Bill Murray plays an irresponsible goof-off who has just lost his job, his girl, his apartment and his car. As he ponders his fate, it occurs to him that enlisting in the Army seems to be a sensible career move. He persuades his friend (played by Harold Ramis) to join him and soon they find themselves in boot camp surrounded by misfits. Directed by Ivan Reitman. Written by Len Blum & Dan Goldberg and Harold Ramis.

For in-depth thoughts on Stripes, please see my review of the Columbia Classics 4K UHD Collection: Volume 2 here.

For a look at the SteelBook release, please take a look here.

Video Quality

Previous thoughts on Stripes on 4K UHD Blu-Ray can be found below:

The 4K UHD Blu-Ray of Stripes offers a noticeable uptick in quality over the already strong accompanying Blu-Ray, itself remastered and an upgrade from the ancient Blu-Ray. This transfer has been derived from a 4K restoration of the 35mm Original Picture Negative and a Dolby Vision pass with some scenes from the Extended Version derived from a 35mm interpositive. The greatest gains are in the employment of the color spectrum. The Dolby Vision really harnesses the visual wonder that Reitman has on display and features it to its full potential. Heck, even the neon signs at the mud wrestling club present with a grander brilliance than one could imagine. Colors are more rich, natural, and accurate to what was intended by the creative team. Even the more drab colors, such as the muddy earth of basic training, offer a glorious stability.

The highlights in the film are more defined with whites pure and balanced with no instances of blooming to be found. The black levels are especially awe-inspiring in this presentation, staying deep and inky with great detail. The transfer sports a picture that has glorious film grain that resolves perfectly without being clumpy or unnatural. There has been no digital tinkering on this transfer, so this disc is free of DNR, compression artifacts and other encode issues. Skin tones appear way more natural with healthy doses of fine detail apparent on faces such as pores. The grime of the cadets in training offers subtle texture to their faces. Take a look at the scenes inside any of the interiors to see a wide array of minute details that are visible for the first time ever on disc. The costumes and textural output of the feature are simply marvelous to behold with everything rendering without any issues. This is a very natural looking transfer that offers up a flawless presentation that should please fans of the film.

Audio Quality

This new release provides a Dolby Atmos track and a lossless DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio track for both the Theatrical and Extended versions, along with a DTS-HD 2.0 Master Audio mono track for the Theatrical version only. The sheer amount of audio and subtitle options Sony provides on these discs is unlikely to displease anyone. You can get our previous thoughts on the release here.

Special Features

4K UHD

40 Years Of Stripes With Bill & Ivan – That’s The Fact, Jack!: A brand new nearly 21-minute virtual discussion in which Bill Murray and Ivan Reitman discuss their early days with the National Lampoon, how the film was originally written for Cheech and Chong, adapting the drug material for other performers, memories of working with the ensemble, finding the line of common decency and much more. This opens up with an amusing bit about Murray trying to find the right place to film within his house.

40 Years Of Stripes With Bill & Ivan – Lighten Up, Francis: The 24-minute second part of the discussion in which the two discuss the cast members who have passed since the release of the film, the talented women in the ensemble, their favorite scenes, shooting on location and more. There are so many lovely memories of Harold Ramis in particular that are heartwarming. There is even a special appearance by Cinematographer Bill Butler on his 100th birthday.

Theatrical Trailer: The three-minute trailer is provided here.

Blu-Ray

Audio Commentary: Director Ivan Reitman and Writer/Producer Dan Goldberg deliver a commentary track only available on the Extended Version twenty years after the film’s release. The two discuss working with the Department of Defense, the brilliance of Bill Murray, the role of improv in the film, the evolution of the film and much more that makes this an essential listen.

Stars & Stripes Part One & Two: A combined 56-minute vintage documentary featurette in which Reitman, Goldberg and various cast members cover a lot of ground from the commentary track including the origins of the film, populating the film with a bunch of relative unknowns, anecdotes about shooting various scenes and more. This is a pretty thorough and enlightening examination of the film.

Deleted & Extended Scenes: Seventeen scenes totaling 29 minutes of unused material are provided here for the first time.

1983 TV Version Of Stripes: A previously-unreleased edited TV cut of the film framed in 4×3 and presented in Dolby Digital 2.0 audio.

Final Thoughts

Stripes is a comedy classic, but it does not get enough recognition for the moments of humanity it deftly weaves into the story. Bill Murray is an inherently funny individual, so you find yourself laughing at some of the painful situations in which he finds himself early in the film, showing early signs of the incredible dramatic actor he would prove himself to be. The ensemble that surrounds him brings a lot of personality to their characters big and small. The film is smart, dumb, outrageous, and subtle. It’s a wonderful comedy of hilarious contradictions. Sony Pictures Home Entertainment has provided a new 4K UHD Blu-Ray disc that sports a stellar A/V presentation and a strong array of supplements in gorgeous SteelBook packaging. Fans waiting for a standalone option have been rewarded. Highly Recommended

Stripes will be available to purchase on 4K UHD Blu-Ray SteelBook on April 29, 2025.

Note: Images presented in this review are not reflective of the image quality of the 4K UHD Blu-Ray.

Disclaimer: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment has supplied a copy of this disc free of charge for review purposes. All opinions in this review are the honest reactions of the author.