One of the 1980s’ most famous war films stars legendary actors Bill Murray and John Candy and has even earned an impressive Rotten Tomatoes score and a moderate IMDb rating
A controversial war film starring John Candy is now streaming on Netflix(Image: Sony)
A controversial war film starring John Candy is now available to stream on Netflix.
One of the most famous war comedies, 1981’s Stripes, starring legendary actors Bill Murray and John Candy, has earned an impressive 88% Rotten Tomatoes score and a moderate IMDb rating of 6.8. The Ivan Reitman-directed film is filled with classic one-liners, but some haven’t exactly aged well.
While many fans continue to revisit the Hollywood comedy, others have slammed it and even debated whether its jokes still land today. Whether the film is a favorite or not, it has arrived on the streaming platform this December along with films like period drama Little Women (2019), Pulp Fiction (1994), and the Kung Fu Panda trilogy.
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Stripes synopsis reads, “Hard-luck cabbie John Winger (Bill Murray) — directionless after being fired from his job and dumped by his girlfriend — enlists in the U.S. Army with his close pal, Russell Ziskey (Harold Ramis).
“After his barely satisfactory performance in basic training, the irreverent Winger emerges as the figurehead for a ragtag band of Army misfits. However, his hijinks threaten to cause an international scandal when he inadvertently commandeers a military assault vehicle behind enemy lines.”
Stripes is now streaming on Netflix(Image: Sony)
On Rotten Tomatoes, critics agree that Murray and the cast transform the formulaic plot. Variety wrote, “There’s little in the way of art or comic subtlety here, but the film really seems to work.”
Another critic penned, “The filmmakers take the usual army tropes and find the comedy by creating an atmosphere for the actors to go crazy with improvisation.” Yet another added, “[Murray’s] sleazy charisma helps disguise the formulaic ‘you’re in the army now’ plotting.”
Stripes stars Bill Murray, Harold Ramis, and John Candy(Image: Sony)
Some viewers have also debated whether the film’s jokes still hold. Taking to a Reddit discussion board called, “Stripes (1981) is a classic. It also isn’t that funny,” one fan critiqued, “For some reason I remember this movie being better than it actually is. From start to finish the plot just doesn’t make much sense nor do the jokes really land well.
“Like the mud wrestling? The super good looking military police who go from police to love interests in like 30 seconds? The random Russian stuff? It’s memorable, gets a couple of chuckles, but it’s just not super funny. It’s like a poor man’s Police Academy.”
In the comments section, fans dropped some of the film’s most controversial jokes, including one where the band of misfits are asked, “Now are either of you homosexuals?” There’s also another joke about convicted felons.
The comedy and plot pf Stripes has been debated by fans and critics for years(Image: Sony)
Someone else debated, “I disagree. The first hour is amazingly fun, Bill Murray at his absolute finest, right up until they perform for the general. The problem was that they needed another half hour of film, and the last half hour just sucked. Dumb plot line, nothing funny happens, it is just filler.”
A third added, “Totally agree, once they graduate boot camp the movie hits a wall and should have ended there,” while another defended, “One day Bill Murray will be dead, and you’ll say ‘I’ve been watching him for years and I think he’s fabulous…'”
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