Plot
Two friends who are dissatisfied with their jobs decide to join the army for a bit of fun.
Release Year: 1981
Rating: 6.8/10 (24,679 voted)
Director:
Ivan Reitman
Stars: Bill Murray, John Candy, Harold Ramis
Storyline Thanks to a run of bad luck and go-nowhere jobs, John convinces Russell to join the army so they can get in shape, likening it to a health spa. Once in boot camp, wiseguy John tangles with his by-the-book Sgt. and becomes the unofficial leader for his platoon, made up mostly of other misfits and assorted losers. After somehow making it through graduation, they are given a special assignment but, thanks to John's romantic interest in a pretty MPO, the other men wind up behind the Iron Curtain until John, Russell, their dates and Sgt. Hulka make a daring rescue attempt in explosive style.
Writers: Len Blum, Daniel Goldberg
Cast: Bill Murray
-
John
Harold Ramis
-
Russell Ziskey
Warren Oates
-
Sgt. Hulka
P.J. Soles
-
Stella
Sean Young
-
Louise
John Candy
-
Ox
John Larroquette
-
Capt. Stillman
John Voldstad
-
Stillman's Aide
John Diehl
-
Cruiser
Lance LeGault
-
Col. Glass
Roberta Leighton
-
Anita
Conrad Dunn
-
Francis 'Psycho' Soyer
Judge Reinhold
-
Elmo
Antone Pagan
-
Hector
Glenn-Michael Jones
-
Leon
Taglines:
The story of a man who wanted to keep the world safe for democracy...and meet girls
Trivia:
Among the crowd at the Graduation Parade (albeit unseen) was P.J. Soles' then-husband Dennis Quaid.
Goofs:
Continuity:
When Winger is going AWOL, his backpack keeps appearing and disappearing during the scene when he is laying on the ground.
Quotes: John Winger:
Come on. Let's take the truck. Russell Ziskey:
No. John Winger:
Yes. Russell Ziskey:
No. John Winger:
Yes. Russell Ziskey:
No. John Winger:
Yes. Russell Ziskey:
No. John Winger:
I'll drive. Russell Ziskey:
Okay.
User Review
That's the fact Jack!
Rating: 10/10
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.
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