I walked out of the cinema after a mere 15 minutes. Which already includes 2 minutes of discussion among my friends whether or not to leave. First time EVER I walked out of a movie. And I lived through some pretty bad ones.It's one of those films that is dubbed (and badly so) even though it is shown in its original language. It relies on the oldest, simplest and cheapest jokes in the book. On the military ("What do we do once we reach the fighting zone?" - "You get out of the car and die"; actually, it's much funnier to read here that the way it was delivered in the film), on drugs (a guy eats some "space cookies", behaves really silly and misses his wedding or has to live through it while high - all badly written and acted), on women in the army ("Why do we only get trumpets? We were promised guns!" - "That's the way it is, that's the way it'll stay")... Argh. Okay, you might actually find these genuinely funny, but in that case you seriously scare me.Additionally, I have seen better acting in the kind of soft porn films you get on European late night TV. So it had lame jokes (delivered badly), beyond lower average acting, lacked pace, was badly dubbed and edited – It just didn't work. At least not on any level used as a measure for films.I would even be so bold as to say that this flick proves that there are people who can be a lot less funny zan zee Germans. And that's saying something if you like stereotypes. (Which I don't, it's nice to play with them, though. Just in case somebody thinks I'm not being PC enough.)Instead of going to see this film, do something useful. Try to teach crocheting to prawns, paint your toenails in a really irritating colour, disassemble your bicycle, change some light bulbs, try to understand Einstein's theories, convert to a different religion and back - in fact, go and listen to "Last Christmas" by Wham! on endless repeat. Anything, but don't watch this awful flick.