| The Great Outdoors | |
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Theatrical release poster |
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| Directed by | Howard Deutch |
| Produced by | John Hughes Arne Schmidt |
| Written by | John Hughes |
| Starring | Dan Aykroyd John Candy |
| Music by | Thomas Newman |
| Cinematography | Ric Waite |
| Editing by | Seth Flaum William D. Gordean |
| Studio | Hughes Entertainment |
| Distributed by | Universal Studios |
| Release date(s) | June 17, 1988 |
| Running time | 91 min |
| Language | English |
The Great Outdoors is a 1988 American comedy film starring Dan Aykroyd and John Candy. Annette Bening and Stephanie Faracy co-star. Robert Prosky and Lewis Arquette have supporting roles. The film was directed by Howard Deutch and written and produced by John Hughes.
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Chicago area resident Chester "Chet" Ripley (John Candy), his wife, Connie (Stephanie Faracy), and their two sons, Buck (Chris Young) and Ben (Ian Giatti), are on vacation at a lake resort in Pechoggin, Wisconsin during the summer. Chet is a fun-loving father and husband looking for a get away for his family. All is going as planned when four unexpected visitors show up with a video camera in hand at the lake resort lodge.
Having decided not to vacation in Europe, Connie's sister, Kate (Annette Bening), Kate's know-it-all investment broker husband, Roman Craig (Dan Aykroyd), and their twin daughters, Mara (Rebecca Gordon) and Cara (Hilary Gordon), crash the vacation.
Roman is a typical Mercedes driving (license-plate number ROMAN 1), investment focused, '80s yuppie. He and Kate live in the posh Chicago suburb of Oak Park. Roman seems to take pleasure in making sure others are well aware of his wealth and (supposed) expertise on many subjects.
Ghost stories at the family BBQ include one of a man eating grizzly bear that Chet once met face to face earlier in his life.
Roman describes the remote northern woods location as "God's Country" and prefers speedboats over pontoon boats. After Roman pulls Chet around the lake on a water ski ride courtesy of his rented speedboat Suck My Wake, tensions between families erupt. Roman proceeds to get on Chet's nerves — so much so that Chet is ready to pack up and go home, even as teenager Buck tries to romance local girl, Cammie (Lucy Deakins).
Buck and Cammie's teen romance sparks at a local amusement park. The budding romance goes well until Buck's father, Chet, is challenged to eat the Old 96'er (a Paul Bunyan 96-ounce blue ox steak) at a family dinner which causes Buck to break the date. Buck tries to apologize to Cammie for being late, but Cammie refuses to speak with him.
Chet shares his love for family when Chet gives his son a ring from his father. It is the same ring that Chet's father gave him when Chet was a young boy in the northern woods.
Adventures continue at the local amusement park at the driving range, go-carts races, and horseback riding path. Chet negotiates a ride with his horse only to find the horse runs away. Chet is forced to walk back to the barn.
Connie and Kate bond at a local bar when the conversation drifts to Kate's challenges of being wealthy. Later, just at the peak of tension between families, ironically, it emerges that Roman has made a bad investment and is broke. He hasn't told Kate and was planning to offer Chet a $25,000 'investment'. Roman describes how he hasn't traded on the floors in Chicago in two years. He now wears a blue coat to fetch coffee which is the reason why he came to the Great Outdoors to hit up family man, Chet, for the cash.
Meanwhile, during a thunderstorm, the twins go missing and fall into a poorly blocked-off former mica mine shaft. Chet and Roman search for and find them. Chet encourages Roman to be a father for the first time to his kids. While Chet gets a rope, Roman summons up all his courage and rescues the twins. While sitting on a crate of dynamite, Roman rescues his girls out of the Pechoggin mine.
Chet, not knowing they are out of the mine, discovers in the mineshaft, the 'Bald-Headed Bear', the bear which supposedly attacked Chet many years ago. It chases him to the house, smashes through the door and rampages through the house. Just as the 'Bald-Headed Bear' stands on two feet and climbs up stairs, the cabin owner arrives armed with a shotgun. Chet takes the gun and shoots the bear's rear end, causing its rear to become exposed. The bear with bald head and rear runs out of the cabin and the families are safe.
The following morning, the two families part ways on good terms. Both families share how they enjoyed their vacation together in the Wisconsin northern woods. Roman's last words to Chet are "Race you home" which means that Roman's family will be moving in with Chet and leaving their Oak Park home. Cammie and Buck make up, part ways, and end their summer romance. Family guy, Chet, and his family head back to the Chicago area in a race for the good parking spot in their garage.
After the credits, the rambunctious raccoons that have wreaked havoc at the lodge throughout the movie have the last word. They make fun of the bear friend who is "bald on both ends" now.
The Great Outdoors was shot on location in Bass Lake, California, a small resort town near Yosemite National Park over three weeks in October 1987.
Ducey's Bass Lake Lodge, a rustic 1940s resort in Bass Lake, was featured as Wally and Juanita’s Perk’s Pine Lodge. The Loon’s Nest vacation cabin, built as a set, was designed to match the style of Ducey’s existing cabins.
The film grossed $6,121,115 in its opening weekend and ended up with a domestic gross of $41,455,230, and a worldwide gross of $43,455,230.[1]
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