It's no definitive masterpiece but it's damn close.

Good concept, poorly executed.

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

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.

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"! :-)

You know what's weird? My mom was the biggest Steve Martin fan you would ever meet, she had(what I thought) all of his movies and watched every biography on him. So since she had a lot of his movies, I watched most of them with her. But my boyfriend kept telling me about a film called St. Bilko and how hilarious it was. I was stumped, I couldn't find it in my mom's collection nor did I ever hear of it. So my boyfriend and I went shopping and he found it on DVD, so we went home and watched it. This film just took me back to the classic comedies I grew up with like Trading Places, The Great Outdoors and Planes, Trains and Automobiles. Steve Martin is always a great comedic actor who is a pleasure to watch, same with Dan Aykroyd. While this movie doesn't stand out as well as their other films, this was still a lot of fun to watch.Master Sergeant Ernest G. Bilko is in charge of the motor pool at Fort Baxter, a small US Army base. Exploiting this position, he directs a number of scams ranging from gambling to renting out military vehicles. His commanding officer, Colonel Hall, overlooks Bilko's money making schemes, as he is more concerned with his own affairs. Bad news begins when inspector Major Thorn, Bilko's rival, arrives at the camp and begins to cast scrutiny on Bilko's record. The motivation for Thorn's actions is due to the intense rivalry between the two due to several mishaps in the past, particularly because Thorn's career was ruined due to one of Bilko's scams. Thorn's revenge ensues and ultimately it becomes a battle of wits between the two men. Thorn's reliance on sabotage ultimately leads to his downfall and he is sent to Greenland. Also Bilko's fiancée, Rita, whom Bilko has stood up several times at the altar. Bilko is given an ultimatum to win her back within 30 days or to lose her forever.I have to say that I did enjoy St. Bilko, it was great seeing this army crew just goof off and enjoying boot camp. I think my favorite scene was when Bilko has to prove that his crew are hard workers and could complete the obstacle course that the other army recruits could do. Just their reactions of course being as if they've never exercised before in their lives was a good laugh. Steve Martin and his fiancée constantly taking a trip up and down the aisle was fun too. Plus this has one of my favorite comedic actors, Phil Hartman, who is again a great watch is always guaranteed to give you a good laugh. While the film may not stand out, this was definitely worth the watch. I would recommend it if you need a good laugh, you're always in good company with Steve Martin, Dan Aykroyd and Phil Hartman, not to mention a baby Chris Rock.6/10

I read the review that is up right now, and I'm pretty sure he talks about other movies than the main movie.Steve Martin is well the exact same in every role, you know this, I know this, everyone knows this. It doesn't take from this movie at all, this movie is simple fun, and rated PG by the MPAA so you can watch it with the family. It has some very interesting aspects and has Phil Hartman in it too which makes it almost comedy gold.The movie has Bilko dealing with an old major (Hartman) who he screwed over once upon a time. Hartman is intent on getting Bilko, and the antics are pretty "darn" funny. The movie also has Chris Rock in it, and it's a simple funny movie that didn't try to hard. I don't know why people always bag on this movie. Maybe because they had such high expectations and never even gave it a chance. They are showing this on USA pretty often and it's easy to watch and moves fairly quickly.I recommend this movie for everyone to at least see.