Vacaciones familiares

A great comedy to settle down with after a long day. Aykroyd and Candy make a great pair in this off-beat comedy about life in the woods, and how one simple vacation turns into a dreaded day-to-day horror.

Basic Plot: John Candy and his family go up to Canada for a family vacation away from the city for several days. Seemingly fine, until they get to their cabin, the whole vacation starts to fall apart from the moment they arrive. Not only is there fish everywhere in their vacation home, but just when mom and dad think they're alone, their brother and sister in-law walk in on them, with their two daughters. From a water-skiing adventure gone wrong- to eating a whole family's worth of food (pun definitely intended.), the movie seems to continually take a turn for the worst. The subplot is Candy's oldest son, who starts to fall in love with a local, to give it that romance along with all the humor that's going on between the adults.

A fun movie to watch from 10- whenever.

I give it a 7.5 out of 10 (10 being the highest). Not one of the best movies ever but certainly funny and it has some great writing too.

A little piece of trivia:

At the end of "She's Having a Baby" right before the credits, you see the wife asking Kevin Bacon what they should name the baby... People from all sorts of films and T.V. shows voice their opinions, including some of the cast members from 'The Great Outdoors'.

And that's the end of this review.

These 2 comedy mega stars work together brilliantly and also with their co stars.

Lots of great highlights but my favourite is the Land of 1000 Dances, just a great movie moment :)

They should have done a cross over where they meet the Griswold's getting fuel, would have been a magic moment.

As a child of the eighties, its hard not to view this film thru the lens of nostalgia. John Candy is hilarious as the simple but decent family guy who wishes to take his family on a vacation to the great outdoors. His plans are rudely disrupted by his boorish brother in law, who crashes the family event and manages to disrupt all of Candy's plans. While there's nothing particularly stunning or insightful here, its fun and reminds me of days gone by. Although seen thru the eye of comedians, many of us can remember "disastrous" family vacations like this, with relatives that we sometimes couldn't stand and plans gone awry, but still forming some of our most fond memories. It is also somewhat bittersweet for me, as most of the beautiful and rustic locales in the film have disappeared during the intervening years, a loss I hadn't even noticed or thought about until I watched the film again. The film is very family friendly and, if you haven't seen it, definitely worth a viewing.

Great grins movie! Strong script with a wonderful array of gags.Rent this one for the kids,then watch it yourself.See Lucy Deakins at her best!Scary tale as told by John Candy is so silly.This movie is hokey but you gotta love it!

Two families go on vacation together in a Canadian log cabin.

This is an enjoyable comedy powered by the presence of John Candy and Dan Ackroyd.

I saw this many times as a child and recently as a forty-something. I don't think it's quite as good as I remember (as is often the case when you re-watch movies you enjoyed as a child) but the two stars still provide enough entertainment to make it work.

I think many people have family or friends they tolerate in small doses, and there is nothing quite like going on vacation together to remind you why this is the case. This is the central concept of 'The Great Outdoors' and the basis for so of much of the humour. Key to this is relationship of the main characters Chet and Roman, who are the respective patriarchs of each family, and about as opposite you can get in both values and personality.

Candy and Ackroyd are perfectly cast in the above roles. The script is not in the same league as other notable 80s comedies, but the performances of each elevate the material significantly. Ackroyd in particular lives and breathes the obnoxious, arrogant brother-in-law from hell and makes a potentially annoying creation hilariously funny. I think many people have a Roman in the family and might be able to empathise with the situation. Candy adds a likeable, laid back, charismatic presence and brings his natural, improvised banter to many scenes. He seems to have wonderful chemistry with everyone he shares the screen with.

Annette Benning and Stephanie Faracy make some reasonably good contributions to the humour, particularly the 'spin cycle' references and generally when they both stand by their husbands during the inevitable family bust-up.

Some of the gags are more visual. The waterskiing sequence is great fun, likewise the montage of holiday park activities, lightening bolts, and bear related shenanigans.

Not everything works for me. I find the repetitive gags involving raccoons mildly amusing at best and all the scenes involving the eldest son Buck's teen romance feel like a way to stretch out the movie to feature length. I remember as a child I used to fast forward these parts on my VHS and they haven't got better with age.

As ever, I believe comedy is very much in the eye of the beholder and it depends on your personal taste as to whether you find it funny. It is a typically 80s PG comedy that is family friendly but pushes the boundaries in terms of its adult themes. I am probably rating it higher than it deserves due to being a huge fan of both stars and the nostalgia associated with watching it as a child.