This was Steven Spielburg's first flop of a film, from 1979, starring Dan Ackroyd and John Belushi. In this film the Japanese attacked Los Angeles during World War II. What was the title?

After the monumental successes of *Jaws* and *Close Encounters of the Third Kind*, director Steven Spielberg took a sharp turn into comedy with this sprawling 1979 production. The film satirized the real-life paranoia that gripped the American West Coast in the days following the attack on Pearl Harbor, imagining a chaotic, full-scale Japanese invasion of Los Angeles. To lead its massive ensemble cast, the film recruited two of the biggest comedy stars of the era, Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi, who were at the absolute peak of their *Saturday Night Live (Review)* fame.

The movie's plot was loosely inspired by actual, albeit minor, historical events. These included the "Great Los Angeles Air Raid" of 1942, where widespread panic led to a massive anti-aircraft barrage at nonexistent enemy planes, and the real-life shelling of an oil field near Santa Barbara by a Japanese submarine. The film takes these kernels of truth and exaggerates them into an over-the-top, slapstick spectacle full of dogfights over Hollywood Boulevard and a runaway Ferris wheel rolling down a pier.

Despite its technical achievements, which earned it three Academy Award nominations, the film's frenetic humor failed to connect with critics and audiences. Given its enormous budget and Spielberg's previously perfect track record, it was widely considered his first major flop. The film has since developed a cult following, and it's notable for being co-written by Robert