Rating: 
Summary: sexy performance by Arkin
Review: I just saw this movie again last night. I was 11 years old when I first saw it and back then there was something about the Arkin character that got to me. I thought he was soooo sexy, and cool. My friends couldn't figure out why I didn't like the blond Russian sailor, but in my mind, Arkin was much more interesting. I'm glad to say that I still feel that way many years later. I think most people who see this film realize the same thing-current comedies play us for fools and dumb down the content. The fact that this film had no subtitles during the long opening sequence forced us to pay attention to the acting. The decision to forgo the subtitles put us in the same situation as the Islanders-who were these people?, what were they saying?, and what did they want? Beyond the obvious political points of the film, it charmed us both with its subtleties (Arkin's attraction to the wife of the American writer) and its uproarious comedy (Jonathan Winter's "can't we get organized?"). In the end, this film wears extremely well because of its subtleties and great comedy, long after the end of the cold war.
Rating: 
Summary: Also agree witih the last review
Review: I too was 11 when this came out (saw it at the drive-in with my family) and thought Alan Arkin was unbelievably sexy!! When I read the last review, saying the same thing, I just had to write. I'm ordering a DVD copy of The In-Laws right now...with Arkin and Peter Falk. IF you haven't seen it, buy it. You'll love it; it's a "can't catch your breath because you're laughing too hard" movie. Anyway, Alan Arkin made some great movies.
Rating:
Summary: Priceless.
Review: I was 11 when this movie came out, and I have to say, I still dream about it today! It is funny, sweet, and perfect!
Rating:
Summary: A Former Theater Usher Rates "The Russians Are Coming!"
Review: I was a movie theater usher back in the mid-1960s, so I saw many movies MANY times. For example, I saw "A Patch of Blue" 36 times. "The Russians Are Coming!" was one I probably saw 20+ times, and I thoroughly enjoyed it each time. The cast is first class and the writing is great. Leonard Maltin calls it "incredibly overrated"--yet another reason to pay no attention to "professional critics," or better yet, see their reviews in reverse--the lower the review, the better the film.
Rating:
Summary: One of the funniest ever
Review: I'm old enough that I first saw this classic at the theatre, yep, upwards of 40 years ago. I laughed then, and haven't stopped.I have a habit of collecting films that are a must for my library when they come out in different formats. So, while I already had this in VCR, it's now necessary to get it for DVD. It hasn't lost even a little of its humorous effect. Where does one start? Alan Arkin was brilliant, deserved an academy award. Carl Reiner was fabulous. Perhaps my favorite of all, even to this day, was Paul Ford. (Oh, and Jonothan Winter's part is incredible.) But the DVD is even better than the others. You see, there's an interview with producer/director Norman Jewison that's worth its weight in gold. He goes on about how well the actors worked together. And I remember that the film, even in my much younger days, gave me some hope: Maybe we CAN live together despite Cold War rhetoric and the like. It seems the Russians felt the same way! This is a film that should be part of everyone's collection. It's hysterial, satirical, some of the finest acting I've ever seen--and a collection of one liners to make the Marx Bros. jealous. Get it and relish it.
Rating:
Summary: great, but why the subtitles?
Review: I'm old enought to have seen this when it was first released in theaters. I loved it then ands still do, despite Leonard Maltin's snooty comments. However, the current video (with the photo montage on the box) has subtitles for nearly all the Russian spoken, which the original did not have. I find them very distracting and actually diminish one of the film's points: Helplessness and fear in the absence of understanding. If I can find an older copy, I'd rather own that than this version.
Rating:
Summary: Da! Da! Da!
Review: I've loved this movie since it came out in 1966. I watch it every couple of months, and it never ceases to make me feel better...Brilliant performances by Alan Arkin, Brian Kieth, Paul Ford, Carl Reiner and Jonathan Winters! The subplot of hunky russian sailor-local girl romance is a bit of a yawn, but that's the only negative thing I can find to say about it. Special mention goes to the FINE performance of the Northern California coast in the role of Gloucester Island.
Rating:
Summary: One of my favorite movies.
Review: I've seen this film many times. In fact I watch it again last night and I have to say that even at 3:oo am it's still hilarious. Arkin is the man. He's so subtle but watch that face, it tells everything. He was just so enjoyable to watch. This is a really good flick to view with the whole family, because it's clean. They just don't make'em like this anymore. You have to see it at least once. Believe me you won't be disappointed.
Rating: 
Summary: It`s so bad, it`s good...
Review: Imagine seeing this about a decade ago in a college dorm room with a South African, a Ukrainian, a Russian, a Japanese, and 2 Americans (all friends, of course) and you can imagine the laugh fest that this became! The characterizations were poking fun on purpose at the Cold War and other issues, but that the characterizations were so awful and a product of their times as well was even funnier! (20/20 hindsight, right?!) What a luxury it is to laugh during times of political strife (...and be reviewing videos online, for that matter) but by all means, indulge! See it with friends, though...it becomes much more interesting, particularly at 2:00 in the morning!
Rating:
Summary: Funny yet profound
Review: Not only do I still love this movie, but after first seeing it as a kid during the Cold War, I was so enchanted that I went home and read everything I could find on Russia. From that I developed a love of Dostoevsky, Pasternak and Solzhenitsyn and ... you guessed it ... eventually studied Russian language and literature in college. I still find this a profound picture, albeit hilarious, of the emotional politics of the average American during that time period - something that is difficult to convey nowadays to the post-Cold War generation - and a delightful counterpoint to the deadly seriousness of those politics as shown in other U.S.-versus-Soviets movies, such as "The Hunt for Red October". Interesting thought: I am told that the Soviet government allowed this movie to be shown in the Soviet Union during the 1970's, where it was a big hit. Although I can't confirm this report, and suspect a few bits of dialogue may have been "appropriately" altered if it were shown there, I like to think that maybe it helped keep our countries from pushing that apocolyptic button. We were all laughing too hard at the time!
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