A Chicago man and his family go camping with his obnoxious brother-in-law.A Chicago man and his family go camping with his obnoxious brother-in-law.A Chicago man and his family go camping with his obnoxious brother-in-law.
- Ben Ripley
- (as Ian Giatti)
- Director
- Writer
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThe lakeside restaurant used in this movie was Ducey's Bar and Grill in Bass Lake, California, which burned to the ground shortly after filming, due to a gas fire. The rebuilt restaurant today has posters and memorabilia from the film hanging on its walls, as a reminder of the old restaurant.
- GoofsAfter Chet finishes the Old 96er and everyone is back at the cabin. Chet runs to the bathroom with everyone chasing him. As the camera pans out, you clearly see Dan Akroyd counting down for everyone to scream and run out of the cabin.
- Quotes
Roman: Good evening. How's it going? Listen, girls... uh... as your father, I feel it incumbent upon me to set the record straight on the validity of the tale which Uncle Chet shared with us this evening. I know that a terrifying story like that coming from the mouth of a recognized authority figure could be traumatizing for kids like yourselves; I know that, because I had a similar experience with my uncle Roy and a story he used to tell, about a family who went into the woods and was attacked by a band of escaped Army psychiatric patients who'd been subjected to violent, hellish, torturous behavior-modification experiments. It seems they escaped from the metal boxes the Army kept them in, found his family in the woods, fell upon them, slaughtered them and ate them. Now that story - phew - it gave me nightmares not to be believed. Well I thought that Uncle Chet's story upset you in the same way. I'm here to say that there actually is NO bear, and that all that Uncle Chet was saying was just a yarn... spinning for our... entertainment. And even if there were a bear out there, I'm in the house. To protect you. So uh... no more thinking about bears. Alright? No more thinking about unpleasant things. We're gonna close our eyes and dream about nice things. About cuddly, soft, fluffy things. Okay? Super. Good night. Sleep tight.
- Crazy creditsSubtitled conversation between two raccoons -- Raccoon #1: "Why's Jody sitting in the lake?" Raccoon #2: "You didn't hear? She got shot in the ass!" Raccoon #1: "Oh no! Don't tell me..." Raccoon #2: "Yup... She's bald on both ends now!"
- Alternate versionsTo receive a PG certificate the 1989 UK video was cut by 27 secs by the BBFC to remove multiple uses of the line 'Blow it out your ass'. The cuts were restored in 2003.
- SoundtracksYakety Yak
Written by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller
Performed by The Coasters
Courtesy of Atlantic Recording Corp. by arrangement with Warner Special Products
Dan Akroyd and John Candy are just great. They aren't brilliant actors (although Dan has shown some promise in great movies such as The Arrow and My Girl) but instead they can get together to deliver laughs and they do. The Great Outdoors is the quintessential eighties film about a family on vacation. It's about the desire to succeed and BUY STUFF (an eighties must.) It's about who is the better man, and man vs nature and all that kind of stuff. More importantly it delivers the perfect blend of physical comedy AND one liners that actually made me laugh out loud. Akroyd and Candy play like a stand up comedy act and it works so well that you forget everyone else. They really don't add or take away from the story, you just forget anyone else is there...it doesn't really matter much. You're in this to see Chet and Roman battle it out mostly behind each other's backs. The cinematography is great in this movie as well. They used an actual lake although it was in California, not Wisconsin and it really helps the setting. You feel as though you're roughing it out right beside them. The best part is the climax with the bear, what a great scene. As predictable as you might think it is...it's just awesome. Candy is hilarious and sadly missed in future endeavours. Akroyd pulls off the pompous, greedy and loud mouthed lawyer type to a T and manages to not take himself too seriously. As with all eighties films they manage to toss in the someone is in trouble, everyone has to pull together and save them story ending but it works and this movie is without a doubt a classic, whether comedy or just film in general, it will always be remembered fondly. 8/10
- Robert_duder
- Sep 11, 2004
- Permalink
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Official sites
- Language
- Also known as
- Vacaciones familiares
- Filming locations
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- $24,000,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $41,455,230
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $6,121,115
- Jun 19, 1988
- Gross worldwide
- $43,455,230
- Runtime1 hour 31 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.85 : 1
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