Acensbart Excellent but underrated film

Comwayon A Disappointing Continuation

Bluebell Alcock Ok... Let's be honest. It cannot be the best movie but is quite enjoyable. The movie has the potential to develop a great plot for future movies

Gary The movie's not perfect, but it sticks the landing of its message. It was engaging - thrilling at times - and I personally thought it was a great time.

crander-83235 The first act is great, Bill Murray's character is witty but kind of a jerk. The setup for an 80s comedy classic is done well.During the second act I was excited: usually the authority figure in these movies is the bad guy and you're just hoping they get taken down a peg. In this movie the authority figure (the drill sergeant) is 100% in the right and Bill Murray's character is insubordinate, lazy, and irritating. I loved the twist on the formula and I was looking forward to him going through his arc and to learn what it meant to be a good soldier.It never happens.Murray's character becomes more of a jerk, commits multiple crimes, drags the love interest (a career soldier/MP) and his best friend down with him, endangers dozens of people, and is rewarded for helping clean up the mess he made. The end.Maybe time has ruined this movie. Maybe the line between lovable scamp and actual garbage person has moved in the last 37 years. Bill Murray is perfect for these types of characters, but I actively disliked his character by the end of the film.I enjoyed the first 2 acts, so I'm giving it 3 stars instead of 1.

Tweekums John Winger's life is not going to plan; he quits his job, his car is repossessed, his girlfriend has left him and he is about to lose his apartment… it is time for something different so he persuades his friend Russell Ziskey that what they need to do is enlist in the US Army. They find themselves in a platoon of similar misfits under the instruction of Sgt Hulka commanded by Capt. Stillman. Hulka is unimpressed by his platoon; especially Winger whose attitude is not what the military expects. Somehow they manage to pass basic training and the platoon is posted to Italy where they are to be the first troops to use the Army's latest vehicle… an armed and armoured RV! While there Winger and Ziskey decide to take the vehicle to see their girlfriends, a pair of female MPs, in West Germany. Stillman thinks they must be working for the Russians and takes the rest of the platoon to find them; unfortunately a map reading error takes them into Czechoslovakia… it will be up to Winger, Ziskey and their girlfriends to rescue them; preferably without starting a war in the process.This film is pretty funny most of the time even if it does get a bit too silly at times. If one hopes for a vaguely believable story you will be disappointed; just about everything is played for laughs and with the exception of Sgt Hulka it is hard to believe that any of the characters would progress as far as they have in the Army; the recruits don't get moulded into believable soldiers; Capt. Stillman is clearly incompetent from the start and it is unlikely that the two female MPs would keep getting Winger and Ziskey out of trouble… this isn't really a problem though because they more than enough laughs. Bill Murray and Harold Ramis are on good form as Winger and Ziskey and Warren Oates impresses as Sgt Hulka. The rest of the cast, which includes quite a familiar faces, is pretty solid too. The story has the sort of gags that would probably appeal to all ages but some swearing and gratuitous nudity mean it is only really suitable for older viewers. Overall I found this to be good silly fun, not a must see but worth watching if you are a fan of Bill Murray.These comments are based on watching the 'Extended Cut' version of the film.

Kevin Lea Davies If you haven't seen it and you're not sure if you want to, stop reading right now and sit down for an evening of silly nostalgic humour.For those of you have seen it, you know how much this film has to offer in hilarity. Filmed just a year before I was born, this movie was always on the shelf at home, and when the parents were out, my brothers and I would put this on and laugh our butts off! Bill Murray, Harold Ramis, John Candy, and plenty of other well known actors started their cinema roots with this off kilter homage to a military that was still pristine in image and was known for making men out of even the most wimpy souls in America.If you had nowhere else to go, no ambition, or nothing better to do, the army would put you through basic and make a man out of you! It was the perfect stage for a comedy like this one. A bunch of life's miscreants join up for their own individual and mostly stupid reasons, and come together to form one of the worst, miss-guided and downright terrible troops the U.S military ever produced. Not for lack of trying however, it's just... when you get bunch of lemons, it's hard to make champagne.The jokes are silly of course, some fall flat, and most are out dated by most comedic standards, but that is what makes it so damn good! And for some reason this movie has like... 6 acts (It's a bit like 2 movies in one to be honest, the original in the first half, and a sequel covering the second half of the film). Yet it still holds its edge and lightheartedness against the rude and crude comedies of the 2000 era.Grab a few beers, sit down, and try to remember that there was life before terrorism, mortgage bubbles, and Justin Bieber.6/10

Prismark10 Stripes is that naughty, irreverent slob comedy which laid down the template for movies like Police Academy.Set in the early 1980s, John (Bill Murray) is a slobbish, slacker cab driver who gets fired for taking an old lady on a hair raising spin to the airport. He also gets dumped by his girlfriend. Russell (Harold Ramis) is unmotivated as an English teacher to new immigrants.Somehow John persuades Russell that life would be better if they joined the army although Murray with his receding hairline looks too old to be a new recruit.During basic training they meet the larger than life Ox (John Candy) dim Cruiser (John Diehl) and trying to get them into shape is stern Sgt Hulka (Warren Oates.)The platoon leader is incompetent Capt Stillman (John Larroquette) who spends more time as a Peeping Tom.John riles Sgt Hulka very early on and his recruits look very unlikely to pass basic training especially when Hulka is involved in an incident when Stillman ends up injuring him.Despite their incompetence John and Russell manage to charge two female Military Police officers Stella (PJ Soles) and Louise (Sean Young).Murray and Ramis underplay their characters and you see underneath the genesis of characters that they would go on to play in Ghostbusters.The big problem with the film is the script is too scattered and despite the abundance of t & a it is not funny enough. Animal House had some amusing set pieces and an underlying satire about Frat Houses and its linked with social status.Stripes see Murray making not very clever or funny quips which sets him at odds with Sgt Hulka and gets his squad into bother. If I had to do a 10 miles run instead of a 5 miles one on my first day in the army, I would had given Murray a good kicking and the rest of the troops will had joined me.The third act where they squad goes to Europe to test a new vehicle which John and Russell borrow to go off with their girlfriends is even more silly but just tagged on so they can be accidental heroes and Stillman can get his comeuppance.Of course looking back at it this was just an updated version of the first ever Carry On film made in Britain in the 1950s.