Film

Stripes

Name: Stripes
Genre: Action, Comedy
Released: 1981
Cast: Bill Murray, Harold Ramis, Warren Oates, P. J. Soles, Sean Young

A loose, shaggy comedy about a cab driver and his best friend who join the Army because they have nothing better to do, and somehow end up leading a platoon of oddballs to accidental glory. It's Bill Murray at his most effortlessly sarcastic, riffing his way through basic training. Loose plotting, big laughs, lower stakes than the poster suggests — pure hangout comedy for anyone who likes their heroes underqualified.

TMDb rating

6.6

If you liked this

Animal House1978

The template for every anarchic-misfits-vs-uptight-authority comedy that followed, co-written by Harold Ramis and just as gleefully juvenile. If Stripes made you laugh, this is where that DNA started.

But Rowdier and more dated in its humor, with less plot and even less concern for anyone's feelings.

Ghostbusters1984

Murray again, Ramis again, same deadpan-guy-improvises-his-way-through-chaos energy, just pointed at the supernatural instead of the Army. Funnier, bigger, and somehow even more quotable.

But It's a special-effects comedy with real stakes and a plot, which is a different rhythm than Stripes' loose hangout vibe.

Private Benjamin1980

The gender-flipped cousin: a pampered civilian enlists on a whim and gets reshaped by basic training's absurdity. Goldie Hawn is terrific, and the satire has more bite than you'd expect.

But Broader emotional arc and less pure joke density — it wants you to root for her, not just laugh.

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

Buck Privates1941no page yet

This is the actual ancestor of the army-comedy genre — the joke of civilians faking their way through the military, told before the joke had any irony left to add.

Abbott and Costello did the reluctant-draftees-bumble-through-basic-training joke four decades before Stripes, and it's still funny — vaudeville timing, a young Andrews Sisters number, and zero cynicism.

But Black-and-white, broad slapstick, and a wartime sincerity underneath the jokes that modern viewers might find jarring.

Caddyshack1980

Murray at his loosest, in a plotless slobs-versus-snobs comedy that's basically vibes and one-liners. If you just want to watch charming people be ridiculous, this delivers.

But Even less narrative structure than Stripes, and some of it feels like a series of sketches rather than a movie.

MAS*H1970

Robert Altman's army satire is sharper and stranger, using overlapping dialogue and dark irreverence to mock military bureaucracy from the inside. The bloodline Stripes descends from.

But Colder and more cynical, with a documentary-ish looseness that some viewers find alienating rather than funny.

Sgt. Bilko1996no page yet

Steve Martin as a conniving Army sergeant running scams on base — a broader, sillier riff on military life as a con game rather than a character-builder.

But Much goofier and more slapstick, closer to a live-action cartoon than Stripes' shaggy realism.

Police Academy1984no page yet

Same setup, different uniform: a pack of unqualified goofballs bumbles through training and somehow triumphs. Dumber, faster, and unashamed of it.

But The jokes are broader and cruder, with none of the character warmth that makes Stripes' cast likable.

Kingpin1996

Not military, but the same underdog-team-of-losers structure, filtered through the Farrellys' gross-out sensibility and a scene-stealing Bill Murray performance that rivals his Stripes work.

But Much cruder and gorier in its gags — this is Stripes' humor cranked up to a level that will turn some people off.

National Lampoon's Vacation1983

Another National Lampoon vehicle for a wisecracking everyman dragging people through disaster after disaster, with the same appetite for escalating absurdity as Stripes.

But Chevy Chase's character is more grating than endearing for some, and the tone swings meaner than Murray's charm ever does.

Full Metal Jacket1987

Stripes and this movie run the exact same machine — humiliation, conformity, a terrifying Sergeant — but one treats it as farce and the other as tragedy, which tells you everything about how thin that line really is.

Same basic-training structure — the sadistic drill instructor, the ragtag recruits, the transformation — but Kubrick plays it as horror instead of comedy, and it's devastating.

But This is a serious, unflinching war film with real brutality; nothing about the tone will remind you of laughing.