Stripes (1981) User Reviews

Great First Half. But Than, Stripes Loses Comic Punch.

[jbartelone · 6/10 · 6 May 2008]

Stripes begins as a fine and very funny military service farce with Bill Murray losing his job, girlfriend, and apartment, all in the same day. He decides, with his good buddy Harold Ramis, that they should both join the Army. Some of the funniest parts of Stripes are in the beginning of the movie with Bill's character trying to do push-ups, exhausted as he is trying to do as little as 5. Ramis cracks, "I think your ready for the Special Olympics!" Harold also shines in a bit-part in teaching English to a class of all foreign students. He finds out that there are only a few in the class that speak any English at all. He asked a student who raises his hand, "You speak some English?" The student answers back "SOB and $hit" and the whole class than repeats it.

The Basic Training sequences are very funny. Warren Oates shines as a tough drill Sergent, and in addition to SCTV alumni Ramis, John Candy joins the fun as likable, lovable "Ox." There are the typical sex gags, simple jokes, visit to a strip bar, that you would expect in this type of movie and Murray, Candy, Ramis, and Oates keep the comedy fun to watch. However, this is probably due more to the talents of these actors, rather than the storyline, which was done a year earlier with Goldie Hawn in another similar Army movie, Private Benjamin. There is nothing new or original about Stripes. Its best parts are in the first hour.

After the graduation from Basic Training, our likable recruits are assigned to man a top secret vehicle on a special assignment in Europe. Here is where this great comedy falls apart, because at this sequence of the movie, all the good parts have already happened, so the viewer has to spend about 40 minutes watching the group operate the machine, having silly one-lines like, "Wow!!! let's see what this thing can do." rescue some of their group who get temporarily captured in Czechoslovakia, and than arrive home to the predictable hero's welcome. The film goes from funny service farce to a bad Robocop sequel. It's almost as if the European mission sequence was needed, because the producers didn't want to end the film at 90 minutes.

I suppose that it was needed for the recruits to do something with their Army training. The problem is that once the team gets to Europe, the things they do aren't funny anymore and the plot wears thin because of this. The first half of Stripes gets a solid 8, the second half (a generous) 4. Therefore, my overall rating of Stripes is a 6.

The gang being funny

[SnoopyStyle · 7/10 · 17 September 2013]

John Winger (Bill Murray) quits his cab driving job and loses his girlfriend. In addition, he loses his car and his home. His best friend Russell (Harold Ramis) is tired of teaching ESL. John convinces Russell to join the army with him. There they meet fellow recruit Ox (John Candy). Sgt. Hulka (Warren Oates) shapes them up and they're led by the sleazy incompetent Capt. Stillman (John Larroquette). The fact that John and Russell keep getting into trouble means that they continuously encounter MPs Stella (PJ Soles) and Louise (Sean Young).

Director Ivan Reitman brings the gang together for a bit of fun. Bill Murray is his sarcastic self. Harold Ramis is a competent sidekick. The best fun was had by John Candy who gets to mud wrestle a whole bevel of beauties. Although not the group's best collaboration, this is still very funny especially if you like Bill Murray's antics.

Simple, Fun 80's Comedy,

[lesleyharris30 · 8/10 · 5 June 2015]

Stripes is a great movie with a well written storyline and a brilliant comedic cast. It's simply a fun comedy and it dosen't need to, nor does it want to, be looked at beyond that, it's very funny and there are a ton of scenes where you can tell the cast was improvising and having fun together. It's definitely much longer than it needs to be, running for nearly two hours, I found that unnecessary and there were definitely several parts that could have been trimmed to be make this a more suitable ninety minutes, that's as long as I feel a movie like this should be. Bill Murray shines in the lead role, this is very early in his career but it is clearly evident that he already had the confidence and charisma to play the main character and was very capable of holding the whole movie. It's not a flawless film, but Stripes is very enjoyable to watch and I would recommend it to anyone looking for a good comedy.

A pair of slackers join the US Army with the hopes of getting their act together.

Best Performance: Bill Murray

Just one in a string of Murray/Ramis classic comedies.

[TxMike · 4 June 2007]

Harold Ramis absolutely cannot strike a pose without a glint in his eye and a rye smile on his face. He is just filled with "funny". We owe him Ghostbusters, Caddyshack, Groundhog Day, and this movie, "Stripes." Take ordinary human conditions, and turn them into something interesting and funny.

Bill Murray is John Winger and Harold Ramis is Russell Ziskey, a couple of slackers trying to keep gainful employment and make ends meet. In the one day that begins this movie, Winger quits his cabbie job, abandoning a stuffy lady on the bridge, gets his car repossessed, and has his girlfriend leave him. At the shoe shine shop, watching an "Uncle Sam Wants You" TV spot, he convinces his buddy Ziskey that they would do better by enlisting in the Army. After all, free food and free clothes! Warren Oates is in fine form as drill Sgt. Hulka. P.J. Soles as Stella Hansen and Sean Young as Louise Cooper, both MPs on base, serve as the love interests of the two men. John Candy is one of the raw recruits, 'Ox' Oxberger, while John Larroquette is good as the neurotic and useless Capt. Stillman.

I watched it with Emily, a recent high school graduate who is enrolling at West Point this summer, as her introduction to basic training in the Army!

SPOILERS: Hulka gets injured by a wayward projectile, and the guys have to train themselves the final night before the graduation review. They are unpolished, but disciplined, and so impress the general that they are sent to Italy on special assignment. Winger and Ziskey, as usual, get everyone in a bind, in an unauthorized venture into Communist Czek territory, but Winger and Ziskey also come to the rescue.

Fans of Murray, Ramis and Candy will enjoy this

[snoozejonc · 7/10 · 17 July 2020]

Bill Murray and Harold Ramis join the army and get involved in a plethora of shenanigans.

A weak story is saved by the great performances of Murray, Ramis, John Candy, Warren Oats and John Larroquette who are all on madcap top form.

There are great scenes prior to enlistment and during basic training. Murray and Ramis are absolutely brilliant in the scene where they sign up. They don't even have to say much more than a few words or just look at each other a certain way and it's hilarious. Also the sequence where John Larroquette sees his platoon for the first time as they charge, screaming through the muddy assault course is fantastic.

The film works well in the first two acts, but unfortunately when the focus shifts from basic training to the final sequence it goes down hill quickly. The reason for this is that all the comedic talent is then wasted on a sequence that does not showcase it at all.

The humour itself is a product of its time and not something that would see the light of day in the modern age. It is heavy on sexism, there is some racial stereotyping and one character with a learning disorder gets targeted on more than one occasion.

This is classic example of irreverent 1980s humour all the way from the Animal House inspired misfit protagonists to the Second City alumni cast. All this tinged with a hint of Cold War propaganda.

I loved it as a child in the 80s and it holds up a lot better than other similar films of that era (Caddyshack, Police Academy) on a rewatch in 2020. I do think you have to be fans of Murray, Ramis and Candy and the humour of the time to appreciate it if you are watching it for the first time.

Bill Murray's Stripes can still be pretty entertaining to me after all these years

[tavm · 7/10 · 30 June 2010]

Having just reviewed the first three movies that was co-written by Harold Ramis, not to mention the first three of his that also starred at least one SNL cast member-former or present at the time-we're now at his fourth of both categories and also his first in which he also appears. As with the previous two-Meatballs and Caddyshack-Stripes also stars Bill Murray. Also, as with Meatballs, Ramis' co-writers here are Len Blum and Dan Goldberg with Ivan Reitman once again directing. They make a good team here, Murray and Ramis, as they end up joining the Army mainly because of the former's bad luck in his last two hours as a civilian. Among the people they encounter in basic training: Judge Reinhold and John Candy who was familiar with both Bill and Harold since they all worked for Second City during the '70s while Candy and Ramis were on SCTV together as well. Anyway, they have a tough sergeant in Warren Oates who provides at least one serious scene with Murray when he tells him what he really thinks of him. But there's also John Larroquette as a bumbling captain who's threatened with Artic duty if he doesn't shape up. Oh, and besides Ramis and Candy, other Second City/SCTV members in this movie include Dave Thomas as a mud wrestling host and Joe Flaherty as a Russian guard. And finally, Ramis and Murray fall for a couple of female MP's played by Sean Young and P. J. Soles, respectively. Okay, with all that out of the way, I'll just say that I found Stripes hilarious up to the graduation and not as much after that but still pretty entertaining. Now, despite that earlier confrontation scene between Murray and Oates, one doesn't really expect too much learning about Army life on the former's part but part of me did feel he genuinely respected the sergeant and vice versa at the end. One more thing, while you can no longer be asked if you're a homosexual when applying for the military because of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell", I still found it hilarious hearing Bill and Harold's replies. Okay, so on that note, I definitely recommend Stripes. And, remember, "There she was just a-walkin' down the street singing "Doo Wah Diddy Diddy Dumb Diddy Doo..." P.S. Larroquette is a native of New Orleans which is a two-hour drive from my current hometown of Baton Rouge, La. And his assistant is played by John Volstad who is best known as one of the Darryls on "Newhart" and unlike there, he has lines here which was interesting to hear. Update 7/2/10: I've just seen the extended version with 18 minutes of cut footage. There's a funny scene of Bill and Harold ending up in another country when they go AWOL. There's also a sexily funny one of them with P.J. and Sean in Germany. Those I wished had stayed. The others I'm glad they cut.

That's the fact Jack!

[baumer · 10/10 · 29 June 1999]

Stripes is firmly planted in my vernacular as one of those films that helped shape me as a twelve year old boy. It is also one of those films that made me become the film lover that I am today. I know films like Star Wars and it's two sequels, First Blood and Rambo, Jaws and it's sequel, Halloween, Back To The Future, Ghostbusters, Raiders and it's sequels and Stripes ( there are many others but this review has to be under 1000 words )taught me the beauty of how a movie can make you feel. And Stripes was the first movie that me and my best friend at the time ( Gary ) ever memorized word for word. And I think that it is this movie that established Murray, Ramis and even guys like Candy and John Laroquette as comedians. It also has a small role for Bill Paxton in it somewhere. It was also a great stepping stone for the three amigos ( Murray, RAmis and Reitman ) to get funding for a bigger project like Ghostbusters. And if you were an executive at Columbia you would probably hand them a blank cheque for that project after seeing this film. Simply put this film is a classic in every sense of the word.

Stripes tells the story of how John Winger and Russell Ziskey ( Murray and Ramis respectively ) are two losers in life. Winger is an inept cab driver that hates his job so much that he throws his keys off the city bridge one day while driving an annoying lady to the airport. Ziskey is a terrible English as a second language teacher. And he is so inept that he tries to get is class to sing songs during class as their lesson. " I met her on a Monday and my heart stood still " Ziskey sings, and his class responds " da do da da da da da da da do da da da da, " and the he congratulates them and dismisses them until next week.

After Winger informs Ziskey that in the last three hours he has lost his job, his car, his apartment and his girlfriend, they decide to join the army. And then all hilarity breaks loose. It is here that we meet an assorted cast of hooligans and misfits that add to the enjoyment of the movie.

You have Ox ( Candy ) as an overweight guy who thinks the army is a perfect place to lose weight for free. There is Francis Sawyer, but everyone calls him Psycho, as a nut that thinks he is in Vietnam or someplace. You also have Cruiser, who joined the army because his father and brother were in the army and also because he thought he should join before he got drafted. Then there is Elmo, who is played by a pre-Fast Times Judge Reinhold. He is a wasted jolly stoner who is jjst looking to get stoned. Why he is joining the army is a little perplexing, but really, who cares? He is fun to watch so little details like this are overlooked. And of course we have Sgt. Hulka played with absolute earnestness by the late great Warren Oates. Needless to say, it is an interesting bunch of characters.

The film works for various reason, but mainly because Ramis and Dan Goldberg have written a hilarious script that puts the misfits through one twistedly funny situation after another. If only the army were this fun, everyone would want to enlist.

The first half of the film works because of the basic training scenes. The second half works because the misfit recruits are assigned to protect a secret R.V. that the army has concocted. Winger and Ziskey of course can't stay bored for long and they take the R.V. out for a run to Austria to go pick up their girlfriends.

Stripes is one of the funniest movies ever made and it should be checked out by younger people that were born after 1980. I was about 12 when I saw this and my dad laughed at this just as much as I did. And if all you have to go on for comedy is things like Waterboy and Big Daddy ( very funny movies in their own right ) you are missing some great older comedy. You should really check this out.

First hour was great, the second hour was a bit long winding...

[imseeg · 7/10 · 12 May 2021]

Bill Murray, John Candy, Harold Ramis. Those guys were a sure guarantee for some good laughs during the eighties and nineties. And this is one of the funniest films they made.

The good: Bill Murray and John Candy.

The bad: the story is ridiculous and the first hour of this movie is good (basic military training), but the second hour of this movie starts to get a bit longwinding. 2 hours for comedy is a bit too much. Still an enjoyable watch, BUT only for the first hour or so...

Highly recommended for any youngsters who dont yet know Bill Murray and John Candy. Have a laugh!

Great Murray

[RNMorton · 9/10 · 29 May 2003]

May be THE classic Bill Murray movie, with Murray, Ramis, Candy and other oddballs making it in the Army. There are three general sequences - Murray pre-Army, basic training, and the mission (occurring after Murray and Ramis "borrow" Army test vehicle with their MP girlfriends). Each of the sequences are funny, I personally like Murray pre-Army best and the mission least. Warren Oates as "Sgt. Hulka" is a modern classic. Over twenty years later and this is still the reigning service comedy.

You can't go. All the plants are gonna die.

[lastliberal · 7/10 · 29 September 2007]

He quit his job and lost his girlfriend. before Lost in Translation and Broken Flowers, he was just a wacky pain-in-the-ass recruit that gave Sgt. Hulka (Warren Oates) nightmares. When it comes to comedy Bill Murray is a winner hands down.

Add in John Candy; John Larroquette as the peeping Capt. Stillman; Judge Reinhold; Harold Ramis; the quick peep at Roberta Leighton; and the hot Lois Hamilton and you have a military comedy of errors that will keep you in stitches.

Of course there is a lot of beautiful scenery in this film in the showers and in the mud pit.

Scattershot comedy with a great cast

[Leofwine_draca · 5/10 · 29 November 2014]

STRIPES is a film that I wanted to like a great deal, given that it's an 1980s comedy (one of my favourite eras) with a fantastic cast who among them have appeared in some of the funniest films made in Hollywood. And yet it left me disappointed; it's not poor, exactly, just lacklustre in comparison to other '80s comedy hits like CADDYSHACK, GHOSTBUSTERS or the later PLANES, TRAINS & AUTOMOBILES.

The problem with the film is twofold; there's a scattershot approach to the narrative which means that it drags in various places (particularly in the last third, which descends into meaningless action out of place with the earlier comedy), and in addition the script just isn't that funny. It's just going through the same kind of jokes as in CARRY ON SERGEANT, made some 34 years previously, with some added T&A to spice things up.

The best thing about the production is unsurprisingly the cast, headed by an on-form Bill Murray. Harold Ramis is predictably decent, and there's a nice role for John Candy before he adopted the lovable goof character of later years. PJ Soles and Sean Young are here too, but I found their characters annoying, getting in the way of the army situation. Warren Oates looks a bit battered but it's still good to see him in one of his final roles.

Funny as hell!

[superboy478 · 8/10 · 5 March 2002]

Stripes is a raunchy, adult comedy from critically acclaimed producer/director Ivan Reitman (Evolution, Kindergarten Cop). And it stars Bill Murray (The Royal Tenenbaums), Harold Ramis (As Good as it Gets), John Candy (Uncle Buck), Warren Oates (True Grit).

Low life cab driver John Winger (Bill Murray) loses a lot in 2 hours. That is his job, his apartment, his girlfriend, his car. So, he decides that he's had enough of his pathetic life in New York, so he decides to join the army. He also talks his friend Russel Ziskey (Harold Ramis) into joining with him.

When they finally do join, they are both put into a platoon drilled by Sgt. Hulka (Warren Oates) who has his eye on John. They both go through weeks and weeks of hell by doing basic training and putting up with Sgt. Hulka. But, they full fill their goal by meeting Stella (P.J. Soles) and Louise (Sean Young), two beautiful MP's who have their eys on Russel and John.

As the story moves on, they go to battle in Germany and end up in more hilarious confilcts.

I must say, I think that Warren Oates was a perfect choice for Sgt. Hulka, and that he was so brilliant and funny with the character. I give him graditude. 1921-1982

This is not a movie for kids, but teens may enjoy it if they are looking for a hilarious comedy. STRIPES is 100% classic and comedy!

Silly and Funny – What Else Could I Expect from This Cast?

[claudio_carvalho · 6/10 · 9 July 2011]

After a terrible day when the taxi driver John Winger (Bill Murray) loses his job, his car and finally is dumped by his girlfriend Anita (Roberta Leighton), he convinces his best friend Russell (Harold Ramis) to join the army to travel and have fun. They team-up with a platoon of outcast and misfits, and John has problems with their tough Sergeant Hulka (Warren Oates). John and Russell get into successive troubles, but they are always rescued by the Military Police Officers Stella (P.J. Soles) and Louise (Sean Young).

Near the graduation, the clumsy and imbecile Captain Stillman (John Larroquette) provokes an accident and Sergeant Hulka is wounded; however, John uses his leadership and the general is impressed with the platoon and assigns the group to go to Italy with the prototype of an armored car. John and Russell are responsible to take care of the prototype, but they date Stella and Louise. Meanwhile Captain Stillman believes that they have stolen the vehicle and crosses the Iron Curtain with Hulka's platoon and they are captured by the communist. Sergeant Hulka escapes and releases a distress signal and John, Russell, Stella and Louise decide to help to rescue their friends from Czechoslovakia.

"Stripes" is a silly and funny comedy, but what else could I expect from a cast with the names of Bill Murray, John Candy, John Larroquette and the other comedians. The extended cut is long and most of the jokes are "politically incorrect" or sexists, but also hilarious. This is the first time that I see this 1981 comedy on DVD and I laughed a lot. My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): "Recrutas da Pesada" ("Rough Recruiters")

Long, boring and unfunny. Should be left back in the 80's.

[jack_thursby · 3/10 · 9 July 2009]

I didn't like this Bill Murray vehicle when it was originally released in the 80s, so I tried watching it again to see if my distaste for this film was down to my movie-going tastes in the 80s or was it that "Stripes" is simply a bad movie. Well, the verdict is in and "Stripes" is a bad movie.

Now, "Stripes" may have been innovative comedy in the early 80s, and it may appeal to people who have gone through basic training or who are Bill Murray fans, but its still a bad movie.

Why is it bad? Mostly because "Stripes" is supposed to be a comedy but it's just not that funny. There are some laughs, but they are few and far between. Most of the movie is consumed by the dramatic plot which is incredibly convoluted and not very interesting. This lack of comedy is especially noticeable if you're used to more contemporary comedies such as "Anchorman" which strive for laughs in every part of the movie.

"Stripes" further suffers from Bill Murray and Harold Ramis's lack of acting ability. Bill Murray is a great comedian but he was not a very compelling dramatic actor at this point in his career, and Harold Ramis is playing Harold Ramis. These two are just not good enough as actors to carry the dramatic arch of the movie.

Lastly, most of the comedy that there is in "Stripes" revolves around Bill Murray's self-centered, smart-alec man-child character so if you don't find that character funny (like I didn't) you're not going to find most of what little comedy there is in "Stripes" funny either.

"Stripes" is very much a movie of its era, it hasn't aged well and is not worth watching. If you want to watch an early 80's "buddy" comedy I would recommend "Stir Crazy." Like "Stripes" the humor in "Stir Crazy" is not as fast-paced as in contemporary comedies, but unlike "Stripes" it has aged much better and as a result is still watchable.

Stripes

[questl-18592 · 7/10 · 15 October 2019]

Stripes is a fun movie along the same stylings of Caddyshack and Ghostbusters. It doesn't quite live up to those for me but if you're a fan of these 80s comedies then this is likely going to be a fun time for you.

It's worth checking out just for Murray, Ramis and Candy alone.

Pretty Good Comedy

[no-skyline · 7/10 · 8 February 2006]

Three giants of American comedy Bill Murray, John Candy and Harrold Ramis star in this often funny, occasionally hilarious tale of misfits joining the army. This is along the lines of Police Academy in plot but slightly less zany in delivery due to the deadpan delivery of Rammis and particularly Murry who plays the ultimate slacker.

It has to be said there are some comedy misfires in here and the ending is maybe a bit much, but overall this is a good little comedy. Murray is of course excellent as is most of the supporting cast, John Candy is maybe a little underused as Ox. Also the film is definitely of it's time (the cold war still in full swing, boo ruskies and reds etc) but that wont spoil your enjoyment.

7/10 - Not up there with Murray and Ramis best (Groundhog Day and Ghostbusters) but worth a watch on cable or rental.

Great Early Bill Murray/Harold Ramis/John Candy Comedy

[thehappychuckler · 8/10 · 6 January 2020]

In what was originally supposed to be Cheech and Chong Go To the Army it became a great early 80s comedy that showed Bill Murray could carry a big picture, showed more of John Candy to American audiences and gave Harold Ramis a chance to show some of his acting chops on the big screen.

With a plot that honestly ain't too plausible cab driver John Winger (Murray in a great role) has lost his job, his car, his apartment and his girlfriend decides that perhaps he should join the army. Of course he brings his friend Russell Ziskey (Ramis) along for the ride. To me both Murray and Ramis have funny introductions to their characters. So, while in the army they are given to a wonderfully cast Warren Oates as Sgt. Hulka who will try and get his recruits into shape. Also enlisted is John Candy as Dewey Oxburger (who ends up in a mud wrestling pit) and Judge Reinhold as a pretty dopey dude named Elmo. John Larroquette is also very good as the villainous Cpt.Stillman.

There is also an extended version that clocks in at just over two hours that I own and would suggest maybe watching that version. I mean it doesn't add any need to see moments, but it does tighten up some of the material. Written by Len Blum, Dan Goldberg and Ramis. Directed by Ivan Reitman who had made MEATBALLS with Murray already. As expected has some very good music by Elmer Bernstein. Both P.J. Soles and Sean Young play MPs that Murray and Ramis take a liking to and also starring SCTV members Joe Flaherty and Dave Thomas. Has some very adult situations and littered with nudity so not for the younger audience like GHOSTBUSTERS which Reitman would make in a few years with Murray and Ramis. I really enjoyed this film and put a smile on my face while watching it. A must-see for any Bill Murray fan out there to see him in one of his earlier roles.

It Can Stand Up To Goofballs.

[bkoganbing · 6/10 · 15 December 2009]

Despite the fact that there is no way on God's green earth or this country's army that such a set of circumstances could ever happen, that's still no reason not to enjoy Stripes. The film is in a long line of service comedies that date all the way back to Charlie Chaplin's Shoulder Arms and further than that. Even Shakespeare found some humor in army life, just read how Falstaff made do in the service of his king.

Of course Falstaff wasn't a drill sergeant like Warren Oates who had a platoon of underachievers with the likes of Bill Murray, Harold Ramis, and John Candy as recruits. As is usual the service comedies make a mistake in that the basic training company stays intact with the same sergeant. In real life Oates would have taken a drink when the eight weeks was done and gone on to some fresh young trainees.

But some brain in the Pentagon decides that what a new type urban assault vehicle needs is some fresh recruits to maintain it, reasoning if the vehicle is worthy it can stand up to goofballs. The vehicle looks like your ordinary average camper, in fact Murray and Ramis while they're guarding it decide it would be a great chick magnet. So they pick up a pair of female MPs in P.J. Soles and Sean Young.

The officer in charge is John Larroquette who isn't much better than the recruits he has and when the vehicle turns up missing, he sounds the general alarm worthy of the Captain in Mister Roberts. He leads the whole troop after Murray and Ramis right into at that time Communist Czechoslovakia and some nasty Russians. Good thing they didn't have their A team playing either.

Stripes is your typical armed service comedy with a nice Eighties twist from Bill Murray and a crew from Saturday Night Live just coming into their prime as players. John Larroquette is the best in the film, imagine ADA Dan Fielding in an army uniform and you got Larroquette's character. You notice the New York County DA's office never gives Fielding any really big cases to handle.

And yes that vehicle can withstand anything and it has more tricks than James Bond's Astin-Martin. To see what and how much, you have to watch Stripes.

A Comedy that lays down on the charismatic Murray-Ramis-Reitman partnership!!!

[elo-equipamentos · 8/10 · 25 November 2020]

After Meatball and Caddyshack Bill Murray got his first great top billing role in Stripes, exploring his authentic look of aloofness that shaped your long career, surfing in the successful comedy on Army as Private Benjamin, this one follows the same facetious concept, a shattered John Winger that just lost your job as cab driver, his car is robbed and arriving to home his girlfriend dropped him, when appears his closest friend Russell Ziskey (Harold Ramis), John convinces him to join in the Army hoping for best days, there they meeting the weirdest guys for a platoon ever seen including John Candy, Judge Reinhold and John Diehl, together with hard line Sergeant Hulka (Warren Oates) who becomes their worst nightmares on training, also has the gorgeous Stella (P.J. Soles) and Louise (Sean Young) as military policewomen on the barracks, further the daffy Captain Stillman (John Larroquette) seemingly silly at first glance, somehow it has many meaningful hilarious sequences that increase the picture in another path, mainly by the duo comic Murray-Ramis, sustained by a clever screenplay wrote by Lem Blum-Goldberg and Ramis, directed by Ivan Reitman who allow Murray improvises in countless takes, the differential of this picture lays down in the Murray's comic vein and the body language of Ramis as well, delightful to watch and highly underrated!!

Thanks for reading.

Resume:

First watch: 2002 / How many: 4 / Source: Cable TV-DVD-Blu-Ray / Rating: 8

Stripes (1981)

[fntstcplnt · 6/10 · 26 August 2019]

Directed by Ivan Reitman. Starring Bill Murray, Harold Ramis, Warren Oates, John Candy, P.J. Soles, Sean Young, John Larroquette, John Diehl, Conrad Dunn, Judge Reinhold, Roberta Leighton, Robert J. Wilke, Antone Pagán, Glenn-Michael Jones. (R)

After losing his job, car, and girlfriend on the same day, Murray convinces pal Ramis that they should join the army to be all they can be...or whatever. Like the boot camp comedy from the previous year ("Private Benjamin"), this fitfully funny film works best when dealing with the rigors and characteristics of basic training, and gets a bit tiresome away from it (at least the rescue mission in Czechoslovakia that caps this movie is far briefer than the post-graduation affair drama in the second half of "Benjamin"). Murray is in fine form here, though not quite as inspired as his slob from "Caddyshack" or his deadpan wiseacre from "Ghost Busters"--consider his character here to be a cross-section of those two types--and Ramis achieves a laidback poignancy when reacting to his friend's quips and shenanigans, while the rest of the cast get their moments here and there; Oates and Dunn stand out as the hard-bitten drill sergeant and an unhinged recruit named Francis respectively. Oates is so good, in fact, that the film suffers when he disappears for a long chunk of the movie and the screenplay is at its sloppiest (and sleaziest, as the mud wrestling bar scene will attest). Diverting enough to be enjoyable despite its weak patches, it's probably fitting that a movie about disorderly cadets needed a little more discipline to really work. Features numerous soon-to-be-popular-actors in early roles, including Reinhold, Larroquette, and Bill Paxton (blink and you'll miss him next to Candy in the bar).

62/100

Embarrassing

[mvanhoore · 2/10 · 11 March 2014]

I watched this movie after the demise of Harold Ramis. Although I didn't expect to see a masterpiece I had the feeling I could look forward to two hours of humor and relaxation. In fact the cast (beside Ramis there are Bill Murray, John Candy and Warren Oates) was promising. As were the first couple of minutes. Everything goes wrong in the life of John Winger (Bill Murray), within a couple of hours he loses his job, his apartment, his car and his girlfriend. Out of total frustration he decides to join the army together with his friend Russell (Harold Ramis). From that moment the film doesn't escape the depth of Police Academy for example. What's supposed to be a comedy dives into a vulgar and tedious movie. When the squadron enters a nudie bar on their free evening the film reaches a low point where I have to admit that I seldom saw a more embarrassing and vulgar scene which is meant to be funny and titillating. From the moment that the action moves to the East Bloc the film turns to ridiculous. Of course the film isn't meant to be art house but the talents of the cast are completely wasted here. From later collaborations between Murray and Ramis we learn that they are capable of creating a really humorous movie but this is total crap.

My personal favorite military comedy movie.

[Aaron1375 · 8/10 · 10 June 2008]

This movie is a very funny comedy starring a rather great cast. Bill Murray is the headliner and Ramis is also rather good too. Backing them up are an assortment of goof balls including the late John Candy in one of his better roles. The story, guy is having a bad go of it at the job and his social life. So what does he decide to do? Well he joins the army of course and even manages to convince a friend of his to join him. Well the army is not quite what either of them expect as they seemed to be in a set of the worst recruits ever...not that they are any better and a bunch of funny scenes ensue including the introduction scene where you learn some of the guys motivations for entering the army including weight loss and one guy who figured he would be eventually drafted anyway even when there is no more draft. Plenty of great training, a bar scene involving a mud wrestling arena and a heroic rescue. Of course, the movie is at its funniest during the training scenes and their adjustments to army life. The last part of the film seems kind of stuck on to extend the movie a bit longer. Not that it is bad, just not up to the first two thirds of the film.

A Hundred-Dollar Shine on a Three-Dollar Pair of Shoes

[jzappa · 7/10 · 7 September 2011]

I understand the enjoyment of it. The prolonged and arguably dignified ancestry includes Buck Privates, Duck Soup and the like. This cheeky young Bill Murray is firmly anchored in Groucho, the clue I'd consider an early scuffle with a Manhattan matron. The idea is recapturing the same timbre but with a clear post-SNL hipster slacker derision. And like those vintage vehicles were for the classic comedy teams, storytelling amounts to little more than piecing together various sorts of obligatory scenes, cycling through the kinds that entails.

You look back on all the moments and not so much the transitions between them. Who needs them? That's supposed to be the attitude one brings to one of these sorts of movies. It has that Animal House feel. Take a rigid institution of authoritarian discipline and formality and throw a big pie in its face. And fart on its head for good measure. Just as John Vernon was the anal-retentive square lording it over our slacker heroes in John Landis' film, Warren Oates plays Sgt. 1st Class Hulka, who gives Murray the most discipline he must've ever had in his life, making him the closest character in the film to give the film cohesion. Otherwise, this lazy but likable classic wastes most of its time overstressing situations contradicted from the start by Murray's character. The star act and his material are essentially misaligned until the tedious, scattered script ultimately labors past basic training.

The blessing I think Stripes brings to the golden-age slapstick template is a more vivid ensemble. Yes, In the Navy and A Night at the Opera had plots, but with the attention to detail and ripeness in dialogue and characterization of a present-day cartoon. The peripheral people around the stars of the act were virtually prevented from having too much presence or distinction for fear of upstaging the deal-breaking stars, but in Stripes, others clowning in basic-training include Judge Reinhold's head-bobbing stoner, Conrad Dunn's broad-stroke acknowledgment to Travis Bickle (likely more of a Harold Ramis contribution), and John Candy's soft-hearted fatso, who finds the Laurel to his Hardy in southern boy John Diehl. They all have the kind of indelible character we hope for in especially young performances of actors who later became more prevalent. And yet P.J. Soles and Sean Young are there for one reason, the same one reason all us young guys wanted them in it. Other than that, there is absolutely nothing else. Not a single realistic action is allowed from them.

Director Ivan Reitman is a sure merchant. He knows that the cheap laughs are the most certain, that we like to see bunglers get it together without losing their ungainly style, and that it doesn't harm business to slot in a sorority shower scene or nude mud-wrestling competition every 30 minutes or so. Vietnam was by now a bygone phase, and this is Reagan's Good Army. When Ivan Reitman wants to ambush the Eastern Bloc in a Winnebago crammed with rockets, he has the certified OK for dozens of tanks, explosions, shootouts and hand-to-hand combat moments. But believe me, it was a great deal funnier when we were ten.

Dated. Plagiarised.

[Bernie-56 · 2/10 · 9 November 2002]

Perhaps this film was regarded as original and rather humorous in its country of origin way back in 1981, but it's now dated. Two idiots join the army and get knocked into fine servicemen -- wow, I'd never have thought of a plot like that! Come to think if it, I have heard of it before. It's a cheap knock-off of Boulting Brother's ‘Private's Progress' (1956) in which an all-star cast playing a squad of misfits is knocked into fine servicemen, watched over by a tough, gruff about-to-retire drill sergeant. This downmarket US plagiarised version is just not in the same class. Bill Murray is just a dull pain-in-the ass who self-centred child-like persona is supposed to be comic. Warren Oates and John Candy in supporting roles are acceptable, with Oates almost reaching the standard set by William Hartnell.

Classic Murray

[justicejvm · 7/10 · 22 August 2020]

Funny 80s movie no real plot. Army humor, not meant to win. Grammys just to make you giggle and lol