Based on the hit show I never watched, “Sgt. Bilko” isn’t a bad film. It certainly does have some funny moments. Unfortunately, it just doesn’t come close to living up to what it could have been.

Steve Martin (“Cheaper By The Dozen”) replaces Phil Silvers as Sergeant Bilko. When a flying tank demonstration goes horribly wrong, Bilko’s old nemesis, Major Thorn (Phil Hartman “Jingle All The Way”), uncovers that Bilko stole all the funding to run his base’s gambling and other activities. This means that the future of Fort Baxter is at risk so now Bilko and his goofy officers try con their way out of the situation.

Steve Martin is always quite funny but I constantly find him appearing in underwhelming films. Here I laughed at a lot of the things he did as Bilko but I just felt some of the material was a little weak. Dan Aykroyd (“Ghostbusters”) doesn’t get a big enough part as Colonel Hall as all he does is be the guy who is oblivious to Bilko’s scamming. I really wasn’t keen on the Major Thorn character, especially as Phil Hartman was playing him. I dislike the slyness of Hartman’s performance. The other characters weren’t that funny.

“Sgt. Bilko” has some really funny parts to it but it could have been so much more. I disliked the stupid flying helicopter as it just seemed the filmmakers had spent more time on creating the special effects for that than they did writing the material. I don’t know anything about the original programme so I can’t compare it but from what I’ve heard, the show was a bit better. This is sadly yet another unsuccessful film Steve Martin can add to his filmography, which is a real shame because the guy shows signs of real talent and it only makes you wish that someone would give him a great script.