15 Most Underrated War Movies Of All Time
5. Stripes
Directed by a pre-Ghostbusters Ivan Reitman and starring
that flick’s central duo Harold Ramis and Bill Murray as a pair of
responsibility-shirking slackers, 1981’s Stripes sees the pair enlist in order
to avoid having to find permanent jobs or worse yet, purpose in their lives. Of course, it turns out the army is just the place for them, as well as countless other oddballs including a young John Candy and Judge Reinhold.
What follows is all manner of wacky boot camp hijinks which eventually turns into a tense, though still very fun, spin on The Great Escape as the unlikely gang of recruits end up behind enemy lines.
It’s on the sillier side of war cinema, but Stripes manages to hit all the bases of any classic war flick without the attendant tragedy and hardship, and is perfect watching for anyone who always wished the wisecracking Dirty Dozen could have had an easier time of it.