How I miss the 80´s fun....

an underrated movie for sure. can rewatch this always

Have not seen this for 44 years. Little recollection from first viewing but this time it was pretty lame. Simply a vehicle for Goldie Hawn, who is adorable. But everything else is hack!

(Spoilers) Hilarious service comedy; this is Hawn's best; one of the better comedies of the last generation. Ths movie puts fellow service comedy MASH to shame! It's much, much better than that misogynistic piece of garbage! And Stripes was a blatant ripoff of this. Gene Siskel called this a "female Beetle Bailey"; which is about right. Maybe a Mrs. Beetle Bailey with a feminist twist? We have an unlikely trajectory here where a spoiled Jewish Princess is conned into joining the army by recruiter Harry Dean Stanton. This brat gets her comeuppance in a hilarious series of service comedy set pieces; classics all of them; and then our heroine unexpectedly gets a taste of self esteem and decides to take her life and her self a little more seriously; and with a little more respect. It's a nice twist and a real surprise for the audience. Real life BFFs Goldie Hawn and Eileen Brennan are just wonderful here as foils; as recruit and seargent; respectively. They have great chemistry ; the sadistic Nurse Ratched against crazy dame Lucille Ball. Brennan would go on to win an Emmy for playing this role in the tv series; and Hawn was nominated for an Oscar for her comedic chops (a rarity) for her flawless performance; which is tailer made to her; the role, the writing, the story and the character arc, and it all works beautifully. The script was also nominated for an Oscar; deservedly. Also nice, inspiring (and unsung) score by Rocky composer Bill Conti; it's really quite lovely. This movie is full of little surprises like that; it's not just a goofy service comedy. The only flaw here is that the movie repeats itself in the final act. After leaving the army with honors; Benjamin marries a beautiful French millionaire, (Armand Assante; the epitome of her lifelong man-fantasy); who first sweeps her off her feet; and who then immediately swats her down to subservient little girl status; only to have her rebel again and walk out on the wedding; redeeming her self esteem once again at the ending. This is nice, but we just saw this in part 1! This is a repeat of the first act thematically; where she goes from subservient little princess to strong self-dependent heroine at the end. Instead of repeating the first act, they should have pushed things forward in the second act. Maybe Judy has to do a rescue mission of a bunch of fellow recruits, (a la Stripes; which has a better second act than this). Something which challenges the character more; rather than have her regress and repeat herself. But even taking that into consideration this is still an excellent comedy. Hawn's hilarious turn as a goofball recruit and her hilarious stunts during basic training are worth the price of admission alone; and more than redeem the draggy second act. Look fast for PJ Soles and Craig T Nelson in the background. Highly Recommended.

"Private Benjamin" works best as a comedy when we're following Hawn's character through boot camp, but this only encompasses 50%, if not less, of the film's focus. The other 50-51% runs on an outdated level of comedy that pokes fun at stereotypical blondes. It becomes rather tiresome and irritable long before the credits roll.

Feel good movie. Funny. Classic Goldie 7/10

I struggle a bit with the plausibility of the premise in Private Benjamin. I simply found it hard to believe that army recruiters would be so brazen about lying to people in order to get them to enlist. However, I’m all for an unlikely story of a screw-up being whipped into shape by the military. It is fodder for a lot of comedy, and I think that’s where this movie shines. Those early scenes where we see her struggling through boot camp, and the contentious relationship with her drill instructor (played to perfection by Eileen Brennan) are rife with good laughs. It’s kind of sad that the movie seems so anxious to move on from that storyline. There is some serious fast-forwarding through the fun of the movie thanks to needless montages. The real problem with Private Benjamin is that it is a movie which should be about a spoiled-rotten rich girl learning to be useful, but instead it seems more interested in exploring her love life. The entire opening is an exploration of her new marriage and all that comes with that relationship, and then the final act is entirely about another romance that seems clearly doomed from the start. Pretty much everything after she leaves boot camp was disappointing for me, and I was struggling to figure out who thought that was a good idea. I still enjoy Goldie Hawn in any comedy setting, though. She has great timing, and tells a lot of the story with just her exaggerated expressions. My memory of Private Benjamin was that it was hilarious and all about her boot camp experience. Turns out that’s what I thought because that is the only memorable part of a film which drags on through more plot than it needed.

This is an amazing showcase for Goldie Hawn's talents Judy just gets married and she's ready to start her happy life It's stinks her husband dies though and she doesn't know what to do next Harry Dean Stanton comes in recruiting her to be a soldier; only 89,000 women are given certain opportunities but the ones that make it get great work experience, traveling luxuries, and are given a steady pay Judy gets the worst experience at the women's army Corp school from being yelled at to being pushed around to being bullied by Captain Lewis. Judy goes through hell but it builds up her self esteem and confidence even further, it might be just the thing she needs to get over her grief and open a part of herself she never knew. And judging from how her parents react to this decision she's determined to prove that she's capable of making her own decisions not being fully dependent on anyone. The first two thirds are quite funny with several gags. Judy finally graduates and the movie shifts to her moving to Europe falling in love with a man named Enrie. But her superiors are worried she's associated with a communist so she has to choose between her duties or her feelings for him. Of course does it mean she'll go back to the snarky superficial flimsy person she was before or will she stick to her guns as a decorated soldier? Goldie Hawn shines in this movie perfectly reacting to the many things the army throws at her and growing better traits because of it. I guess it shows that a simple mistake such as enlisting might be the perfect wake up call to break old habits.

a good humor film; tells the story of a woman who was raised in a wealthy family and has been pampered her whole life, despite that she is not unbearable, but sympathetic and conscientious; and to prove your worth accept to graduate in the army it is a very watery sugar mood; at first I found it fun, then boring but it has a nice ending; the great achievement of the film is to show female emancipation and its power in society and, as women to be happy, they do not need to depend on a man. if you want to see a film that gave women value and want to evolve as a human being, you will like the film.

Had never seen this but it’s worth watching. Feminist in a way more films should be and well acted.

Not at all funny. Not really charming.

Between 2.5 and 3 stars. The message is not bad, but it would require a little more punch to be effective.

Goldie Hawn is tremendous as the lead role who is unlucky in love but also finds her true self in this classic which also has quite a few chuckles along the way as well.

A humorous feminist-esque piece of its time

I saw this when it came out. Theere was really no point to the movie, nor was it funny.

This is my favorite movie of all time. I see all these reviews on whether or not it as funny...that's not the point (it is funny). This movie came out in a time when women were breaking out of societal confines. This Jewish princess found her strength after a childhood with an insensitive father and a passive "delicate" mother. She makes mistakes and regresses into old behavior but bounces back. She fights sexual intimidation, She learns that her strength can come from her fellow women, and she learns to dive deep in that - instead of thinking a husband is the answer to everything. This movie is so impowering to women and so relevant even now. You will laugh but there are so many other great lessons you'll get from it. Watch it with your daughters - I saw it for the first time when I was 5.

An uncommon role for Goldie Hawn, but she pulls it off! The story is alright and should be seen by all women for a lesson in self-empowerment.

Just an absolutely wonderful movie!

I am very familiar with "Private Benjamin" but had never seen the movie in its entirety. After seeing a few clips of the movie on television recently I decided to finally see the movie for myself. When it was over I found myself rather disappointed. I understand the point of the story which is about choosing the right path for yourself and your life in general. It's also a coming of age story as academy award winner goldie hawn finally grows up. Still I felt the movie had a very odd script. Judy benjamin has a chance to leave the army, but decides to stay. however that all turns out to be for nothing because she decides to give up her career for a man. that soon turns out to be the wrong decision. this is nothing we have not seen before in many different movies and television series so I was not all that impressed. the cast certainly does well here so that works in the movie's favor. still i do not quite see what the hype about this movie was all about. the movie is just a tired old sitcom gag stretched out to nearly two hours.

Predictable without much to it.