Operation Dumbo Drop

PG

Released Jul 28, 1995

1 hr. 47 min.

Kids & Family

Comedy

List

25%

24 Reviews

Tomatometer

29%

25,000+ Ratings

Audience Score

Soon-to-retire Captain Sam Cahill (Danny Glover) and his unit labor to build a secret relationship with a local Vietnamese village in order to conduct surveillance on an enemy weapons-smuggling operation that goes through on a nightly basis. When the enemy discovers this, they kill the village's elephant as a punishment. Cahill, his replacement Captain T.C. Doyle (Ray Liotta) and a team of special forces must locate and transport another elephant in time for the village's spiritual event.

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Critics Consensus

The Vietnam War would seem an unlikely backdrop for a family-friendly comedy involving an airlifted elephant, and Operation Dumbo Drop lands with a thud.

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StephenPaul C

The least funny 01 hour: and 47 minutes ever!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars

08/03/23

Full Review

Charlie H

It is a dumb movie, but still a good one. Worth a watch. Don't get lost into it... just appreciate it as nonsense. And it managed to get a great cast... makes me think a documentary would be even better. Hahaha

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

02/28/23

Full Review

Audience Member

A bland family comedy that has some okay acting and amusing moments but is a bit boring, has a peculiar backdrop that doesn't really strike me as a good introduction to talking to your children about the Vietnam War, boasts groan-worthy dialogue and the attempts to deal with themes of war and animal welfare clash with the goofy antics that involve shoving a hand up an elephant's ass, among other things. At least it's well-shot. But I wouldn't recommend this as "Baby's First "Apocalypse Now"".

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

01/23/23

Full Review

Audience Member

A group of American soldiers need to get an elephant to a remote town during the Vietnam War. This movie has heart. It starts a little slow, but picks up after they find the elephant as character development and plot start moving forward. There were five soldiers in the main group. The ones played by Danny Clover and Denis Leary were well acted and I enjoyed. Doug E. Doug got in a few good lines, but he wasn't given much to do. Corin Nemec was just there. He had few lines and I wondered why they even put his character into the movie. Maybe he had some scenes that were cut for time, but the movie is only about an hour and a half. Finally Ray Liotta's character was the lead character and I didn't connect with him at all. I did enjoy the relationship that the soldiers developed with the kid that was the elephant's trainer. That is the real heart of this movie. The special effects had a lot of very noticeable green screens that didn't hold up, but I think this movie is worth a watch.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

02/15/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Bem bonitinho, pensei ter relação com o Dumbo, mas foi só um título oportunista, aquela mesma linha Disney, americanos heróis e fofinhos (ou não)que salvam o mundo de todo vilania existente… Mas sequestram um elefantinho de seu ‘habitat', para colocar no lugar de um que eles "ajudaram" a matar… O menininho rouba as cenas, e a lenda em torno do elefante é bem bonitinha… E no final, a informação de ser baseada em uma história real, do major Jim Morri para me deixar ainda mais derretida...

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

02/12/23

Full Review

Audience Member

This Disney movie was pretty good. Danny Glover, Ray Liotta, Denis Leary, Doug E. Doug, Corin Nemec, and the rest of the cast did a good job in this movie. This true story was entertaining and dramatic. It's about keeping a promise and doing what is right for the good of the people. If you haven't seen this movie yet, you may enjoy it. That's what I think anyway.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

02/18/23

Full Review

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Simon Wincer

Director

Danny Glover

Capt. Sam Cahill

Ray Liotta

Capt. T.C. Doyle

Denis Leary

Lt. David Poole

Doug E. Doug

Spc. 4 Harvey "H.A." Ashford

Corin Nemec

Spc. 5 Lawrence Farley

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Lisa Schwarzbaum

Entertainment Weekly

Rated: B

Sep 7, 2011

Full Review

Mike Clark

USA Today

Photographed by the great Russell Boyd but looking drab and washed out for 108 minutes, the movie just gets by on heart and a conversation-stopping finale.

Rated: 2.5/4

Jan 1, 2000

Full Review

Joey O'Bryan

Austin Chronicle

Rated: 0/5

Jan 1, 2000

Full Review

Polly M. Robertus

Common Sense Media

A harmless, if mostly charmless, movie.

Rated: 2/5

Jan 2, 2011

Full Review

Chuck O'Leary

Fantastica Daily

Rated: 1/5

Oct 8, 2005

Full Review

Emanuel Levy

EmanuelLevy.Com

Rated: 2/5

Aug 17, 2005

Full Review

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Synopsis

Soon-to-retire Captain Sam Cahill (Danny Glover) and his unit labor to build a secret relationship with a local Vietnamese village in order to conduct surveillance on an enemy weapons-smuggling operation that goes through on a nightly basis. When the enemy discovers this, they kill the village's elephant as a punishment. Cahill, his replacement Captain T.C. Doyle (Ray Liotta) and a team of special forces must locate and transport another elephant in time for the village's spiritual event.

Director: Simon Wincer
Screenwriter: Gene Quintano, Jim Kouf
Production Co: Walt Disney Pictures, Interscope Communications, PolyGram Filmed Entertainment
Rating: PG
Genre: Kids & Family, Comedy
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Jul 28, 1995, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Mar 27, 2016
Box Office (Gross USA): $24.7M
Sound Mix: Surround

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