bpatrick-8 OK, Steve Martin is not Phil Silvers. Martin is from a middle-class background in Waco, Texas; Silvers was a New York street kid who probably had to hustle just to survive. It stands to reason, then, that Martin will--and should--play Bilko differently, which he does, even though he still has the money-making schemes going and, central to the plot, convincing his superiors that the hovertank works, which it does not, to keep himself from being shipped to Greenland and to keep Fort Baxter open.Dan Aykroyd as Col. Hall is just as much a patsy for Bilko as Paul Ford was on the television series, and I don't think Phil Hartman was so bad as the officer whom Bilko set up some time back by making it look like he's paid off a fighter to take a dive, got sent to Greenland, and now intends for Bilko to suffer the same fate. What's missing is that Bilko's platoon is largely faceless (they don't make enough use of Doberman, who was the real star of the television series), but in keeping with the updated setting from the 1950s to the 1990s, Bilko's immediate underlings are a woman and an African American.Also, the setting of Fort Baxter has changed from Kansas to California, although I think in the last year of the TV series the setting was moved to one Camp Freemont, California. Here, too, Bilko's girlfriend is a civilian schoolteacher; on the series, as I recall, it was a WAC.But nitpicking aside, Martin's Bilko, like Silvers', in effect runs the base, gets up when he wants, toadies up to the brass, and generally comes off as a sergeant I'll bet everybody who ever wore an Army uniform would have liked to have. No one ever really gets hurt by his scams (except maybe Thorn, who ends up back in Greenland at the end). And somehow he seems more harmless than Silvers although both are, as someone else once put it, "Bugs Bunny in a uniform." Catherine Silvers, Phil Silvers' daughter, who plays one of the auditors brought in by Thorn to try to get something on Bilko, even praised Martin for not trying to imitate her dad.There's also a connection to "My Cousin Vinny" here; Jonathan Lynn used Mitchell Whitfield and Austin Pendleton in that film as well.I do agree with the contributor who said that the funniest line comes at the end, when the producers acknowledge the "total lack of cooperation from the United States Army."

Mightyzebra I have watched a few films with Steve Martin and really enjoyed them all, but this is, so far, my definite favourite. I have not watched the original series of "Sgt. Bilko", but I picked up the idea of this film pretty quickly and I enjoyed almost every minute. The humour is very crazy, similar to cartoon humour, but at the same time it is often very intelligent. I felt many "YES!" moments in this film, lines or scenes where the hilarity, words and or slapstick were just about PERFECT. Not only were the lines and funny scenes mostly very well-written and done, but the characters were memorable and (mostly) relatable and the plot itself was engaging enough, though sometimes a little too farcical.I recommend this film to people who love "mad," but clever humour, people who like Steve Martin and already have an idea of his acting style and to people who like to see a "unique" portrayal of what goes on in the US army (not that it's realistic of course...). Enjoy "Sgt. Bilko"! :-)

wes-connors A movie starring Steve Martin, Dan Aykroyd and Phil Hartman based on the classic situation comedy has to be hilarious, right? No cigar and not even close. Phil Silvers put a lot of "Phil Silvers" into his "Ernie Bilko" and Mr. Martin wisely substitutes "Steve Martin" manners for his interpretation. This is a smart move on Martin's part, as the two comedians possess a completely different type of energy. However, Martin does not work well with this material, in this situation. Consequently, it falls apart...While certainly no guarantee, it might have been better to star Mr. Hartman attempting a Silvers impersonation. It's relatively interesting to see Cathy Silvers (as Monday) and Chris Rock (as Oster) appear as a genuinely funny team of lieutenants (last saw Ms. Silvers at "Greenblatt's" deli in the 1990s, and she was a delight). Imagine Entertainment's "Bilko" adds likable Daryl Mitchell (as Walter "Wally" Holbrook), but does little with him. The jokes about Fort Baxter's men failing to bathe do not pass the smell test.*** Sgt. Bilko (3/29/96) Jonathan Lynn ~ Steve Martin, Dan Aykroyd, Phil Hartman, Daryl Mitchell

oneguyrambling Realistically, the dubbo's have been the stingiest or most disappointing decade for comedy heroes. I've whinged about this before, but the days of reliable comedy icons monopolising the box office on an annual basis appear over.Consider the 80s and 90s, Eddie Murphy, Steve Martin and Bill Murray, Vs the 00s, Sandler, Ferrell, Stiller, (and I'll throw Carrey in there).Who will history be more kind to? This brings us to Steve Martin, the master of being fake. Fake happy, fake sincere, fake angry, fake remorseful. In Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, LA Story, Little Shop of Horrors, Leap of Faith, My Blue Heaven (underrated) and Bowfinger you always knew Steve was too everything mentioned above, happy, sincere etc… but he was always convincing enough in a funny way that set him apart from everyone before or since.I still maintain that Bill Murray and Steve Martin are the two guys I would laugh at regardless of what they were doing, if they were trying to be funny or not.So why have I wasted words telling you what you probably already know? Because if you don't already like Steve Martin there is a 99% chance that you will find Sgt Bilko very underwhelming, as he makes the film his own.Steve is Bilko, a corrupt, conniving, deceitful and untrustworthy soldier in command of the motor pool an the army base Fort Baxter, but he is all those things in the most PG friendly Disney way.I would waste a lot of time describing his mannerisms and what would ordinarily be inane chit chat between he and the officers hell bent on bringing him down, as it is generally not what he says or even how he says it to a point. It is just that he is Steve while he is doing and saying these things, which should be obvious.I just can't imagine Ferrell being Bilko without hamming and getting near naked or Sandler without yelling and trying all the while to be endearing (there is NO-ONE in comedy that wants to be liked more than Sandler, regardless of who he is playing).This leaves Stiller as the logical next up, but I just don't think he has the personality to pull it off. Consider this: Stiller's two best roles, a vain, clueless moron model in Zoolander and a vain, clueless moron actor in Tropic Thunder.Coincidence? Back to Sgt Bilko, you'll have to take my word for this, Sgt Bilko is a paint by numbers Disney comedy that should be pointless. It has cookie cutter characters and situations but again if you like Steve Martin you should get more than a couple of chuckles.Put it this way, about 5 minutes in Bilko asks a superior officer "Have you lost weight?", if that doesn't turn the corners of your mouth up switch off the DVD because that is about as funny as Sgt Bilko gets, and even that is only funny because of Martin's delivery.For some reason that made me laugh, and I laughed often enough to want to see this again in the future at some point.Final Rating – 6.5 / 10. Shouldn't work but the presence of Steve Martin adds value to any film and he does enough here to warrant a rental.If you liked this (or even if you didn't) check out oneguyrambling.com