The Great Outdoors

PG

1988

1h 31m

Comedy

List

40%

35 Reviews

Tomatometer

71%

25,000+ Ratings

Audience Score

It's vacation time for outdoorsy Chicago man Chet Ripley (John Candy), along with his wife, Connie (Stephanie Faracy), and their two kids, Buck (Chris Young) and Ben (Ian Giatti). But a serene weekend of fishing at a Wisconsin lakeside cabin gets crashed by Connie's obnoxious brother-in-law, Roman Craig (Dan Aykroyd), his wife, Kate (Annette Bening), and the couple's two daughters. As the excursion wears on, the Ripleys find themselves at odds with the stuffy Craig family.

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Critics Consensus

Even with a pair of talented comedians trying their best, vacation-from-hell comedy The Great Outdoors is merely mediocre.

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Philip D

Very funny. One of John Candy's best movies.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

04/14/24

Full Review

Angus B

Such a classic! Family favorite for sure.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

03/18/24

Full Review

Film Geek Critique

Scratching my head with disbelief after reading all of the negative reviews. This movie is just about perfect in my opinion. It's charming, funny, nostalgic, and the pace/edit is really well done. It's 1988 ,Dan Aykroyd and John Candy are in their prime. There's quite a bit of activity packed into this one. Side note, the soundtrack is a wild good time, it's eccentrically unique and greatly compliments the characters. And who could forget the finale, A shotgun blast to a raging bear, revealing a naked "bear A**" bear....Legendary. Two top notch actor/comedians in an 80's summer vacation movie, what else do you want?!

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

02/29/24

Full Review

S R

John Candy and Dan Ackroyd together make for a pretty great movie. Good story and many funny moments.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

12/05/23

Full Review

Tanya B

You cannot beat this cast, John Candy is so funny. Classic movie. I love it. Seen it dozens of times, never gets old

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

10/31/23

Full Review

Caleb P

A movie that delves into the absurd while keeping the characters grounded and consistent. Struggles some with pacing and tries to explore side-plots that exacerbate this.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

08/10/23

Full Review

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Howard Deutch

Director

Dan Aykroyd

Roman Craig

John Candy

Chet Ripley

Stephanie Faracy

Connie Ripley

Annette Bening

Kate Craig

Robert Prosky

Wally

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The Great Outdoors: Official Clip - Big Bear Chase Me!

2:40

The Great Outdoors: Official Clip - Suck My Wake

2:53

The Great Outdoors: Official Clip - Chet and the Bald Bear

2:34

The Great Outdoors: Official Clip - Horny the Bear

2:26

The Great Outdoors: Official Clip - It All Starts to Ooze Out

2:54

The Great Outdoors: Official Clip - He's on My Face!

2:05

The Great Outdoors: Official Clip - Golf and Go-Karts

0:34

The Great Outdoors: Official Clip - Baiting the Bears

2:56

The Great Outdoors: Official Clip - Accidental Waterskiing

2:23

The Great Outdoors: Official Clip - The Old '96er

2:55

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Jay Carr

Boston Globe

In short, "The Great Outdoors" has the wit of "Summer Rental" and the sparkle of "Harry and the Hendersons."

Jun 16, 2023

Full Review

Martha K. Baker

St. Louis Post-Dispatch

"The Great Outdoors" succeeds as a perfect summer's movie: not too deep, not too long, not too verbally witty or politically witty, not too embarrassing, not too sexy. Just a good time in air conditioning.

Jun 16, 2023

Full Review

Steve Dollar

Atlanta Journal-Constitution

It's impossible to watch Candy and not laugh, even when the shtick is as stock as bear chases and bat combat.

Jun 16, 2023

Full Review

Tom Long

Santa Cruz Sentinel

Dan Aykroyd has been in some absolutely terrible movies. John Candy has been in some absolutely terrible movies. Now they're in the same absolutely terrible movie.

Jun 16, 2023

Full Review

Linda Cook

Quad City Times (Davenport, IA)

This possibly is the first time in cinematic history that raccoon-ese has been translated in subtitles.

Rated: 3/4

Jun 16, 2023

Full Review

Patrick Taggart

Austin American-Statesman

The sight of a bear running through the woods with bare buttocks probably has some superiors in the history of comedy. But not this week.

Rated: 2.5/4

Jun 16, 2023

Full Review

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Synopsis

It's vacation time for outdoorsy Chicago man Chet Ripley (John Candy), along with his wife, Connie (Stephanie Faracy), and their two kids, Buck (Chris Young) and Ben (Ian Giatti). But a serene weekend of fishing at a Wisconsin lakeside cabin gets crashed by Connie's obnoxious brother-in-law, Roman Craig (Dan Aykroyd), his wife, Kate (Annette Bening), and the couple's two daughters. As the excursion wears on, the Ripleys find themselves at odds with the stuffy Craig family.

Director: Howard Deutch
Screenwriter: John Hughes
Production Co: Hughes Entertainment
Rating: PG
Genre: Comedy
Original Language: English
Release Date (Streaming): May 18, 2016
Box Office (Gross USA): $37.3M
Runtime: 1h 31m
Sound Mix: Surround

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