Stripes

Rating:
Summary: Classic that remembers funnier than it is while watching it
Review: Stripes is one of those movies that I remember more affectionately than I feel towards it while watching it. I chuckle as I remember Sgt. Hulka, Ox, the fool Stillman, and so forth. There are so many little scenes, such as the beginning cab scene with the old woman wanting to get to the airport and giving the depressed Winger (Murray) a hard time. His defiant parking of the cab in the middle of a bridge, blocking two lanes, and throwing the keys into the river, retain some of the leftover anti-establishment feeling of the 60s & 70s that has become the seeming birthright of all teenagers since.

I love the scene where Winger is shooting baskets in his apartment and puts it through a window out into the street and asks people below for a "little help". They throw the ball back to him through the unbroken window. The scene where the young guys are all telling Hulka about what led them to the army is funny as is Winger's and Hulka's exchange about Hulka being the big toe leading their foot.

And the classic mud wrestling scene with John Candy as Ox. The Murray speech rallying the men the night before graduation and their entrance onto the graduation grounds.

There are so many funny scenes. I am SURE you can think of many more.

Yet, it still never really gels as a movie and it really was never meant to. It seems to me that it remembers funnier that it is in watching it now. The culture has moved on. Remember, this was just after Vietnam and Carter and at the beginning of Regan. Pre-AIDS, pre-fall of the Berlin Wall and the USSR. Clearly, it is a Baby Boomer comedy.

Since so much of this movie, like Animal House and Caddy Shack, have become cultural touchstones, seeing the movie is almost a requirement. However, there are scenes where you will find yourself wondering why the heck THAT was necessary. That effect is a measure of how far we have moved on from 1981.

Rating:
Summary: Singing Doo-Wah-Diddy...
Review: This service comedy is probably Bill Murray's first successful starring vehicle("Meatballs" was intermittently humorous but doesn't have the sustained laughs of "Stripes"). The story is essentially about an iconoclast who enlists in the Army to get structure in his life but finds himself running afoul of the authority figures. Murray is surrounded by an excellent cast(Harold Ramis, John Candy, Judge Reinhold, Warren Oates, P.J. Soles, Sean Young, John Larroquette, and John Voldstad a.k.a Darrell from the old "Newhart" show in a speaking part no less) but this is essentially Murray's show. What is interesting is that this film does not take a particularly anti-military stance and was instrumental as a recruiting tool for the military much like "Top Gun" was in 1986. At the time this film was released in 1981 it demonstrated that the sixties were over and the Age of Reagan had now begun.

Rating:
Summary: If this is the new Army we're doomed
Review: Buddies Bill Murray and Harold Ramis, whose lives are dull and boring decide to join the Army. The Army never sees what's about to hit them.

What ensues is a wonderful movie that is a spoof of the military.

They tear through basic training, much to the dismay of Sgt Hulka(Warren Oates strives as the tough as nails commander). Then, they get assigned to a super secret new weapon, much to the dismay of Capt. Stillman (played by John Larroquette,who gets to continue his womanizing that he carried onto television shows, like Night Court).

The whole gang, which includes the likes of John Candy, and Judge Reinhold romp from the U.S, to Italy, to Czechoslovokia, causing trouble wherever they go.

Also watch for the poor happless Russians at the guard tower who seem to get the worst of it numerous times. Just when they assume that they are safe they get it again.

A real winner that even some from the Army said was realistic to a point with the basic training.

Rating:
Summary: The Fact Jack
Review: From his days on Saturday Night Live, to film roles in Caddyshack, Ghostbusters, and What About Bob?, I have always thought that if given good material Bill Murray is one of the funniest men on the planet. One of his best movies, is the 80's military comedy, Stripes. Here, he teams with future Ghostbuster pals, Ivan Reitman and Harold Ramis, they make quite a comic trio.

When cabbie John Winger (Murray) loses his job, his car, his apartment and his girlfriend--all in one day--he decides he only has one option: volunteer for Uncle Sam. He talks his friend Russell Ziskey (Ramis) into enlisting with him. After all, where else, can they help save the world for democracy...and meet girls at the same time. John and Russell find basic training a breeze. The pair gets arrested twice, they have regular run-ins with drill sergeant Hulka (the late great Warren Oates) and get into a big mess at a female mud-wrestling match. If that weren't enough, they even steal a top-secret government vehicle to take some gorgeous female MPs on a date, and somehow wind up behind the Iron Curtain.

Directed by Reitman, Murray is king as Winger, taking command and given almost free reign. He and Ramis have great chemistry together. The film also has memorable supporting performances from the late John Candy as Dewey Oxburger, P.J. Soles as Stella, and Sean Young as Louise. The film has some genuinely laugh out loud moments like when John is put in charge of a unit and is resposible for their basic training. These scenes are a howl. The script from Ramis, Len Blum, and Daniel Goldberg is rapid fire. Oates is perfect as the foil for Murray's brand of lunacy.

I hope that, like Caddyshack, Ghostbusters, and Groundhog Day, there will soon be a special edition DVD of Stripes. The current release has no extras on the disc, save for the usual theatrical trailer.

For now Stripes is well worth your time. It's a riot. Recommended.

Rating:
Summary: An absolute howler
Review: Bill Murray fans will never forget his REAL best performance - in this film, not the plodding "Lost in Translation." Full of great one-liners and immortal performances from John Candy and Warren Oates, this is great entertainment and a cure for the most depressed viewer.

Rating:
Summary: Lighten up, Francis...
Review: I'm a bit perplexed by the reviews criticizing this movie because of its unrealistic depiction of the Army. Do these same people complain that "Animal House" doesn't accurately display college life or that "Vacation" isn't what a family trip across the country is really like? (Hey, I live in St. Louis and could easily take exception to the outright offensive inaccuracies in "Vacation", but I still love the movie!) This is a comedy, folks. It's not "Saving Private Ryan" or "Band of Brothers", and it never claims or tries to be. It uses exaggeration and absurdities to make us laugh. It isn't striving for realism, although to its credit, I have heard plenty of people say that this is the best movie they've ever seen at giving you the feel for what its like going into the service, and that their own drill instructor was identical to Sgt Hulka.

The first half of this movie is just about the funniest comedy ever made. Bill Murray and Harold Ramis are the perfect slobs with shiftless lives who try to maintain what's left of their dignity by enlisting in the Army. Their chemistry is wonderful and they truly are believable as out-of-shape but likable losers. Virtually every line and every character is memorable (Psycho, Ox, Cruiser, that lady in the cab, John Laroquette, and of course Russell and Winger), and this has to be the most quotable movie in history. No, John Candy would not have spoken to a superior officer that way when he gets off the bus (or at least not have gotten away with it), but that's what's so funny about it! And speaking of Sgt. Hulka, Warren Oates should have been given an Oscar nomination for this role. He's the high point of the movie for me, and his intense, over the top performance reminds me of Robert Shaw in "Jaws"- some actors are so good that they can chew scenery and get away with it. So for the first half of the movie, there's not an unfunny moment. Maybe basic training isn't like this, but the scenes are so well-done that a generation of adolescent guys has grown up thinking that it is and have no doubt gone into the military with this movie in the back of their minds.

The second half of the movie sort of devolves into a bearable but not great action movie, with its contrived plot about the stolen military RV and the rescue mission across the Czech border. Still, the same characters are present and continue to sustain the movie until the end. Great music, too- I don't think this has ever been issued as a soundtrack but it contains one of the most memorable themes ever written for a movie.

The DVD itself is passable- no extras, somewhat grainy video, unspectacular sound. But we surived watching it over and over again on basic cable with plenty of edits and subpar picture quality, so I can't complain too much. I suppose someday it will be given a "Special Edition" with a commentary and a retrospective from the stars, but the movie stands on its own without anything fancy.

Rating:
Summary: This is why I joined the Army...
Review: What? You mean the Army isn't really like this movie? Okay, so it's a comedy and it isn't meant to be like the Army, but it is meant to be funny, which it really is.

Bill Murray and Harold Ramis play the part of unlikely Army recruits bumbling their way through their training to somehow manage to get their entire platoon transferred to Europe for a top secret assignment, which Murray manages to ruin and get his platoon captured behind the iron curtain.

This comical movie is packed with one-liners and gags that typify comedies of the early 80's, and like many other movies of this era, the occasional gratuitious nude scene help keep the movie interesing if you like that kind of thing.

John Laroquette and John Candy round out the cast. Laroquette plays the part of the company commander.

Rating:
Summary: ignore the bad reviews
Review: Apparently some of the previous reviewers don't understand that Stripes is a C-O-M-E-D-Y...i.e. it doesn't have to represent the army, but rather need only be humorous. Mission accomplished--it's ridiculously hilarious. Directed by Ivan Reitman and starring Bill Murray, Harold Ramis, John Candy, John Larroquette, and Judge Reinhold, Stripes may very well be the prototypic 80's comedy. If you haven't seen the film you're doing yourself a grave disservice. At the very least, rent the movie and judge for yourself.

Brief synopsis: John (Murray) and Russell (Ramis) are two disillusioned friends who join the army on a whim to escape their dead-end jobs and to be all they can be. Grouped with a collection of psychopaths and fellow num-nuts they proceed to stumble through boot camp. When their drill-sergeant is injured during training exercises, John assumes leadership of this military version of the Bad News Bears. Thrown into the mix, you have two attractive MPs, mud wrestling, a classified covert combat-ready recreational vehicle, and Sean Young before she went loopy.

please, see this movie and make the world a little happier