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, ...Written by
Huggo
Even at the time this movie was made, there were weight restrictions on joining the army. The maximum body fat percentage allowed was 28% before joining boot camp, and anything over 33% the military considers "obese". Thus, there is no way that Ox would have been allowed to enlist, mostly for his own safety and health, as overweight/obese recruits would end up being processed out early for not being able to take the rigors of basic training. See more »
Quotes
Ox:
[to the ladies before getting on the bus]
Excuse me, stewardess. Is there a movie on this flight?
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Crazy Credits
As the entire end credits are playing, Ox and the soldiers are marching while leaving the airport See more »
Alternate Versions
The "Extended Cut" DVD includes 18 minutes worth of deleted scenes re-edited back into the film. They include:
A longer discussion between John and Russell before they drive to the recruiting office
A nine-minute scene in which John and Russell take LSD and accidentally end up on a mission in the Colombian jungle. They meet with rebels whom they smoke marijuana and take more LSD with. The rebels want to kill them but they escape by leading the rebels in a rendition of "Quando, Quando, Quando"
After Hulka's injury, Stillman gives the men a false account of how it happened. But John knows that Stillman was at fault
Love scenes between the two couples during their Germany vacation in which the women are nude
A longer discussion between John and Russell before Russell agrees to save the men in Czechoslovakia
He quit his job and lost his girlfriend. before Lost in Translation and Broken Flowers, he was just a wacky pain-in-the-ass recruit that gave Sgt. Hulka (Warren Oates) nightmares. When it comes to comedy Bill Murray is a winner hands down.
Add in John Candy; John Larroquette as the peeping Capt. Stillman; Judge Reinhold; Harold Ramis; the quick peep at Roberta Leighton; and the hot Lois Hamilton and you have a military comedy of errors that will keep you in stitches.
Of course there is a lot of beautiful scenery in this film in the showers and in the mud pit.
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He quit his job and lost his girlfriend. before Lost in Translation and Broken Flowers, he was just a wacky pain-in-the-ass recruit that gave Sgt. Hulka (Warren Oates) nightmares. When it comes to comedy Bill Murray is a winner hands down.
Add in John Candy; John Larroquette as the peeping Capt. Stillman; Judge Reinhold; Harold Ramis; the quick peep at Roberta Leighton; and the hot Lois Hamilton and you have a military comedy of errors that will keep you in stitches.
Of course there is a lot of beautiful scenery in this film in the showers and in the mud pit.