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The Great Outdoors

The Great Outdoors

List Price: $14.98
Your Price: $11.98
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 4 stars
Summary: "Ya Know What Hotdogs Are Made Out Of Dont'cha, Chet?"
Review: 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!

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: This one is Great
Review: John Candy is on vacation and his rich brother Dan Ackroyd comes to visit and they get into it.The critics hate it but it is good entertainment with the Canoe and one of the best scenes ever the ole 96er when candy eats a 96oz Steak.
Story 8 Acting 10 Directing 8 Action 10 Entertainment 10
Overall=46/50 wich is a 4.5 star movie since it is under rated
I will give it a 4 star rating good job Dan and John

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: This one is Great
Review: John Candy is on vacation and his rich brother Dan Ackroyd comes to visit and they get into it.The critics hate it but it is good entertainment with the Canoe and one of the best scenes ever the ole 96er when candy eats a 96oz Steak.
Story 8 Acting 10 Directing 8 Action 10 Entertainment 10
Overall=46/50 wich is a 4.5 star movie since it is under rated
I will give it a 4 star rating good job Dan and John

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: One of my Fav John Candy Movies.
Review: Now talk about a great movie, the characters are just so loveable. It's funny, cleaver, and one of Candies best.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: A fun-filled adventure
Review: Saturday Night Live alum Dan Aykroyd and his fellow Canadian,the late great John Candy star in this fun-filled adventure about a vacation intruded by a brother. Aykroyd and Candy are brothers in the film. The intruder is Candy. He shows up without advance notice at his brother's family's lakeside retreat. A few years later,a similar scenario would be seen in the Bill Murray-Richard Dreyfuss film WHAT ABOUT BOB?.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Back when humor was TRULY intelligent and fun for everyone
Review: The current movie climate always promises movies that are "fun for everyone," but they usually end up resorting to unoriginal slapstick gags or dumbing themselves down for kids. This movie is a prime example of a film that truly has something for everyone, without retread jokes. It is suitable for kids, yet leaves in humor that adults will love too. How does it do that, you may ask? Because this movie is also an example of why comedies that people can truly relate to are the best. John Hughes obviously must have vacationed with family to Wisconsin, because I'm from Chicago and vacationed with my family to the North woods many a summer (and fell in love with many a local gal), and this movie is absolutly spot on in recreating those feelings and experiences that we all have, like family getaways and obnoxious in-laws. It was Candy at his best and Ackroyd when he was still doing smart humor and not Blues Brothers 2000. Of the highest recommendation, smart humor and fun for EVERYONE, how can you go wrong?

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Great Outdoors ROCKS!
Review: The Great Outdoors is a great movie for people who want belly laughs. I'm a tremendous John Candy fan. However..it is pretty stupid. Many horrible subplots but lots of laughs to make up for the horrible subplots AND plot. Worth it.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: It's Great...AND It's Outdoors...
Review: There hasn't been a family vacation like this since the Griswold's took that memorable trek across country in search of WalleyWorld and discovered the downside of "quality time" instead. This film follows a similar path, and demonstrates how even the best laid plans can wind up being a blueprint for chaos. The old getting-away-from-it-all "R&R" and well intentioned parent/child "bonding" takes a shot in "The Great Outdoors," directed by Howard Deutch, which begins with a trip to the Wisconsin woods and ends up in a suite in Comedy Heaven. After all, when you mix some clueless city-slickers with nature and all it's trappings, it doesn't take a genius to figure out that Murphy's Law will soon prevail. Here, the filmmakers do, and it does; and in the end, you may not be up for answering that call of the wild in light of all you've witnessed, but you're sure going to be laughing while you think about it. And it certainly makes visiting the woods vicariously seem like the best-- in fact, the "only"-- way to go.

For the perfect "family" vacation, Chet (John Candy) takes his wife, Connie (Stephanie Faracy), and their two boys, Buck and Ben (Chris Young, Ian Giatti) to a lakeside lodge in Wisconsin...Working from an insightful screenplay (by John Hughes) that mines the lighter side of human nature, and with stars Candy and Aykroyd decidedly in their element, Deutch proceeds to establish a pace and timing that perfectly keeps the film on track, as he presents the story in a way that best serves the talent and material at his disposal. Candy and Aykroyd play so well off of one another, and Deutch never fails to capitalize on any and all opportunities the two happen to present as their characters develop. With all he's given to work with, it's a matter of Deutch having the sense to let it happen, while employing his own innate sense of what works to present it all as cohesively and hilariously as possible, which he succeeds in so doing. Rich in characterization and visual gags, Deutch plays up the kind of situations that could very well-- and often do-- happen in such a setting, especially with the kind of personalities depicted here involved. You've heard of the "accident waiting to happen?" Well, meet Chet and Roman.

John Candy is imbued with a natural and empathetic personality he employs to great effect with characters like Jack, in "Summer Rental" and Del Griffith, in "Planes, Trains and Automobiles." But in "normal guy" mode, Chet just may be Candy's definitive portrayal. In creating Chet, Candy gives you a caring individual, one who is willing to open himself up and meet you more than half-way; a guy who seeks that which is pure and good, and wants to share it once he's found it. He's a character to whom you can readily relate because there's something of Chet in everyone (albeit deeply buried in some cases), and it creates that strong sense of identification that ensures that emotional connection with the audience. And it's played perfectly by Candy, who makes Chet an unforgettable character.

Then there's Dan Aykroyd, who plays Roman absolutely to perfection; this is, in fact, the role he was seemingly born to play. And what makes this character so hilarious and engaging is the fact that there's an "Uncle Roman" in every family, and from the moment he pulls up to the lodge in the big car with the "Roman I" license plates, you know who this guy is. He walks the walk and talks the talk (then talks some more); he's the salesman who could sell a vacuum cleaner to a dust bunny. You'll recognize him immediately because in one form or another he's been to every family function you've ever attended, and Aykroyd has it all SO down, in the way he looks, moves, talks and, most especially in that condescending attitude he affects so well. And watching him interact with Candy's Chet is a total riot. It's a terrific performance by Aykroyd, and except for a bit during the credits when he takes to the dance floor, there's no trace of Elwood Blues here; this guy is 100% "Roman."

Also adding greatly to the festivities are the solid performances by Faracy, who as Connie more than holds her own with Candy, and Bening, making an auspicious big screen debut as Kate.

The supporting cast includes Robert Prosky (Wally), Zoaunne LeRoy (Juanita), Nancy Lenehan (Waitress) and Britt Leach (Reg). A fun and funny film that is pure entertainment, "The Great Outdoors" is great comedy that showcases two of the best in the business doing what they do best: Making you laugh. Putting Candy and Aykroyd together was inspired casting; it's one of those, "if this works, it's going to be great" propositions. It does, and it is.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: A Good Family Movie
Review: This is a pretty good John Candy/Dan Aykroyd movie. While it's not as good as Uncle Buck or Planes, Trains & Automobiles, it's not bad at all. It's a great Summer/Family Comedy. It doesn't make me laugh and laugh, it's just fun to watch. I'll never stop liking it.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: A Good Family Movie
Review: This is a pretty good John Candy/Dan Aykroyd movie. While it's not as good as Uncle Buck or Planes, Trains & Automobiles, it's not bad at all. It's a great Summer/Family Comedy. It doesn't make me laugh and laugh, it's just fun to watch. I'll never stop liking it.


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