El pelotón chiflado

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.

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.

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!

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")

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