Stripes

This week on Forgotten Cinema, Mike Butler and Mike Field enlist for "Stripes" (1981), the early-80s Bill Murray/Harold Ramis comedy directed by Ivan Reitman.

Butler has always had a soft spot for "Stripes"; he finds it fun, funny, and full of great bits, even if the movie goes completely off the rails in the third act with its top-secret Winnebago rescue mission behind Soviet lines. To him, the charm still lands, and the film plays like a proto-"Ghostbusters", where you can clearly see the seeds of Bill Murray, Harold Ramis, and Ivan Reitman finding the comedic rhythm they’d perfect a few years later. It’s nowhere near "Ghostbusters" in terms of quality, but there’s still plenty here he enjoys.

Field…does not share that affection. While he insists he doesn’t hate the movie, he doesn’t like the characters, he doesn’t like the jokes, and he doesn’t find much of the story appealing at all. For him, "Stripes" lands closer to a relic than a comedy classic.

So is "Stripes" an early comedy gem that deserves its fans, or just a messy draft of better things to come? The Mikes break it down; one laugh, and one grimace, at a time.

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0:00 - Introduction

2:04 - Film Facts

7:35 - Film Discussion

29:32 - Reviews

32:04 - Who Would You Recommend This To?

38:04 - Why Is This Forgotten?

41:42 - Plugs

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