Stripes (1981)

Director:

Ivan Reitman

Writers:

Len Blum (writer) &
Daniel Goldberg (writer) ...

Release Date:

26 June 1981 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | War

Tagline:

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

Plot:

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

Plot Keywords:

Louisville Kentucky | Voyeur | Army Life | Women Soldiers | Army

Cast

Bill Murray	...	John Winger
Harold Ramis	...	Russell Ziskey
Warren Oates	...	Sgt. Hulka
P.J. Soles	...	Stella Hansen
Sean Young	...	Louise Cooper
John Candy	...	Dewey 'Ox' Oxberger
John Larroquette	...	Capt. Stillman
John Voldstad	...	Corporal, Stillman's aide
John Diehl	...	Cruiser
Lance LeGault	...	Col. Glass
Roberta Leighton	...	Anita
Conrad Dunn	...	Francis 'Psycho' Soyer
Judge Reinhold	...	Elmo
Antone Pagan	...	Hector
Glenn-Michael Jones	...	Leon

MPAA:

Rated R for sexuality/nudity, language and some drug use. (extended edition)

Runtime:

106 min | Spain:117 min (extended version) | USA:126 min (extended version)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Canada:14 (Nova Scotia) (extended version) (2005) | Portugal:M/12 | Canada:PG (Manitoba) (original rating) | Finland:K-12 (cut) (1981) | Canada:14A (Manitoba/Ontario) (extended version) (2005) | Finland:K-11 (uncut) (2005) | Iceland:L | Spain:13 | Canada:R (Nova Scotia/Ontario) (original rating) | Australia:M | Norway:16 (1981) | Singapore:NC-16 | Sweden:11 | UK:15 | USA:R | West Germany:12 | Argentina:Atp | Peru:14

Filming Locations:

Elizabethtown, Kentucky, USA

Company:

Columbia Pictures Corporation

Trivia:

Among the crowd at the Graduation Parade (albeit unseen) was P.J. Soles' then-husband Dennis Quaid.

Goofs:

Continuity: In the strip club, one of the female mud wrestlers that Ox is fighting has her hair down and in the next scene her hair is up.

Quotes:

John Winger: [to the soldiers in his platoon] We're soldiers; but we're American soldiers. We've been kickin' ass for 200 years. We're 10 and 1.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Freaks and Geeks: Smooching and Mooching (#1.16)" (2000)

Soundtrack:

RUBBERBAND MAN

Extremely funny movie, another Bill Murray classic

Everyone is funny in this film. Every performance is first-rate and each character adds something to the humor of this movie.

Stripes begins with Bill Murray losing his job, his car and his girlfriend all in the same day. His buddy Harold Ramis is also leading a lackluster life teaching the English language to foreigners who know only curse words. These depressing circumstances set the stage for Murray to convince Ramis to come with him and join the Army.

Basic training, a hard-ass drill sergeant, female military police and naked mud wrestling consume the rest of this hilarious film. Anyone who appreciates smart-ass humor should see this. However Murray and Ramis are the focal point of most of the humor in Stripes and are very easy to relate to. Also stars John Candy, P.J. Soles, Sean Young, John Larroquette and Judge Reinhold.