Stripes (1981) User Reviews

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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!

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.

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.

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")

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

One of Bill Murray's First Box Office Action Comedies!

[zardoz-13 · 8/10 · 6 May 2010]

"Meatballs" director Ivan Reitman scored his first major hit with this formulaic adventure comedy about a pair of civilian misfits who momentarily take leave of their senses and join the U.S. Army. Cab driver John Winger (Bill Murray) experiences one hideously terrible day when he loses his job, watches helpless as his car is repossessed, and his girlfriend walks out on him. In a fit of lunacy, Winger persuades his best friend Russell Ziskey (Harold Ramis), who teaches English as a second language, that they can "be all that they can be" if they enlist in the U.S. Army. Essentially, this uneven but hilarious spoof about military service succeeds because of Murray's outlandish sense of humor and "Magnificent Seven" composer Elmer Bernstein's exhilarating score. No sooner have Winger and Russell gotten to boot camp than they confront their worst nightmare, crusty old drill sergeant Hulka (Warren Oates of "The Wild Bunch") who hates Winger's smart aleck sense of humor. Hulka has Winger doing push-ups to straighten him out. When our misguided heroes try to go A.W.O.L., they encounter two sexy Army MPs, Stella (P.J. Soles of "Jawbreaker") and Louise (Sean Young of "Blade Runner") who bring them back alive. Meanwhile, our heroes have an incompetent officer, Captain Stillman (John Larroquette of "Blind Date"), doing his best to berate them. The platoon that Winger and Russell land in consists of misfits, such as the overweight Ox (John Candy of "Spaceballs"), witless Cruiser (future "Miami Vice" regular John Diehl), wacky Elmo (Judge Reinhold of "Beverly Hills Cop"), and sneering Psycho (Conrad Dunn of "Jumpin' Jack Flash").

Most of what follows is predictable. Nevertheless, Bill Murray's improvisation skills serves him splendidly, particularly his "big toe" speech in the barracks. Of course, Sgt. Hulka and Winger don't see eye-to-eye, and Hulka uses Winger's insolence to punish the entire platoon. This is about the time that they have their first date with Stella and Louise. At one point, pompous Captain Stillman wants to make our heroes repeat boot camp, after they embarrass him during a fight at a nightclub that sponsors mud wrestling with bodacious babes in skimpy attire. The night before graduation, Winger and Russell train their Army buddies how to perform complicated rifle movements so they can impress General Barnicke (Robert J. Wilke of "The Hallelujah Trail") and they succeed in amazing the general with their adept rifle spinning skills. Indeed, General Barnicke is so impressed that he orders Stillman and his men to fly to West Germany and participate in his top-secret project involving a multi-faceted EM-59 Urban Assault Vehicle. Hulka gives everybody else weekend passes, but he orders Winger and Russell to remain behind on base and guard the EM-59, a 1970s GMC recreational motor vehicle equipped with technology galore, including a missile firing system. Stillman takes his blond babe of a girlfriend to show her the vehicle late one evening and discovers to his horror that the vehicle is missing. Winger and Russell have appropriated the recreational vehicle so that they can take Stella and Louise on a date. According to the sentry, Winger and company took the vehicle out to get it washed.

Meanwhile, Stillman rounds up the platoon and they pursue Winger and company, except that they take a wrong turn and wind up in the Soviet Bloc where they are captured and subjected to torture. Although he advised Stillman against a rescue operation, Hulka joins Stillman but later leaps off the truck transporting Stillman and company after Winger and Russell. Our heroes pick up Hulka's distress signal and plunge into the Soviet Bloc in their souped up, military SUV, blow up a guard tower, and rescue their buddies. This action-packed finale marks "Stripes" as an anti-communist movie as out heroes along with Stella and Louise get the drop on the poor border guards at the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic and Winger ties them up and puts on a Czech uniform. A pitched battle rages as Winger and Stella, armed with machine guns, breaks Stillman and the platoon out, and hightail it back across the border. Along the way, Sgt. Hulka leaps onto the roof of the motorhome and rides out with them. Ultimately, Stillman is transferred to to a weather station near Nome, Alaska, while Winger, Russell, Hulka, Stella, and Louise come home to a hero's welcome. Ironically, in "A-Team" fashion, nobody is seen either getting shot-up or killed during Winger's raid.

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.

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

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!

Didn't do much for me

[TheLittleSongbird · 4/10 · 18 June 2011]

I do like Bill Murray and I love John Candy, so I thought this could be at least a decent film. But I found it uneven and it just didn't do much for me. The film is well made, the score is wonderful, Warren Oates is excellent and there is evidence of good direction. But here come the downsides, overall I just didn't find it funny. The script does have weaknesses feeling rather sporadic and ramshackle in the laughs, complete with jokes that feel forced and flat, and while the story starts off well the second half has a change of tone into a kind of a very generic action film that jarred with the rest of the movie and some scenes especially the mud-wrestling match and any scene involving PJ Soles and Sean Young that fell short on credibility. Oates is great, the other acting isn't that good in my opinion, Bill Murray plays a very obnoxious and unlikeable character and unfortunately he isn't very funny which is sad, Harold Ramis' character is interesting but is rarely built upon, both John Candy and Judge Reinhold with some weak scenes and dialogue are dull sadly and the best said about John Laroquette the better. All in all, has the odd bright spot but I was left cold. 4/10 Bethany Cox

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.

With These Guys on the Front Lines...

[jhclues · 10/10 · 11 June 2001]

In one of his funniest comedies, Bill Murray takes on the U.S. Army, and without question, with guys like this on the front lines, we can all sleep a little easier at night. `Stripes,' directed by Ivan Reitman, is the story of John Winger (Murray), who in one day loses his girl, his job, his car and his apartment. So what's a guy to do after that, but join the Army? But he doesn't go alone, oh no-- he also talks his best friend, Russell Ziskey (Harold Ramis) into joining with him. And just like that they find themselves at boot camp, face to face with one of the most formidable Drill Instructors every to grace the silver screen, Sergeant Hulka (Warren Oates), and surrounded by as motley a group of raw recruits as anyone could imagine. Among them, there's Dewey Oxburger (John Candy), known as `Ox,' who plans to emerge from boot camp a `lean, mean fighting machine'; and `Cruiser (John Diehl),' who joined up to beat the draft (Hulka: `Son, there isn't a draft, anymore.' Cruiser: `There was one?'); and Francis Soyer (George Jenesky), known as `Psycho' (`Call me Francis, and I'll kill you. Touch my stuff, and I'll kill you. Touch me...and I'll kill you.' Hulka: `Lighten up, Francis...').

The pressure is on for Hulka and his men, when Colonel Glass (Lance LeGault) informs Captain Stillman (John Larroquette) that the `General' is looking for a squad of crack new recruits to man a special project, and Hulka's boys have been chosen. The project involves a secret weapon, an `urban assault' vehicle, that is to be unveiled on their base in Germany shortly. But first, Hulka has to get his troops through basic, which will be a minor miracle in itself, even though Winger goes `Out on a limb,' and offers to be their leader. And things proceed just as badly as you would expect, not only on the obstacle course, but off, when Winger and Ziskey get mixed up with a couple of female M.Ps., Stella (P.J. Soles) and Louise (Sean Young), and Ox gets coerced (by Winger, of course) into taking part in a female mud-wrestling event at a local night spot.

Along the way, Reitman sets up the situations for some serious laughs, and keeps it all on track with a good pace and excellent timing. Murray is terrific as Winger, with a performance that puts a generous helping of `dry' in the expression `dry humor.' He plays it all so straight, so serious, from his quips and one liners (watching a TV promo for the Army, `This looks pretty good--'), to his full blown inspirational speech to the troops on the night before their final test at basic training (`We're all very different people. We're not Spartans, we're not Watusi, we're Americans, with a capital ‘A.' That means our forefathers were thrown out of every decent country in the world--'), that it makes it all the more hilarious. He never tries to be `funny,' or fish for laughs, which is really what makes this movie work so well. Murray is perhaps the best in the business at playing this kind of humor and putting it across (Ben Stiller would be a close second).

Harold Ramis and John Candy also make invaluable contributions that make this one fly. Watch Ramis, reacting to what Candy is saying as `Ox,' as explains why he joined the Army; it makes what Ox is saying twice as funny. And Ox, talking about what a `shy guy' he is, and how `You may have noticed, I have this weight problem--' And Oates, as well, gives a singular performance that makes Hulka a real person, beyond the typical stereotype of the hard-nosed D.I. His portrayal, taken out of context, is one that would stand up even in more serious fare, like Kubrick's `Full Metal Jacket.'

The supporting cast includes Judge Reinhold (Elmo), John Voldstad (Stillman's Aide), Roberta Leighton (Anita), Antone Pagan (Hector), Fran Ryan (Dowager in Cab), Dave Thomas (M.C.) and William Lucking (Recruiter). From beginning to end, `Stripes' is a fun-filled laugh riot that's filled with memorable scenes and a plethora of lines you'll be quoting forever. This is one you can watch over and over again, with a bunch of characters you're never going to forget. Winger and Ziskey, Ox, Psycho, Cruiser. These are the guys who Demi Moore, as Galloway in `A Few Good Men,' could have been talking about when, in response to the question of why she likes these guys so much, replies, `Because they stand on a wall, and they say nothing is going to hurt you tonight, not on my watch...' It kind of makes you think. Or, as Cruiser might say, `Yeah... About what?' I rate this one 10/10.

Unfunny, boring and sexist

[preppy-3 · 1/10 · 9 January 2011]

Inexplicably popular "comedy". John (Bill Murray) and Russell (Harold Ramis) are two idiots who have no direction or reason in life. They decide to join the Army thinking it's a way to make easy money. They get stuck with a group of utterly annoying and unfunny guys (who the audience is supposed to find hysterical) and a tough as nails drill Sgt (Warren Oates). Naturally John is constantly cracking "funny" one liners and screwing up deliberately left and right. None of it is funny at all. Then, at the end, it inexplicably turns into an army drama!

This was a huge hut in 1981 and its popularity totally escapes me. I didn't like it back then and I still don't like it now. I should point that, personally, I never found Murray that funny. His blank face and obnoxious manner made me annoyed with him more than anything else. This movie does nothing to change my view. Basically the movie just isn't funny! I didn't smile (let alone laugh) once! Each joke fizzled out completely or they give us these somewhat interesting characters and NEVER build on them! When you get John Candy and Daniel Stern in a movie and even THEY'RE not funny something is seriously wrong. Worst of all is John Larroquette as Capt. Stillman. EVERY scene with his is terribly unfunny. And WHAT was the thinking of turning it into a generic action film at the end??

It's also incredibly sexist. You have the incredibly beautiful women P.J. Soles and Sean Young as MPs. Naturally they meet Murray and Ramis and let them get away with murder and almost immediately have sex with them. That's just pushing credibility WAY too far. The absolute low point is a pointless and downright revolting mud wrestling match when Candy is wrestling with five bikini clad beautiful women. Naturally he (inexplicably) gets ALL their tops off and waves them around! The two good points are Oates (giving a GREAT performance) and a bombastic score. Why this movie was such a big hit is beyond me. A 1 all the way.

An Army of Laughers

[tedg · 14 March 2004]

Spoilers herein.

I'm convinced that comedians don't so much find what is funny, they invent it. Because it comes from comedians, we laugh. Humor is not timeless but always mutating depending on who the leaders are. In this way, we are simple recruits in the army of laughers. We may complain, but there it is.

The Marx brothers are still funny, but for different reasons. It would be better to say that they are funny again. When I first saw `Stripes,' I thought it hilarious. Now it seems not even campy.

Why is this? My own theory is that Bill Murray learned his craft just when overt irony was fashionable. This was after Lenny Bruce could be pure by being profane and before we got into nostalgic humor. So he developed his routines around the notions of not being the character. This is his purest: a cool guy who is not cool, knows it and believes that not cool IS cool. It‘s reverse Austin Powers, who we're supposed to laugh at. Here, we're supposed to laugh at being made to laugh.

It was a gas then.

Ted's Evaluation -- 2 of 3: Has some interesting elements.