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.

Dan Aykroyd and John Candy star in this fair comedy. "The Great Outdoors" is about two families that join up on a summer vacation in the mountains. Aykroyd's Roman Craig is a first-class jerk through most of the film, and not the source of much humor. He plays the role well, and Candy's Chet Ripley often plays off of him for much of the film's comedy. The rest of their families contribute a small amount, but the film revolves around the two brothers-in-law. Among the supporting cast, Robert Prosky's Wally provides the most other comedy.

Candy's Ripley is a good-natured guy, who's also a klutz. He gets out of his car at a bear dump and tosses a couple of candy bars to the bears, and then beckons one toward him. What did he think they might do, if not climb on his car and try to get at him for more candy bars?

With Candy's ups and downs in comedies, I noticed that his films that are successes are those that don't go overboard with crass and crude language and scenes. His films in that category are mostly flops. Come to think of it, that seems true also for Aykroyd and some other prominent comedy actors.

Universal filmed this movie in Chicago and mostly in Yosemite National Park, at Bass Lake, at the Paramount Ranch in Agourra, and at Universal's studios - all in California. There is a Pine Lodge Resort at Bass Lake, but no Lake Potowotominimac. The Home of the 96er steak that Chet eats is Ducey's Bar and Grill at Bass Lake, CA. The place in the film burned down shortly after the film was made, but has since been rebuilt. The PG rating is mostly for the profanity and crass language.

Here are some favorite lines from this film.

Chet Ripley, "Come on everybody." Connie Ripley, "Hey." Everyone stacks a hand on top of Chet's, and all say in unison, "Our Lady of Victory, pray for us." Chet, " Rrrright! Let's go."

Chet Ripley, banging his car door on a tree, "Whoa! Trees in the parking lot."

Roman Craig, "Honey?" Kate Craig, "Yes, Roman." Roman Craig, "Why is it that Chet's kids look at him like he's Zeus and my kids look at me like I'm a rack of yard tools at Sears? I mean, why can't they connect with me?"

Kate Craig, after Roman's phone call seems to end abruptly, "Maybe he hung up on you?" Roman Craig, "Why would a minister hang up on me? I've been to his church." Kate Craig, "Oh, yeah - once."

Big-hearted family man Chet has brought his family to a lakeside resort area, and although his wife and kids aren't quite as excited as he is, Chet has high hopes for the vacation.

However, his optimism is sabotaged when his obnoxious brother-in-law Roman drops in unexpectedly, along with his snooty, strange family.

Chet and his family try to stay open-minded, but they find it difficult to relax and enjoy themselves because of the constant annoyance of Roman's presence.....

It's one of those fish out of water comedies, with a family with whom you root for and relate to, and the family who you dislike to begin with, and then warm to come the end.

It's surprising how many of these films were made in the eighties and the nineties, and we always saw them, knowing that the snotty family would know the error of their ways come the end, but as always, the happy family man would be the butt end of many jokes during the film.

Candy is as good as always, and Akroyd is fine also, but the film is so clichéd and full of troupes, you cannot help but be aware of these, no matter how much you liked it the first time you saw it.

Come the end, everyone is happy, the rich are poorer, but richer in life lessons, and the ones we were rooting for all along, are the same, but a tad smugger.

it's fun while it lasts, but forgettable.

And the raccoons are hilarious, and they make me laugh out loud just seeing them on screen.