and instead concentrates on the logistical nightmare of elephant-moving. Beyond that, it doesn't have much plot, but the idea of tossing an elephant out of an airplane certainly makes for adequate suspense." In comparison to other films, Maslin thought, "The model for this is a lot closer to McHale's Navy, which is mentioned here, than it is to Platoon. But in the end, this generally lighthearted Vietnam caper does try to teach a lesson of sorts, since the gift of an elephant becomes a form of war reparations." Joe Leydon writing in Variety, felt Operation Dumbo Drop was "a well-crafted and entertaining pic with broad, cross-generational appeal." and that "Glover is well cast and establishes an effectively edgy give-and-take with Liotta." He also reserved praise for "Russell Boyd's splendid cinematography and Rick Lazzarini's convincing animatronics." Kevin Thomas of the Los Angeles Times viewed Operation Dumbo Drop as a "pleasing family adventure-comedy". He thought the film was "handsomely photographed by Russell Boyd" and that under "Simon Wincer's brisk, efficient direction, Glover, Liotta, Leary, et al., give the kind of full-bodied portrayals essential to making basically formulaic material come alive." Lisa Schwarzbaum writing for Entertainment Weekly gave the film a positive "B Grade" rating and viewed the film as a "concept, supposedly based on a true story, is weird — this is what Vietnam movies have come to? But at least the Disney quadruped has the grace to say nothing, and Leary, still an interesting motormouth, knows enough not to smoke or swear when there are elephants around." Peter Stack writing for the San Francisco Chronicle, saw the film as "not the terrible movie that its ubiquitous trailers would indicate. But it is an odd one," and that "Glover and Liotta, though not exactly great comic actors, play off each other with real spark, the two vying for command of the outlandish mission to deliver the elephant across 200 miles of impossible jungle terrain to the mountain village." Gene Siskel of the Chicago Tribune gave the film a thumbs down review calling it, "preposterous" and saying "I'm not buying it all the way through." He also ridiculed the outdoor market scene as "the world's most dangerous profession in the movies; selling fruit on a city street." Gary Kamiya of The San Francisco Examiner bluntly referred to the film as descending "upon the hapless viewer like a vast load of pachyderm dung." He