First thing I must mention is, that I am from Czech Republic and i've read the book, therefore my opinion may be a bit skewed. Despite of it all, I think this movie is brilliant comedy and nicely shows the absurdity of the first world war from perspective of Austria-Hungarian soldier. It shows life as it went on in that period of time and manages to throw in a few jokes for those, who know how it all ended up. Often times it is said, that Švejk is the archetype of every Czech person and even though I'm not sure if I agree, he is the source of comedy and drama in the movie. If you dislike the main character, there's almost no point in watching the movie, but Švejk grew into my heart. He is your guide through these times, and the fact that you don't know, if he is cunning or stupid enforces the comedy. All things considered, it's and amazing historical movie and a solid comedy, with absurdity as it's main topic.

My tastes run counter to those of my fellow countrymen, it would seem. I have been watching films from all over the world all my life. At least half of the films I view and review are from other countries. Having said that it is not necessary to have a foreign background to watch this historical comedy. You only need the patience to read the subtitles. A pause button may be helpful.

I read review of this movie from planktonrules and I have to disagree. It is one of the best old czech comedy, but you have to know history, you have to understand czech jokes based on czech language. You have to know czech actor legends who played in it. You have to know book from Hasek, who create Svejk. Maybe You have to be czech. Its logical that American doesn't see magic of this movie but we all in central europe laugh from start to end. This is one of movies which cannot be filmed again and better. In this time you are not be able to find places of old Prague which are authentic. In this movie Prague looks beautiful. It is many reasons why I like this movie.