Stripes (1981)

Two friends who are dissatisfied with their jobs decide to join the army for a bit of fun.

Director:

Ivan Reitman

Writers:

Len Blum, Daniel Goldberg (as Dan Goldberg)

Stars:

Bill Murray, John Candy, Harold Ramis

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Bill Murray	...	John
Harold Ramis	...	Russell
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	...	Psycho
Judge Reinhold	...	Elmo
Antone Pagán	...	Hector (as Antone Pagan)
Glenn-Michael Jones	...	Leon

Storyline

At the end of a very bad day when he realizes his life has gone and is going nowhere, John Winger is able to convince his best friend, Russell Ziskey, whose life is not much better, to enlist in the army, despite they not being obvious soldier material. In basic training, they are only two of a bunch of misfits that comprise their platoon. However, it is still John that is constantly butting heads with their drill sergeant, Sergeant Hulka. Two of their saving graces are Stella and Louise, two MPs who get them out of one scrape after another. Their entire platoon is in jeopardy of not graduating. But what happens during basic leads to their entire platoon being assigned to an overseas mission in Italy, to test a new urban assault vehicle, the EM-50 project. John and Russell decide to take the EM-50 for an unauthorized test drive to visit Stella and Louise who have been reassigned to West Germany. In the process, the rest of the platoon, Hulka, and Hulka's immediate superior, ...

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Plot Keywords:

u.s. army | military spoof | hare krishna | fish out of water | army | 

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Taglines:

The story of a man who wanted to keep the world safe for democracy...and meet girls

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Genres:

Comedy | War

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for sexuality/nudity, language and some drug use

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Russian Polish

Release Date:

26 June 1981 (USA)

Also Known As:

Cheech and Chong Join the Army

Filming Locations:

Kentucky, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$10,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$6,130,197, 28 June 1981

Gross USA:

$85,297,000

Company Credits

Production Co:

Columbia Pictures Corporation

Technical Specs

Runtime:

106 min 122 min (extended) 117 min (extended) 123 min (extended)

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

John Larroquette improvised the dialogue where he's watching the girls in the shower through the telescope, including the odd line "Oh, God! I wish I was a loofah!" According to Larroquette, he had to explain to Ivan Reitman what a loofah was.

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Goofs

When the EM-50 is driving up to the resort to pick up their MP girlfriends, the drivers arm is visible wearing a checked shirt. When Russell and Winger get out both are wearing jackets with no checkered shirts.

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Quotes

Sergeant Hulka: When I tell you move, you'll move fast. When I tell you to jump, you're gonna say, "How high?" And make no mistake. I don't care where you come from, I don't care what color you are, I don't care how smart you are, I don't care how dumb you are, 'cause I'm gonna teach every last one of you how to eat, sleep, walk, talk, shoot, shit like a United States soldier. Understand?
Cruiser: Yes, sir.

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Crazy Credits

Four actors with the first name "John", are listed back -to-back in the final credits: John Candy, John Larroquette, John Voldstad and John Diehl.

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Alternate Versions

For the extended DVD release, the German version was completely redubbed.

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Connections

Featured in Biography: To John with Love: A Tribute to John Candy (1995)

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Soundtracks

Do Wah Diddy Diddy
(uncredited)
Written by Jeff Barry and Ellie Greenwich
Performed by Bill Murray, Harold Ramis, John Candy, Judge Reinhold and cast members during marching manoeuvres

User Reviews

Didn't do much for me

I do like Bill Murray and I love John Candy, so I thought this could be at least a decent film. But I found it uneven and it just didn't do much for me. The film is well made, the score is wonderful, Warren Oates is excellent and there is evidence of good direction. But here come the downsides, overall I just didn't find it funny. The script does have weaknesses feeling rather sporadic and ramshackle in the laughs, complete with jokes that feel forced and flat, and while the story starts off well the second half has a change of tone into a kind of a very generic action film that jarred with the rest of the movie and some scenes especially the mud-wrestling match and any scene involving PJ Soles and Sean Young that fell short on credibility. Oates is great, the other acting isn't that good in my opinion, Bill Murray plays a very obnoxious and unlikeable character and unfortunately he isn't very funny which is sad, Harold Ramis' character is interesting but is rarely built upon, both John Candy and Judge Reinhold with some weak scenes and dialogue are dull sadly and the best said about John Laroquette the better. All in all, has the odd bright spot but I was left cold. 4/10 Bethany Cox