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The Great Outdoors
The Great Outdoors
- CANDY/AYKROYD
An unwelcome brother-in-law and his family show up unannounced at the lakeside resort of their straight-laced relatives and soon compete in their atteThis hit-and-miss 1988 comedy pairs John Candy and Dan Aykroyd in a story of one family’s summer vacation all but ruined by the uninvited appearance of another, more loutish family. Howard Deutch (Some Kind of Wonderful) directs from a half-hearted John Hughes script, which reduces Hughes’s jokes-and-epiphanies formula (The Breakfast Club, Home Alone) to true gaudiness. On the other hand, Annette Bening makes her screen debut here. The DVD release has a widescreen presentation, production notes, trailer, optional French soundtrack, and optional Spanish subtitles. –Tom Keogh
Rating: (out of 74 reviews)
List Price: $ 12.98
Price: $ 3.82
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D. Jones
October 30, 2010 at 4:57 pm
Review by D. Jones for The Great Outdoors
Rating:
Dan Aykroyd and John Candy are hysterical in this lighthearted comedy. Candy and his family go to a cabin in the woods for what Candy hopes will be a relaxing summer vacation. Soon after their arrival, Aykroyd and his family show up uninvited and take over. Over the course of the week, they meet a man who has been struck by lightning 66 times, a 100-year-old man who dies on his birthday yet still comes to the party, and a feisty local girl who toys with Candy’s oldest son. Add to this a family of determined racoons with a language all their own (“What do they think we have these wonderfully dextrous fingers for?”), an unwelcome bat flying in the house (“It buzzed me”), a dump full of hungry bears (“Yogi and Boo-boo in the flesh”), and a bald-headed grizzly (“Big bear chase me!”) and hilarity ensues. It’s a movie you’ll want to watch again and again.
Erica Anderson
October 30, 2010 at 4:19 pm
Review by Erica Anderson for The Great Outdoors
Rating:
I adore “The Great Outdoors”. This is one of my favorite John Candy movies of all time. Yeah it is no Shakespeare but I wouldn’t have it any other way. Dan Ackroyd plays the obnoxious brother-in-law who crashes John Candy’s family vacation up in the woods at a cozy little resort. Dan brings his neglected wife played by Annette Benning and their identical twin daughters who are bit on the scary side. The results is a non-stop laugh riot. No many how many times I have watched this film, I still find myself laughing uncontrollably, especially when the raccoons comes out at night to raid the trash cans. I loved it when the young raccoon is told what hot dogs are made of. Anyone familiar with Doug Seuss’s bears would know that this is one of the films that the late Bart the Bear made as the bald-headed bear. I loved the final interaction between John Candy’s character and the bald-headed bear. It is one of the funniest scenes in the film, next to the water-skiing scene. One of the classic moments in the film is when the entire family goes out to dinner and John Candy decides to order the ol’ 96er (this enormous chunk of beef). I personally love “The Great Outdoors”. It remains one of my favorite movies from the ’80s. It is pure physical comedy. There are a lot worse films than this if you ask me, namely Carrot Top’s lone film “Chairman of the Board”.
Sheila Chilcote-Collins
October 30, 2010 at 3:29 pm
Review by Sheila Chilcote-Collins for The Great Outdoors
Rating:
John Candy as the big hearted family man, Chet Ripley and his sweet wife Connie played by Stephanie Faracy venture to Winconsin’s big woods on the lake with their two boys for their yearly nice, relaxing, family vacation. Things are going well for the Ripley’s until…
Chet’s obnoxious, wheeler dealer, snake of a brother-in-law, Roman Craig, played by Dan Aykroyd and his snooty and icy wife Kate, played by Annette Bening (in her screen debut) show up quite unannounced to spend some family time with the Ripleys. Also in tow are Roman and Kate’s two red headed creepy twin daughters Kara and Mara. These twin girls have nothing on the twin girls from the movie, “The Shining” except these creepy little girls are ALIVE!
However the Craig Family appearance at the Ripley cabin door is QUITE uninvited! That makes no nevermind to Roman, who spoils most of the family fun that Chet has planned for him and his sons.
When Chet is grilling hamburgers and hotdogs outside, Roman goes and buys lobsters to grill and spoils Chet’s family meal. When Chet wants to rent a pontoon boat to fish with his boys, Uncle Roman instead rents a jetboat with a great water ski scene ensuing!
One of the best scenes in the movie is when the whole clan goes out to eat at a steakhouse and Chet puts down “the ol’ 96’er”. A 96 oz. steak (gristle, fat and all!!)so that the rest of the family can get their meals for free!
There is a nice romance budding between Chet’s oldest boy Buck and another vacationer, Cammie (a young Lucy Deakins), several hilarious scenes with wildlife such as bats, raccoons and a bald headed bear of Calaveras County and a even a birthday party for a dead guy!
The Great Outdoors is a great family movie to be enjoyed by all!
Happy Watching!
Glynn Clapsaddle
October 30, 2010 at 3:25 pm
Review by Glynn Clapsaddle for The Great Outdoors
Rating:
I love this movie, John Candy at his best with Dan Akroyd playing the uptight rich guy that we all love to hate. These two characters clash throughout the movie, displaying a great chemistry between the two actors. Watching this movie makes me sad that Candy is no longer with us, as he was just fun to watch.
The reason that I give this 4 stars is that I could not stand the forced summer teen romance that was a part of the formula for most movies in the 80’s. They could have cut those bits out altogeher and it would have been better.
The physical comedy between John Candy and an eleven foot grizzly make this a classic and a must-have.