I somehow managed to go all the way through the 80s without seeing Stripes! This is a Bill Murray/Harold Ramis/Ivan Reitman classic and a movie that I have certainly come to love just a little bit more each time I have watched it. One of the coolest things about the movie is that you could argue that Stripes has one of the most stacked casts of any 1980s movie.
How to Download Stripes
Stripes was released on June 26, 1981. You can download or stream the film from a digital platform. Click on the Download button at the end of this review and make your choice. If you like Bill Murray, check our reviews of Ghostbusters (1984), Groundhog Day (1993), and Lost in Translation (2003).
The Movie Review
A Star-Studded Cast
In addition to Bill Murray and Harold Ramis, Stripes also has John Candy, Warren Oats, Sean Young, PJ Soles, and very early roles for Judge Reinhold and John Paxton. If you have watched a lot of 80s and 90s movies, you will always be pointing out actors that you recognize from other stuff! It is something I have gotten a kick out of each time I have watched Stripes.
A Chance Discovery
The only reason I can think that I never saw this as a kid in the 80s was that none of my video stores had it as I am positive I would have rented it if I had seen Bill Murray on the cover. However, the only reason I heard of Stripes and actually sought it out was because of wrestling legend, Diesel/Kevin Nash. I was reading an interview with him in a wrestling magazine and he talked about how after watching Stripes he wanted to join the army! Had it not been for Big Daddy Cool, I may have never watched it!
A Perfect Pairing: Bill Murray and Harold Ramis
If you love Bill Murray and Harold Ramis, you will love Stripes, it is as simple as that. Bill Murray plays the role of a guy called John. John in the space of one day has been fired from his job, lost his apartment, and been ditched by his girlfriend. Feeling down and with no idea what to do, John decides that enlisting in the US Army is the right decision.
However, John does not want to do this alone. This is where Harold Ramis’s Russell comes into play. Russell is a teacher who is not exactly thrilled with his position in life either and John manages to talk him into enlisting with him. You probably do not need me to tell you that Bill Murray and Harold Ramis have fantastic chemistry together.
Basic Training and Beyond
They report to basic training and meet the rest of the recruits. Pretty much right from the start, they are at odds with Sergeant Hulka who does not exactly appreciate their ways. In addition to this, they strike up relationships with two of their superiors and just generally cause trouble the whole time they are in basic training. Yet, they clearly learn a thing or two as they do graduate.
You would think that graduation would be the end of the movie, but that is not the case and we see John and Russell out in the field as they are given a secret mission that as you would expect goes off the rails and finds them in trouble with the “Rusike’s” this was the 1980s after all.
Revisiting Stripes in 4K
In reviewing Stripes, it has made me really want to pick up the 4K version of it. I have the 35th Anniversary Blu-Ray and it is great, but a lot of these older 80s movies really shine on 4K. This is a fun comedy that has many interesting characters, I highly recommend that you check this out if you have not seen it and if you have seen it, watch it again!
