Gung Ho

1986 "When East meets West, the laughs shift into high gear!"
6.3| 1h51m| PG-13| en| More Info
Released: 14 March 1986 Released
Producted By: Paramount
Country: United States of America
Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
Official Website:
Info

When a western Pennsylvania auto plant is acquired by a Japanese company, brokering auto worker Hunt Stevenson faces the tricky challenge of mediating the assimilation of two clashing corporate cultures. At one end is the Japanese plant manager and the sycophant who is angling for his position. At the other, a number of disgruntled long-time union members struggle with the new exigencies of Japanese quality control.

Genre

Drama, Comedy

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Director

Ron Howard

Production Companies

Paramount

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Gung Ho Audience Reviews

AnhartLinkin This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.
Kien Navarro Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.
Kaydan Christian A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.
Marva It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,
Mike LeMar Why go out of your way for the Japanese' help if you're going to complain about it the whole time? One of the Americans asks why they can't just leave them alone and let them do things the way they know how to. Uhh, maybe because you've just sought their help, they're here now, and both of you have committed to it?
rjplumer I saw this movie again as an assignment for my management class. Were to mainly comment on the different management styles and ideas on quality(of the product). I did rent this one back in the eighties and I remember it to be good(but not great)movie. I've always liked Michael Keaton's style and delivery. He was a perfect fit for the movie.I am surprised to see some of the low ratings for this movie. I grant you yes it's no Oscar winner but it does have decent comedic value. It's more of a subtle comedy rather than a all-out comedy farce. I also find some of those that felt this was an inaccurate film on cultural and business differences. I beg to differ. I grant you again that there are a lot of generalities and dramatizations but then again this is Hollywood film not a documentary. From what I've read about differences between Automakers on both sides of the Pacific at that time many of the principle ideas were accurate for the time.Some of the basic differences were that Japanese workers made to feel as part of the company as a whole. Teamwork was emphasized. They perhaps made the company above all else. Where American workers had more of a management verses labor type of relationship. The individual was more important than the company. I'll probably get some hate email over that comment I'm sure.Another difference was how quality was viewed and whose responsibility it was to fix. In many Japanese plants defects or problems are examined and fixed at the time it is discovered. Rather as one character in the movie put it "it was the dealers(meaning car dealer) problem".Many of these things are probably dated but I'm sure some are still around as many US car makers are still struggling to keep up with the Japanese. If one is more interested in the subject of American, European and Japanese automakers I can recommend a book that studies this subject in more detail and was done around the same time period. The book is called "The machine that changed the world" by James Womack, Daniel Jones and Daniel Roos. It's about a study of automakers during and before the time period that this movie covers. Parts are bit dry but I think you'll find that it backs up much the movie also.
luvsmile3333 In addition to having a humorous, well-written script, this movie can teach current businesses the value of good management practices and a look at Unions. We should all be thinking globally, especially in business. No one knows it all, and everyone can teach us something. If we remain open-minded and work together great things can happen.This movie provides a lesson in close-minded management, the value of honesty, friendship and family and more importantly the value of admitting when you were wrong. The script reveals the differences between cultures and their business practices and skillfully focuses on the ensuing confrontation between them.
Lee Eisenberg Focusing on a Japanese car company buying a factory in a Pennsylvania town, "Gung Ho" brings to mind the fact that in the '80's, the US was very much into the Japanese companies; obviously, things changed in the '90's. The movie also shows the company trying to bust the union, and one gets the feeling that Japanese workers are afraid to ever challenge their bosses. But it seems like there was more at which the movie could have looked. Oh well. It's a pretty funny movie overall. Michael Keaton is great as the all-American leader not about to let anyone stand in his way. You'll really like his trip to Japan, and the Japanese woman's attempt to say "hard place".