johnnybp32 Classic Steve Martin comedy, Sgt. Bilko is a simple and fun movie that I enjoyed even the second time I watched it on TV. They just don't make comedies like they used to.And even though most of the jokes are silly and stereotypical, the film is made in such a way that it clicks and makes you laugh every time.It's simple, and it keeps you entertained. And that's what a good comedy is supposed to do.And Steve Martin is just a joy to watch playing this kind of characters. He just has a natural sense of humor and Sgt. Bilko just comes like a glove to him.I recommend this to anyone who wants a good laugh.

mrdie1 I never watched the original show this movie is based off of. Apparently that's a good thing, as many who have say this film does a great disservice to it. This means I can judge the film by its own merits, and I can therefore conclude it isn't very good.The plot basically revolves around Sgt. Bilko manipulating everyone around him so he can engage in gambling and similar activities on a military base. Throughout the entire film I not once sympathized with him as a character. Everything he does is to the detriment of the morale of his troops (who are even portrayed as incompetent in basic military matters) and his own love life is so bad that he forgets his own wedding.Steve Martin feels odd in the role, like he really doesn't want to be in it. Phil Hartman has the only real enthusiastic performance in the film as Thorn, Bilko's nemesis.Speaking of Thorn, he actually comes across as more of a hero than the actual "hero" character of Bilko. His only real "bad" behavior, until the end of the film, is that he actually wants to establish discipline in the army. He ends up getting sent to Greenland (portrayed as the equivalent of Siberian exile in Tsarist times) because of Bilko's own corrupt actions, but has now returned to put a stop to Bilko's activities. He also tries to win over Bilko's love interest (which is portrayed as a bad thing even though he seems much more interested in her than Bilko himself is.) The final confrontation between Bilko and Thorn is so bad. Basically, a hover tank is being tested to show that it can be used in the field. Thorn sabotages the tank by removing a vital part of its machinery, thus making Bilko look bad when it won't fire during the test. However, Bilko is sufficiently unsympathetic as a character to not even bother firing the tank, instead using C4 explosives to detonate the targets so as to give the impression that the tank is firing.Thorn angrily points out that there was no way Bilko could have fired on the targets. Out of desperation he pulls out the very part of the tank that prevents it from working properly, thus exposing his scheme. Also Bilko just happens to have a tape recorder to record Thorn's outburst. Thus Thorn is exiled to Greenland once again and Bilko's manipulative trickery emerges triumphant, even though Thorn clearly showed that the tank could not have fired and that Bilko was very obviously deceiving the military officers and congresspeople assembled to watch the proceedings.Also Thorn's scheme could be fixed by simply reinserting the missing part back into the tank, whereas Bilko's scheme meant the army has to pay for the expenses of targets destroyed by C4 instead of tank shells. So even when Thorn carries out a truly malicious and selfish act, he's *still* not as bad as Bilko.Also this is a comedy and the vast majority of jokes are unfunny.It's not a terrible movie by any means, but I didn't enjoy it.

crichton_ius OK I'm not an American, but in my humble Scottish opinion Steve Martin is not, never has been, and never will be a funny man as long as our posteriors point in a southerly direction. Phil Silvers as Sergeant Bilko was a funny man, no doubt due to the skilled writers and directors and all the other talented team working characters in the series who contributed perfectly to one of the funniest and dateless situation comedies America has ever produced. How anyone could have the audacity to even attempt to replicate the Phil Silvers character is beyond me. To compound things the exercise was repeated in Martin's unfunny attempt to be Peter Seller's Inspector Clouseau, another abortive attempt, in my opinion, to rekindle a demonstrably unfunny career. Some of your contributers say 'Steve Martin puts his own stamp on the character', to that I would say 'balderdash' , his portrayals will be long forgotten when those of Silvers and Sellars will be treasured for generations to come

Lee Eisenberg ...I say that I like the movie. I think that Steve Martin was the perfect person to play the role, and that it was good for him and Dan Aykroyd to co-star after all these years. If it was lower humor than we usually associate with the two, then the crazy scenes justify that. I remember that I saw this a week or two after I saw "Mr. Holland's Opus", and was surprised to see Glenne Headly doing such a different role. Phil Hartman, meanwhile, makes one nasty dude (it reminds you what we lost when he got killed).Anyway, this is a silly movie, but quite funny. I suspect that up in that great army base in the sky, Phil Silvers must feel honored that they made this movie.Also featuring Chris Rock and Silvers's daughter Cathy in supporting roles.