Harry and the Hendersons

WE happened to catch this movie again on the PAX channel and start getting completely captivated once again by its funny scenes, and Harrys reaction to everything he encounters, from the family to the things in the house and its eventual feel good conclusion! I think one of the most touching scenes is when he encounters a deer head mounted on the wall and knocks out a hole in the wall to look for the hind part of the deer.......makes one wonder why people like to hunt in the first place, especially seeing it from Harry's perspective.......well, sit back and enjoy the movie, you will be glad you did, and have a kid or two with you..........OK? shar from oHIo........

Dracula had his movie. Frankenstein had his movie. The mummy, the wolfman, and even the creature of the black lagoon had a movie. So why not Bigfoot? Sure, Bigfoot is not on the level of the aforementioned monsters but he has earned his spot in folklore-he's earned his movie.

Harry and the Hendersons was his movie. He could've opted for scary but instead he opted for funny and it was a score.

Harry, played by Kevin Peter Hall, was minding his own business in the woods when he was hit by a car. The driver of said car, George Nathan Henderson (John Lithgow), thought it would be very lucrative if he brought Harry home with him. Perhaps he could sell him to a lab or something for a big payday. What George didn't know was that Harry wasn't dead and when he woke up he was very hungry, very annoyed, and very discombobulated.

But Harry was a nice guy. Even though he was about 7 feet tall and maybe 500 pounds, he didn't take that opportunity to hurt the Hendersons. Sure he damaged the house a bit but that was pure clumsiness. In fact, they developed a very sweet and precious bond that was wrapped in l funny moments. Harry was not like the other monsters.

I've been looking for this movie forever on DVD, my copy on tape is long gone and I hate watching the cut version when it is shown on TV. I was so addicted to this movie as a kid, when our TV broke, I plugged headphones into the VCR so I could hear it. Whats sad is I watched it so many times that I didn't mind that there was no picture, I still knew what was happening because I watched it a least 60 times beforehand. I'm so happy its finally coming out on DVD because I have a kiddo on the way and I can't wait till they are old enough to watch it with me. If you have kids and want to watch a movie everyone will like this is a definite buy. It will be watched over and over and your kids will never get tired of it, which could possibly be a bad thing. I hope this was helpful, I tried not to mention anything about the plot because it best to watch it and form your own opinion.

Harry and the Hendersons is one of the first films I remember seeing in the cinema as a kid. It was 1987 and my uncle had just passed his driving test so he was well into driving places and the cinema just happened to be one of them.

Even though the film is only 110 minutes long, they still had an intermission halfway through, for some reason. And I swear, they actually had ushers coming round selling stuff before it started back up again. I believe that is the first and only time I have seen such old-fashioned picturehouse practices. But it makes my original memory of this film so much more nostalgic.

The Hendersons consist of wannabe artist/gun salesman dad George (that always brilliant John Lithgow), loving mum Melinda Dillon, a bratty daughter and a hyperactive son. On returning from a camping trip in the Pacific Northwest, they accidentally run into some sort of large furry creature on the forest road. Originally believing it to be a bear, George steps out of the car to prod it with his gun a few times. But the bear has man-like hands and George suddenly asks his family 'What if it's...HIM'.

Bigfoot! Think of how much he's worth! So they tie him to the roof of the car and drive him home, while George thinks of the best way of selling him. Later that night, he is curious as to how big his feet really are. So he sneaks down to the garage with a measuring tape only to find that he's no longer strapped to the roof of the car, but poking around in the kitchen fridge.

The Hendersons stand back as bigfoot (or Harry as he is later renamed) stomps around the house and garden investigating all their strange belongings. Though he doesn't care much for all the animal trophies hanging around everywhere. Freaking out, George tries to snipe Harry from through the bedroom window, but has a change of heart when he realises that Harry is just big, harmless oaf.

The best scenes of the film involve Harry making himself at home in the Henderson house. His mannerisms and body language are similar to a child warned to be on their best behavior while visiting old relatives. He constantly looks a bit nervous and uncomfortable but is always ready to grab you for a big hug.

Rick Baker deservedly took home an Academy Award for Best Make-Up Effects back in 1988 for this movie. Harry Henderson is an amazing character with a wonderfully wide range of expressions and emotions. All E.T. ever did was sit there looking bug-eyed. Not Harry though, you can't help loving him. I so want my own Bigfoot.

Even now as an adult I think this movie is still great. As a kid I remember feeling the panic and excitement when Harry got lost in Seattle and the half-crazed Bigfoot hunter Jacques LaFleur (David Suchet) doing lots of sleaziness in order to have him shot, gutted and sold to science. Forgive the repeated comparison, but to me it was more involving and fun than the man with the keys in E.T.

You just don't get family movies like this anymore. Back in the 80's Steven Spielberg's Amblin production company made loads of great family movies like Gremlins, Goonies, the Back to the Future Trilogy, Young Sherlock Holmes and Innerspace. They all had some kind high-concept spin that crud such as Like Mike and Crapper by the Dozen don't.

It was a great time to be a kid back in those days. We weren't cynical and jaded and hooked on Playstation like modern children. We still had a sense of adventure, a longing for the outdoors. Anything could be out there. Maybe Harry is actually bumbling around in the woods as I write this.

Like the Patterson/Gimlin film that inspired it, Harry and the Hendersons is one movie that will be timeless forever.

'Harry and the Hendersons' is an 80's classic, no doubt. Watching this nowadays makes me appreciate the effort filmmakers put in to make a decent suit that a person could actually wear and utilize prosthetics. If this was made today, there is no doubt in my mind Harry would 100 percent be done with CGI. That's just the age we live in now, for better or worse.

This is a great family film with a good message, and that's coming from someone who hunts, though not a proponent of trophy hunting. You could say the film is anti-hunting, but I think it's more about respecting nature.

Who knows, maybe Bigfoot, Bookmis, Sasquatch, or whatever name you may call him, is out there in the woods. And maybe he is a lovable giant, or maybe he'd just like to rip your limbs off. Whatever the case, I'd still like to believe there's a 0.1 percent chance he's out there.