A little dated, but classic Murray

Rating: Null/10 (27 July 2003)

"Stripes", one of Bill Murray's classic post-SNL films sums up pretty much as a classic in it's on right. With great comedic acting from Harold Ramis, John Candy, John Larroquette, Warren Oates and others, you just have to laugh, no matter haow bizzare or Politically incorrect it is.
John Winger (Murray) and Russell Ziskey (Ramis), two bummed friends, are bored and tired of their lives...so they join the US army. Not really a wise choice, in a post-Vietnam War backdrop it presents. Hilarity ensues when the Winger and Ziskey join up with a platoon of misfits and rejects, which includes Candy, Oates and a young Judge Reinhold. Capt. Stillman (Larroquette) plays a grumpy officer intolerable of Winger's men (a slight wink to the film's staggering number of "National Lampoon's Animal House" references) After promoting from basic training, the team is sent to a European country (I believe it's Italy at first) to guard and secure a new armed transport automobile that looks more like a RV than a tank. Unable to hold him, Winger takes Ziskey to West Germany (remember the time) with him to go see his girlfriend, a fellow officer. During this time, the platoon makes a dumb mistkae by crossing the 'Iron Curtain' of Czechoslovakia (at the time still under the control of the former Soviet Union) to do a covert mission and the team is captured by boarder guards. Feeling a sense of duty, Winger and Ziskey cross the boarder to rescue the crew from Russian control. Of course, laughter is served.
"Stripes" is a hilarious film, even though it's, wihtout any doubt, extemely dated for the time. Not dated meaning Murray and Ramis' younger looks, but of the politics in the film...the entire army still wears the Vietnam-issued green uniforms (compared to the enventual brush fatigues that was issued at the beginning of the 80's). It's kinda silly still seeing Germany spilt into West and East (remember, the wall didn't come down until 1989, so it would be another 8 years before Politically correctness would step in), along with a Soviet control Czech republic. Still, very funny movie.