X
- 1981
- R
- Columbia Pictures
- 1 h 46 m
- 1981
- R
- Columbia Pictures
- 1 h 46 m
Summary Two old friends who are dissatisfied with their lives decide to join the army to mix things up.
Directed By: Ivan Reitman
Written By: Len Blum, Daniel Goldberg, Harold Ramis
- 1981
- R
- Columbia Pictures
- 1 h 46 m
- 1981
- R
- Columbia Pictures
- 1 h 46 m
Stripes
68
7.2
Where to Watch
Summary Two old friends who are dissatisfied with their lives decide to join the army to mix things up.
Directed By: Ivan Reitman
Written By: Len Blum, Daniel Goldberg, Harold Ramis
Where to Watch
Top Cast
Metascore
Generally Favorable
Based on 14 Critic Reviews
68
71% Positive
10 Reviews
10 Reviews
29% Mixed
4 Reviews
4 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
Metascore
Generally Favorable
Based on 14 Critic Reviews
68
71% Positive
10 Reviews
10 Reviews
29% Mixed
4 Reviews
4 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
Bill Murray is as funny here as anyone has ever been funny and I can’t see anyone else getting away with half the things he says here much less have them sound so cool and inspired.
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 31 User Ratings
7.2
61% Positive
19 Ratings
19 Ratings
35% Mixed
11 Ratings
11 Ratings
3% Negative
1 Rating
1 Rating
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 31 User Ratings
7.2
61% Positive
19 Ratings
19 Ratings
35% Mixed
11 Ratings
11 Ratings
3% Negative
1 Rating
1 Rating
There are no user reviews yet. Be the first to add a review.
Finally, a word about John Candy, the Second City-trained performer who has worked with great success on the "SCTV" shows. Candy, the plump one of the troupe, is more than just a jolly fat man in "Stripes." He becomes one of Murray's allies, because his comic persona allows him to be as sharp-witted as the next man. This is a switch, because the fat man in a comedy usually is the butt of a lot of physical humor...The point is this: Candy deserves to star in his own movie. He's that funny.
Reitman, who also originated Animal House and Meatballs, manages a reasonable success rate at pulling off the numerous verbal and sight gags with which the script is peppered.
IN THE BEGINNING, Ivan Reitman begat Animal House and Animal House begat
Meatballs and Meatballs begat Stripes. In the end, the box-office deity
surveyed this handiwork and pronounced it good. Good and stale. For you
can tamper with the setting, you can fiddle with the cast but, by all
that's holy in the land of the cash flow, don't ever mess with a lucrative
premise. [27 June 1981]
These unfortunate innovations aside, the film, directed by Ivan Reitman, has moments when the old army joke is done well. Reason against discipline is always funny -- hero to sergeant: "I know I'm speaking for the entire platoon when I say that the run should be postponed until the platoon is better rested" -- but the kicker, that there really is a reason for the discipline, is necessary to the premise. [26 June 1981, p.17]
Private Benjamin, meet Meatballs. Bill Murray of Saturday Night Live, meet Harold Ramis, John Candy, Joe Flaherty and Dave Thomas of SCTV. Psycho from Taxi Driver, meet martial music from 1941. Tired moviegoer, meet tired moviemakers.
