Stripes, 1981.
Directed by Ivan Reitman.
Starring Bill Murray, Harold Ramis, Warren Oates, P. J. Soles, John Candy, Sean Young, Judge Reinhold, and John Larroquette.’
SYNOPSIS:
Sony has issued their 4K Ultra HD edition of Stripes previously found in Columbia Classics: Volume Two as a standalone Steelbook with the same mix of old and new bonus features, along with a code for a digital copy. If you’re a fan of the film and didn’t get that boxset, now is the perfect time to scoop it up.
I received this one and Gandhi for review on the same day. Talk about movie whiplash: I went from an ultra-serious epic about a man who eschewed most worldly possessions to enact change in India to a film featuring a couple goofballs who decide to join the U.S. Army on a lark and end up on a series of misadventures.
In a way, though, Stripes was a bit of a palette cleanser, and it still holds up as a great example of a fun, raunchy 80s comedy. Bill Murray and Harold Ramis star as John Winger and Russell Ziskey, respectively. When John loses his job, apartment, and girlfriend all in one day, he talks his buddy Russell into enlisting in the Army with him.
The pair are thrown into boot camp with a bunch of other ne’er-do-wells, including Dewey “Ox” Oxberger (John Candy), who signed up to lose weight; Francis “Psycho” Soyer (Conrad Dunn), who lives up to his nickname; and others. John Laroquette is Captain Stillman, who’s determined to get everyone into shape, and Sean Young and P.J. Soles play members of the military police who end up as girlfriends of Russell and John, respectively.
The group’s misadventures culminate in Europe as Russell and John steal a prototype, the EM-50 Urban Assault Vehicle, that they’re supposed to be guarding so they can visit their girlfriends. When Stillman enlists the rest of the platoon to get the vehicle back, they accidentally end up in Czechoslovakia and almost create a major incident with the Soviet Union, causing Russell and John to attempt a rescue mission.
Yes, it helps to understand the Cold War in the 80s. While the United States should be rightfully mistrustful of Russia these days, the Soviet Union back in the day was The Big Bad Guy who might decide to launch their nuclear arsenal at us. I’ll skip over all the geopolitical stuff here — I just want to point out why that misadventure is such a big deal in the film. I don’t know that it would be quite the same these days.
This 4K Ultra HD Steelbook edition of Stripes is the same one found in the Columbia Classics: Volume Two set that was released in 2021. In addition to a code for a digital copy, you get Blu-ray and 4K Ultra HD discs with the theatrical and extended versions of the movie and a nice batch of extras (nothing new was created for this 2025 edition). The extended version includes another international misadventure that’s amusing but doesn’t really add much to the story; I can see why it was cut in the first place.
The 4K platter serves up the theatrical trailer along with two featurettes running about 44 minutes total: 40 Years of Stripes With Bill & Ivan: That’s The Fact, Jack! and 40 Years of Stripes with Bill & Ivan: Lighten Up, Francis. They were newly created for the 2021 release and feature Murray, director Ivan Reitman, and cinematographer Bill Butler looking back on the film with the kind of hindsight that four decades can offer.
The rest of the extras are found on the Blu-ray disc, starting with an informative commentary track (only for the extended version, which makes sense) with Reitman and writer/producer Dan Goldberg; the pair were talking about the film on the occasion of its 20th anniversary, and they offer a nice look back.
The final main extra is Stars and Stripes, a two-part making-of documentary that hails from the 2012 Blu-ray release of the film. It runs just under an hour in total and gives Reitman and Goldberg a lot of screen time, which ends up creating some overlap with their commentary track, but it’s still a worthwhile watch for fans.
A batch of deleted scenes running about 29 minutes total rounds out this release.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★ ★ ★
Brad Cook
