STRIPES (1981)

STRIPES (1981)

Tagline: Today's army needs men of courage... honesty... integrity... ambition. Instead, they got John Winger.

(Comedy, War, Mud Wrestling) [R]

So we're all dogfaces, we're all very, very different, but there is one thing that we all have in common: we were all stupid enough to enlist in the Army. We're mutants. There's something wrong with us, something very, very wrong with us. Something seriously wrong with us - we're soldiers. But we're American soldiers! We've been kicking a-s for 200 years! We're ten and one!

In this one, John Winger has lost his job and his girlfriend all in the same day because he’s basically a loser. When his friend Russell shows up John convinces him that they both should join the army together to turn their lives around. As it turns out their entire platoon kind of sucks and is more dedicated to hijinks than becoming soldiers. In the end, they will have to work together to overcome the challenges of becoming soldiers. On top of that, they get assigned to test an urban assault vehicle called the EM-50 project. John and Russell and the rest of the platoon will need the help of a couple of MPs named Stella and Louise to complete their toughest mission. 

First off, I am not as huge of a Bill Murray fan as a lot of other people. He plays John in this though and to be honest he was pretty fun and hysterical for a dude that we clearly see is a loser when the film starts. For me, this might be his best role. This is also a great outing for Harold Ramis who plays Russell. I do think I liked him better as Egon in GHOSTBUSTERS, but he is pretty likable in this as well. Warren Oates crushes his role as Sgt. Hulka, but would sadly pass away a year after filming. Sean Young takes on the role of Louise in this. She is most famous for BLADE RUNNER, but her career is still going strong with 6 new projects coming out. She also boasts appearances in 126 other movies and TV roles. P.J. Soles (HALLOWEEN) was actually a bigger star than Sean Young at the time showing up in several well-known films before she showed up in this. I liked her in this role as Stella. John Larroquette plays a pervy Capt. Stillman. Literally, the kind of dude you would never want to be involved in the army even outside of being a perv. I guess the role suited him though, he basically plays about the same character in the TV show “Night Court”. The movie also underutilizes Judge Reinhold and John Candy who get a few lines in the film. 

As far as the pacing of the movie goes everything works, but it does feel like we have 2 completely different movies thrown into one. The first half is largely comedic, fun, and light-hearted. If you ever wanted to see John Candy fight 5 girls in mud wrestling, this is the movie where you can see that. The humor doesn’t always hit and some definitely feel dated, but overall it’s a lot of fun. What really isn’t all that fun, is the second half. This part of the film is kind of meant to showcase the bumbling talent of the platoon taking on a mission, but this was the least interesting part of the film. I mean, the urban attack vehicle looked silly and was actually built from a 1973-1978 GMC Motor Home, but the rest of the second half just feels like a completely different movie. 

This thing is definitely missing a great ’70s soundtrack which would have been the case in 1981, but they do add in some pretty funny songs and chants that the soldiers do to keep it fun. There are tons of facts and interesting tidbits about the filming of this movie, but the improvisation of a lot of the dialog really shines and makes for some of the best parts of the film. This wasn’t as funny as other movies like AIRPLANE! and NATIONAL LAMPOON’S VACATION, but it was still a great watch with enough goofy moments to keep me interested. 

Overall STRIPES is one of the more quotable comedies of the early 80s and for its time it still stands out. I give this one a 5 out of 7. 

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