This week on Film Score Friday, we listen to the score from Stripes. Elmer Bernstein wrote the score for the 1981 comedy about enlisting in the army. For a score that was not released when the movie premiered, it's quite good. We wouldn't attempt to make any argument for this being Bernstein's best work, but it's still a good listen. There's cross-pollination with other scores from Bernstein so it will feel familiar with his other works.
Bernstein keeps close to the army theme and has a march feel for much of the score. The motive he uses at the beginning crops up throughout the film in many different ways. The main theme is catchy and we find ourselves humming it unexpectedly quite often.
Let us know in the comments if the theme from Stripes was an ear worm for you too.
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