Stripes (Extended Cut)
by Ivan Reitman
List Price:
Our Price: $3.72
You Save: $11.27 (75%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $1.49 (click here)
Category: DVD
See more DVD releases
Buy this DVD movie at online store in your country
Canada
Canada
DVD Cover Information
Actor: Bill Murray, Harold Ramis, John Candy, P.J. Soles, Warren OatesDirector: Ivan Reitman
Brand: SONY PICTURES HOME ENT
Writer: Harold Ramis
Cinematographer: Bill Butler
Producer: Ivan Reitman
Producer: Daniel Goldberg
Writer: Daniel Goldberg
Producer: Joe Medjuck
Writer: Len Blum
DVD: Region Code 99
Audio: English (Unknown), Dolby Digital 5.1; English (Subtitled); French (Subtitled); English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 5.1; French (Dubbed)
Format: AC-3, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: Anamorphic Widescreen, 1.85:1
Running Time: 106 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2005-06-07
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Studio: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
Product features:
- Condition: New
- Format: DVD
- AC-3; Color; Dolby; Dubbed; DVD; Subtitled; Widescreen; NTSC
Movie Reviews of Stripes (Extended Cut)
Movie Review: "Where The F**k's My Truck?!" - "Stripes" Still Being All It Can Be
Summary: 5 Stars
"No. But, we are willing to learn."
"Yeah, is there someplace special they take us to learn that?"
- John & Russell act like a couple of flamers in the U.S. Army recruiting office before going on their way to earn their "Stripes"
"Stripes" is easily Bill Murray's best film, tied only in first place with "Caddyshack". Ivan Reitman directs this hilarious & chaotic film that's presented, for the first time, in an extended cut. Its just un-American not to love "Stripes".
John Winger is a down on his luck cab driver who, in the course of one day (actually one morning), loses his job, girlfriend, car, apartment, his pizza. His best friend Russell Zitskey is a couple of rungs up on the evolution scale, but, isn't doing too hot either. With nothing to lose & after seeing a commercial for the U.S Army, John decides to enlist. He also convinces Russell to enlist with him, & after signing their lives over to the U.S., they head off to bootcamp.
"How's it going Eisenhower?"
"It's just you, me, & Uncle Sam."
"Uncle Hulka?"
Stepping off the bus at Fort Brag, the boys find out just what there in for & the type of motley crew they'll be training with.
John & Russell's drill sargeant is Sgt. Hulka, who under the command of base idiot, Captain Stillman, is the classic no s*it taking, ass whooping, four mile running instructor that'll have ya doing 300 push ups if you step out of line. For Winger he never truly gets in line.
"I just want you all to know that if we do go into battle, I will be right behind you guys all the way."
The other recruits are almost the very definition of misfit, among them a drug enthusiast named Elmo, & Dewey "Ox" Oxenburg, an overweight young man who thinks joining the Army is a great diet plan. The group slowly gets it together & starts basic training but, Russell can't hack it & in an extended scene John trys to get Russell out of the country, with pretty funny results.
Things change when a freak accident, thanks to Captain Stillman, puts Sgt. Hulka on the injured list, & its up to John & Russell to train their platoon & pass to graduation.
"Where have you men been?"
"Army training, sir."
"Is it true, that I am to believe, that you men have completed basic training all by yourselves?"
"That's the fact, jack!"
Surprisingly, they all graduate and impress the hell out General Barnakey, who sends the boys off on their first top secret mission to Switzerland. Once there, the boys are introduced to the EM 50, an urban assault vehicle, thats basically a bulletproof van equipt with enough weapons to make the Batmobile look like a Dodge Dart.
Also, an ominous surprise awaits the platoon in the form of a newly re-cooperated Sgt. Hulka, who puts John & Russell on guard duty the entire first weekend watching over the EM 50.
"It's nothing personal, Winger. I just don't like ya."
The boys being bored out of their skulls, decide to take the EM 50 for a test drive (their excuse to security - they need to gas up the van & get it washed). Picking up their female MP girlfriends, John & Russell take off to Germany & party the weekend away. Captain Stillman, trying to score with a blond hottie, discovers the van missing ("Where the f**ck's my truck?!") & heads up a rescue mission with the rest of the platoon and Sgt. Hulka. But, when Stillman screws up the directions everybody winds up over the border into Russia and are all promptly captured as spies. It's up to John, Russell, & the EM 50 to bust'em out.
Originally conceived as a Cheech & Chong film, "Stripes" slowly changed its comedic tone after Cheech & Chong bowed out of the project (after the films "Nice Dreams" & "The Corsican Brothers", Cheech Marin & Tommy Chong broke up their act).
With the help of Harold Ramis (who would later go on to play Russell) & Ivan Reitman, "Stripes" slowly began to take the now classic shape of the film that it would eventually become. Gone was most of the pot & drug humor (there is a small scene at the bus station between Elmo & Russell, & the acid scene in the extended cut).
Instead "Stripes" focused on two average guys who take the plunge into the military. With the casting of Bill Murray, who worked previously with Reitman on "Meatballs" & was coming off of the huge success of that film & the bigger hit, "Caddyshack", "Stripes" couldn't lose. A helping hand from the United States Army didn't hurt either (the U.S. Army had previously denied working on the film "Private Benjamin" for no specific reason & the producers of "Stripes" didn't think they had a prayer).
The film has a great cast. Murray aces his performance as Winger, with Ramis as his backup as Russell. John Candy turns in another classic act, but, John Larroquette is great as Stillman (I still laugh at his expression when he finds the EM 50 has gone AWOL).
This new extended cut is a mixed bag, but overall worth getting for the special features.
"Stripes" is presented in both the original cut & the extended cut with Dolby Digital 5.1 surround. The downside (I give the film five stars not the DVD presentation) is that the extended cut is also used as the theatrical cut. This means that when watching the theatrical cut expect slight pauses throughout the film, as your DVD player accesses the next corect scene. Basically, there is no even or smooth play through the movie. I found this a bit disorientating especially where there are scenes where Elmer Bernstein's classic score is bridging certain scenes. It makes it look like your DVD player is picking up random scenes in the movie (my advice is to pick up the earlier theatrical DVD version of "Stripes").
The extended scenes are spliced back into the movie & are pretty funny, but, what absolutley sucks ass is at the bottom of each new scene is a subtitle telling you when the new scene begins & when the new scene ends. It says "New Extended Scene" & "End Of New Extended Scene". This is the equivalant of watching the movie, with the loudest person on the planet, standing beside your T.V., yelling at you when the new scene arrives. This is totally retarded & if I were Ivan Reitman, I'd find the genius who decided this smooth move and then proceed to beat the living crap out of him or her. I have never seen any other major studio do such a assinine descision.
Other special features include a two part documentary on the making of "Stripes" with a trailer for the movie. Unfortunatly we also get trailers for such Sony crap as "D.E.B.S." (not worth watching even if you've got a gun pointed to your head, let alone a cannon) & other gems.
The upside is the documentary with the cast telling how the film came together & sharing different insights on the film. "Stripes" itself looks a bit better than its previous incarnation on DVD & even though there are some sucky stuff ("D.E.B.S." trailer?) its worth getting.
Just like the colors of the American Flag, "Stripes" doesn't run.
Summary of Stripes (Extended Cut)
Synopsis: 0Item Type: DVD Movie
Item Rating: R
Street Date: 06/07/05
Wide Screen: yes
Director Cut: no
Special Edition: no
LanguageENGLISH
Foreign Film: no
Subtitlesno
Dubbed: no
Full Frame: no
Re-Release: yes
Packaging: Sleeve Please note: This supplier will be closed on 11/24, 11/25, 12/26, 1/2 for the holidays. The shipping cut off is 12/10 to try and have the products delivered by Christmas.
Bill Murray was heading toward a career peak on the back of comedies such as this one from 1981, the second film in his ongoing collaboration with director Ivan Reitman (the two went on to make Ghostbusters). Murray plays a chronic loser who joins the army and fails to find a fan for his ironic sensibilities in his by-the-book sergeant (Warren Oates). When push comes to shove, however, the smirking hero takes charge of his ragtag unit and turns them into fighting machines, albeit to the rhythm of hit songs by Manfred Mann and Sly Stone. The film is occasionally funny, but it mostly plays like any one of a dozen underachieving comedies featuring players from Saturday Night Live and SCTV. --Tom Keogh
Similar DVD Movies
Trading Places (Special Collector's Edition)PARAMOUNT HOME VIDEO; Release date: 2007-06-05; DVD
Best price: $5.75
Price in other shops:
Fast Times at Ridgemont High (Widescreen Special Edition)PENN,SEAN; Release date: 2004-11-02; DVD
Best price: $6.78
Price in other shops:
A Fish Called WandaMGM (Video & DVD); Release date: 1999-03-23; DVD
Best price: $5.88
Price in other shops:
Annie HallMGM; Release date: 2000-05-30; DVD
Best price: $7.00
Price in other shops:
![Good Morning, Vietnam (25th Anniversary Edition) [Blu-ray] Image](/images/Good-Morning-Vietnam-25th-Anniversary-Edition-Blu-ray-B005TBQS0Q-X.jpg)
Good Morning, Vietnam (25th Anniversary Edition) [Blu-ray]Release date: 2012-01-17; Blu-ray
Best price: $10.99
Price in other shops:
The ToyPRYOR,RICHARD; Release date: 2001-11-13; DVD
Best price: $4.58
Price in other shops:
National Lampoon's Animal House (Full Screen Double Secret Probation Edition)Universal; Release date: 2003-08-26; DVD
Best price: $7.29
Price in other shops:
CaddyshackWarner Brothers; Release date: 2010-06-08; DVD
Best price: $1.99
Price in other shops:
See No Evil, Hear No EvilIMG; Release date: 2010-12-07; DVD
Best price: $4.68
Price in other shops:
Stir CrazyPRYOR,RICHARD; Release date: 2004-07-15; DVD
Best price: $6.98
Price in other shops: