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The Rewatchables ·

Stripes

year 1981decade 80sdirector Ivan Reitmangenre Comedygenre War
host Bill Simmonshost Brian Koppelman format 40th Anniversary
All 18 categories

Most Rewatchable Scene · 25:41

The recruit introductions

Bill Simmons: The first twelve minutes establish John as a likable loser through the shoeshine, parking ticket, cab fare, repossession, upside-down pizza, and breakup.

Bill Simmons: The apartment visit is praised for indoor basketball, the five bishops, and the ease of the central friendship.

The Neil McCauley “A Book about Metals” Award for Best Line from the Movie · 1:11:10

Wisconsin

Brian Koppelman: The rapid list includes the furs answer, Eisenhower greeting, unusual-underwear speech, acorn speech, officer-material line, and depression line.

The film

Stripes (1981)

Directed by Ivan Reitman · Comedy

106 minutes

IMDb Find on JustWatch Find on Rotten Tomatoes
Cast

Selected cast credits · Film reference

Everything from the episode

In the order the hosts got to it. Open a row for the discussion.

25:41

Most Rewatchable Scene

The recruit introductions

The recruit introductions

In the discussion (10)
Approx. transcript time · 00:25:41Read transcript
  • The first twelve minutes establish John as a likable loser through the shoeshine, parking ticket, cab fare, repossession, upside-down pizza, and breakup. — Bill Simmons
  • The apartment visit is praised for indoor basketball, the five bishops, and the ease of the central friendship. — Bill Simmons
  • The recruit-introduction scene wins for Cruiser, Psycho, Ox, Francis, Lee Harvey, the big-toe speech, and Murray’s escalating improvisational energy. — Bill Simmons
  • A participant recounts memorizing the unusual-underwear speech and eventually reciting it directly to Bill Murray at Madison Square Garden. — Brian Koppelman
  • The visit to General Barnicke’s house is praised for Murray’s late-night improvisation and rapport with his military-police scene partner. — Bill Simmons
  • The graduation ceremony and late arrival were a childhood favorite. — Bill Simmons
  • The first training sequence, including the log obstacle, is another preferred passage. — Bill Simmons
  • The return-to-America newspaper-headline montage is praised for extending each character’s outcome as a closing gag. — Bill Simmons
  • Captain Stillman’s first appearance and his shower-sponge line are singled out as a strong character introduction. — Brian Koppelman
  • The mud-wrestling sequence is remembered as a major adolescent fantasy, though the raid and separation from the unit are questioned. — Bill Simmons
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36:05

What’s Aged the Best?

The breakup setup, John Candy, Judge Reinhold, throwaway jokes, the women, poker running gag, score, deleted scene, M...

The breakup setup, John Candy, Judge Reinhold, throwaway jokes, the women, poker running gag, score, deleted scene, Murray–Ramis friendship, and Warren Oates

In the discussion (11)
Approx. transcript time · 00:36:05Read transcript
  • The wet-blanket girlfriend telling the likable loser he is going nowhere is treated as a comedy setup copied for decades. — Bill Simmons
  • The first training sequence, especially the log obstacle, is explicitly added as another thing that aged best. — Bill Simmons
  • John Candy’s first appearance, long hair, cigarette, and Eisenhower greeting still land immediately. — Bill Simmons
  • Judge Reinhold’s short role is praised as part of a strong early-career run. — Bill Simmons
  • Lines such as the furs answer, the drug answer, and Ramis’s strip-search head movement reward repeated viewing. — Brian Koppelman
  • Sean Young and the other actress playing a military-police character are praised as charismatic women with agency; the latter’s strong late-1970s run is recalled. — Bill Simmons
  • Candy repeatedly exploiting the character Cruiser in poker remains an effective running gag. — Bill Simmons
  • Elmer Bernstein’s score is praised for shifting between jaunty and lower-register military themes. — Brian Koppelman
  • A deleted South American subplot has LSD, an unauthorized paratrooper mission, guerrilla capture, and escape; cutting it is judged correct because it derailed the film. — Bill Simmons
  • The Harold Ramis and Bill Murray friendship is itself described as something that aged best. — Brian Koppelman
  • Warren Oates and Sergeant Hulka also remain durable strengths. — Brian Koppelman
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46:21

What’s Aged the Worst?

Voyeuristic treatment of women and the incoherent final third

Voyeuristic treatment of women and the incoherent final third

In the discussion (6)
Approx. transcript time · 00:46:21Read transcript
  • The period’s routine use of nudity and men spying on women through binoculars or shower holes is said to play differently now. — Bill Simmons
  • The final third abruptly crosses into Czechoslovakia, strands the unit, and sends four characters into a bloodless Soviet-base rescue. — Brian Koppelman
  • The Wisconsin exchange survives as a much-quoted line even though the surrounding rescue plot is judged a screenwriting disaster. — Brian Koppelman
  • The two military-police characters retain agency, but Stillman watching women shower is singled out as material that would not be made the same way now. — Bill Simmons
  • The film is placed in an era when comedies could become incoherent and still succeed because jokes continued landing. — Bill Simmons
  • The film’s obvious homophobia is explicitly added as material that aged poorly and described as a staple of the period. — Brian Koppelman
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52:17

The Joey Pants “That Guy” Award

Conrad Dunn

Conrad Dunn

In the discussion (5)
Approx. transcript time · 00:52:17Read transcript
  • John Deal, using the machine transcript’s spelling, and Donald Gibb are raised as recognizable supporting candidates. — Bill Simmons
  • Conrad Dunn wins because every later appearance made the panel identify him as Francis. — Bill Simmons
  • Warren Oates is rejected as too famous for the category. — Bill Simmons
  • An actor whose name the machine transcript renders as Larichette is debated because he was not famous then but is unmistakable now. — Bill Simmons
  • John Candy is moved toward the heat-check discussion. — Bill Simmons
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52:55

The Ruffalo / Hanna / Rubinek / Partridge Overacting Award

Conrad Dunn’s Francis and Harold Ramis’s reaction work

Conrad Dunn’s Francis and Harold Ramis’s reaction work

In the discussion (3)
Approx. transcript time · 00:52:55Read transcript
  • Francis is proposed because the performance pushes hard while remaining liked. — Brian Koppelman
  • Harold Ramis is proposed for the exaggerated faces and reactions behind Murray and Candy. — Brian Koppelman
  • Ramis’s relative inexperience in front of the camera is offered as a reason he may have pushed the reactions. — Brian Koppelman
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54:23

The Dion Waiters Award for Best Heat Check Performance

John Candy

John Candy

In the discussion (5)
Approx. transcript time · 00:54:23Read transcript
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59:19

Apex Mountain

Warren Oates: yes; military comedies: strong affirmative case

Warren Oates: yes; military comedies: strong affirmative case

In the discussion (11)
Approx. transcript time · 00:59:19Read transcript
  • Bill Murray is rejected because Ghostbusters provided a stronger later peak. — Bill Simmons
  • Harold Ramis is debated as a newly cool movie star here, while Groundhog Day and Ghostbusters brought larger later influence and wealth. — Brian Koppelman
  • John Candy is rejected. — Bill Simmons
  • Military comedies about joining and training are given a strong apex case, with the broader military-movie claim treated as weaker. — Bill Simmons
  • The actress identified by the machine transcript as P. J. Souls is rejected in favor of Halloween. — Bill Simmons
  • Sean Young is rejected in favor of the Blade Runner, Wall Street, and No Way Out period. — Bill Simmons
  • The actor whose name the machine transcript renders as Laracette is rejected because he became a major television star. — Bill Simmons
  • Goofy future-tense closing credits are discussed, with Animal House preferred. — Bill Simmons
  • Warren Oates receives a clear apex verdict. — Bill Simmons
  • Ivan Reitman is rejected. — Bill Simmons
  • The mud-wrestling sequence is proposed as the apex of mud wrestling in movies. — Bill Simmons
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1:04:51

Sequel, Prequel, Limited Series, or All-Black Remake

A Stripes series is disputed; An Officer and a Gentleman preferred for adaptation

A Stripes series is disputed; An Officer and a Gentleman preferred for adaptation

In the discussion (2)
Approx. transcript time · 01:04:51Read transcript
  • One participant rejects a ten-episode Stripes series as sacrilege, while another says the right two leads could make an entertaining version. — Bill Simmons
  • An Officer and a Gentleman is proposed as the more suitable series adaptation. — Bill Simmons
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1:08:40

What Piece of Memorabilia Would You Want From This Movie?

The EM-50, framed spatula, apartment set, and indoor basketball hoop

The EM-50, framed spatula, apartment set, and indoor basketball hoop

In the discussion (3)
Approx. transcript time · 01:08:40Read transcript
  • The military vehicle is proposed as a driveway object, gaming room, sports-viewing room, or child’s hangout. — Brian Koppelman
  • The spatula would be framed. — Brian Koppelman
  • The apartment set and especially its basketball hoop are preferred alternatives. — Brian Koppelman
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1:11:10

Who Won the Movie?

Bill Murray

Bill Murray

In the discussion (2)
Approx. transcript time · 01:11:10Read transcript
Podcast choices
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