If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.

Sgt. Bilko (1996): Dir: Jonathan Lynn / Cast: Steve Martin, Glenn Headly, Phil Hartman, Dan Aykroyd, John Marshall Jones: Here is a military comedy that should have viewers running out and renting superior types such as Stripes or Private Benjamin. Steve Martin plays Sgt. Ernie Bilko who allows his troops to gamble while authority is unaware of their actions. He is fun loving but his girlfriend longs for marriage so she gives him a month to commit himself before she pulls out and moves on. Trouble arises when Phil Hartman returns bent on revenge after a gambling loss. Seeing the opportunity he moves in on Bilko's girlfriend. While the film contains its share of funny moments the premise is not new and the structure is purely sitcom. Directed by Jonathan Lynn who achieved acclaim with My Cousin Vinny. Martin as Bilko wishes to be one of the crowd and avoid responsibility. Glenn Headly as his girlfriend is rendered the standard romantic who cannot rise above cardboard potential. Hartman makes a great foil for Martin's pratfalls but the ending fails due to actions that punish one factor but never highlights the wrong committed originally by the other. Dan Aykroyd is cast as a superior who looks the other way and the role should be worthy the comic's talent but sadly it is not. It never lacks in entertainment, which is what Bilko lives for but it also never elevates beyond conventions. Score: 4 / 10

This movie seemed to be just some silly comedy until I saw it in the cinemas and actually quite liked it. Then time passed and the movie became in my mind a silly comedy again, until I taped it and watched it and realised that it was actually quite clever. I had no intention of taping it until I learnt that the late Phil Hartman, the guy who played some of my favourite Simpsons' characters, was on it. As such I decided that I would watch it and when I did I thought it was very good.Sergeant Bilko (Steve Martin) is a master sergeant at Fort Dix Research and Development army base and he runs a very sophisticated gambling ring under the nose of a rather dopey commander (Dan Akroyd). Bilko is not an evil man, rather he is a slippery, fun loving, gambler. He does it not to rip people of, but simply to have fun and make life easy for him and those around him. The problem is that an old enemy of his, Major Thorn (Phil Hartman) has returned from Greenland, and when he learns of where Bilko is, sets out to destroy him.Basically this is a movie about a easy going guy who goes up against a stuck up rule following senior. It is the idea that life is meant to be lived and not taken seriously, and those who do are basically bad and should be out witted. Even though I agree that we need to enjoy ourselves and have fun every so often, there is an extent to which we can do this. Even though we should have fun, we do need to realise that there is an extent to which we need to be responsible for our actions - but this movie does outline that. Bilko is supposed to marry a woman, but he keeps on forgetting the wedding and turns up late. He is confronted with the fact that he must face up to his responsibilities with her. Also, she is even more cunning than Bilko: where Bilko can lead Thorn around and outwit him, Bilko is always outwitted by his fiancé. This is seen when she always seems to win when they play cards.I liked this movie and I liked Bilko's character. He is a gambler that always wins: that is what his luck is like. What we should remember is that Bilko is a fictitious character and nobody ever really wins like he does. We cannot take after Bilko and go into casinos expecting to win heaps, but rather enjoy the character and remember that like Bilko, the bad characters are also exaggerated (though at times are more realistic - as my friend said about Titanic - the only realistic character was Billy Zane's character).

Steve Martin is At His Best in 'Sgt. Bilko'. He delivers a hilarious & lovable performance, that easily is among his finest. And even as a film, 'Sgt. Bilko' is great fun!'Sgt. Bilko' Synopsis: Bilko runs the motor pool and has all sorts of scams going on like gambling, renting out military vehicles, and so on, which are all violations. 'Sgt. Bilko', an adaptation of the 1950s television series, turns out to be one great cinematic experience. The film is full of comedic moments, that definitely will you in splits. Nat Hiken & Andy Breckman's Screenplay is genuinely funny & very entertaining. Jonathan Lynn's Direction, is perfect. Cinematography, Editing & Art Design, are mention-worthy.Performance-Wise: Martin is the life of the show. He stands out from scene A to Z. Dan Aykroyd is first-rate. Phil Hartman is excellent as the bad-guy. Glenne Headly is wonderfully relaxed. Chris Rock, John Marshall Jones & Pamela Adlon are quite good. Others lend good support.On the whole, 'Sgt. Bilko' is great fun! A Must See for Martin Fanatics!

Now, to be fair, I haven't watched a moment of the original show. I know nothing about the Sergeant. With that said, I can't imagine that this does justice to him. You see, if he was always this unfunny, I cannot imagine that he would be popular. I mean, none of the characters garner a single laugh(they aren't even entirely consistent; early in this, from one scene to the next, one of the leads behave in a manner that directly contradicts everything we've learned about him up to that point), and they are all one-note cardboard cut-outs, but you'd at least expect the dude they titled this after to be worth watching(yes, he is pretty smooth with the ladies, however, that's all; he's not charming). The plot is completely predictable. Gags and jokes are uninspired. OK, we get it, they are undisciplined, fine... if we laugh at it, will you move on? Martin and Aykroyd are hilarious... elsewhere. Tanks aren't that effective in combat anymore; they're slow, useless against the air and too easy to disable. The concept of a type that can hover is a worn-out sci-fi idea. This isn't devoid of positives... Phil Hartman is one, and the other is the great music. I don't know, I suppose this is what you get for hiring the director of Greedy and The Whole Nine Yards. Then again, I do still intend to catch Clue. There is a little moderate to strong language in this. I recommend this to... I don't know, people who like these flicks. 5/10