![]() ![]() Murray and Ramis play off one another perfectly. ![]() He gamely lobs comedic softballs for Murray, while adding in his own touches of silliness – such as his reactions to John Candy's earnest explanation of how he ended up in the Army. Not to be outdone is Ramis, who plays a kind of absurdist straight-man. Throughout, Murray refines the role of louche-but-intelligent outcast that he would go on to master in so many films in the '80s. Several bits from the film – like the parade-ground sequence – should be included in the canon of Bill Murray's career highlights. Oddball moments aside, Stripes shines when it allows Murray and Ramis to put their comedic talents on display. Watch the Graduation Scene From 'Stripes' Similarly, there are numerous scenes, like the mud-wrestling, that come directly from the '70s stoner-film habit of including gags that serve no narrative purpose at all – as opposed to the more careful construction of virtually all of Ramis, Reitman, and Murray's later movies. This is a bit of character flimflammery that Ramis – who wrote masterpieces like Caddyshack, Ghostbusters, and Groundhog Day – would never have foisted on a character in a script that was original to him. In the initial sequence, Russell Ziskey joins the Army on a lark, for no real reason at all other than that his friend is doing it. ![]() That leads to the odd spectacle of Murray and Ramis, both pretty devoted anti-establishment types, appearing in a film that celebrates American exceptionalism.ĭespite the rewrites, the specters of Cheech Marin and Tommy Chong still haunt Stripes. It was made with the assistance of the Army, in hopes that Stripes would help improve the military's image after the disastrous Vietnam War. Other strange undercurrents run throughout the film. ![]() (Their successful rescue is preceded by an oddly violent combat sequence which Ramis has described as " grinding anti-Communist ax" by Reitman, the son of Czech refugees.) Winger, Ziskey and the rest then return to America as heroes. In the end, Winger and Ziskey have no choice but to invade Czechoslovakia in the EM-50 to save their buddies. When Winger and Ziskey steal this to go visit their MP paramours, Hulka and the rest of the platoon go looking for them and inadvertently stray into Czechoslovakia, where they're captured. Their assignment in Europe is to guard a new armored combat Winnebago called the EM-50. Soles and Sean Young), a hard-ass sergeant named Hulka (Warren Oates), to whip them into shape, and a daffy Captain ( John Larroquette) to serve as a plot foil.Īfter some shenanigans in basic training – Hulka gets injured by a stray mortar shell, Ox mud-wrestles a bunch of women in a bar, and (in a scene cut from the original film but included in 2005's expanded DVD re-release) Winger and Ziskey join paratroopers in Latin America while Ziskey is high on LSD – the platoon gets sent to Italy. There's also a pair of gorgeous military-police officers for Winger and Ziskey to pursue (played by P.J. The two new recruits soon find themselves in a platoon of misfits, struggling through basic training.Īlongside them are: Ox ( John Candy), who joined up because it seemed like a good way to lose weight Cruiser (John Diehl), whose main attribute is his lack of intelligence Elmo (Judge Reinhold), your basic drug-loving teenager and others. Disillusioned with his job prospects and abandoned by his girlfriend because she thinks he's a loser, he convinces his best friend Russell Ziskey (Ramis), a vocational English teacher, to join the Army with him. Murray plays John Winger, a cab driver in New York City. The result is an absurd comedic romp that gives both actors plenty of room to play to their strengths. Reitman brought in Ramis after Cheech and Chong demanded complete artistic control, asking Ramis to rewrite the screenplay so that it would work for Murray – and to include a part for himself, as well. Released on June 26, 1981, Stripes grew out of an initial script put together by Len Blum and Dan Goldberg. ![]()
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