This is no holiday… this is war!
It's vacation time for outdoorsy Chicago man Chet Ripley, along with his wife, Connie, and their two kids, Buck and Ben. But a serene weekend of fishing at a Wisconsin lakeside cabin gets crashed by Connie's obnoxious brother-in-law, Roman Craig, his wife, Kate, and the couple's two daughters. As the excursion wears on, the Ripleys find themselves at odds with the stuffy Craig family.
The Great Outdoors (1988) is a comedy film directed by Howard Deutch, released on June 17, 1988 with a runtime of 1h 31m. It stars Dan Aykroyd, John Candy, Stephanie Faracy and Annette Bening. Viewers rate it 6.4 out of 10 across 635 ratings.
Watch the official trailer for The Great Outdoors before you stream it.
Dan Aykroyd
as Roman Craig
John Candy
as Chet Ripley
Stephanie Faracy
as Connie Ripley
Annette Bening
as Kate Craig
Chris Young
as Buck Ripley
Lucy Deakins
as Cammie
Robert Prosky
as Wally
Ian Giatti
as Ben Ripley
Hilary Gordon
as Cara Craig
Rebecca Gordon
as Mara Craig
Zoaunne LeRoy
as Juanita
Nancy Lenehan
as Waitress
Directed by Howard Deutch, written by John Hughes, produced by Arne Schmidt.
Average viewer score of 6.4/10 from 635 ratings.
Decent watch at best, probably won't watch again, but can recommend for those on a late-eighties nostalgia kick. Sometimes it is good to get in "The Way Back Machine" and see some of the movies that made people famous, and I liked Dan Aykroyd and John Candy. The duplicitous plot and character choices just didn't sit great with me. Having recently seen "Brother Nature", it is interesting to see a movie that could…
Reviewed on February 24, 2021
"The Great Outdoors" is only a moderately entertaining film, although it does feature the unforgettably spectacular sight of John Candy water skiing. The grizzly bear action also works well and there is always an enthusiastic energy about this film which every member of the cast effortlessly maintains, but in terms of John Hughes's output this entry is not one of his more memorable outings and some of it does feel…
Reviewed on August 2, 2024
If you took a Vacation film and filled in the blanks with different character names and places, you'd have a movie like this. It has all of the same ingredients but the emotional feeling behind them is lost. John Candy could play the Griswold part, Dan Ankryd the Cousine Eddie part, a different girl plays Rusty's girlfriend he meets in Europe, and so forth. I don't even recognize who plays the part of John Candy's…
Reviewed on August 8, 2026
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The Great Outdoors (1988) is available to stream on Netflix, YouTube TV and Netflix Standard with Ads, and to rent or buy from Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube and Fandango At Home. Streaming availability is checked against JustWatch data and can change by region.
The main cast of The Great Outdoors (1988) includes Dan Aykroyd, John Candy, Stephanie Faracy, Annette Bening and Chris Young. The film was directed by Howard Deutch. You can see the full cast and crew list, with character names, further up this page.
The Great Outdoors was released on June 17, 1988 and runs for 1h 31m.
The Great Outdoors (1988) holds an average rating of 6.4 out of 10 from 635 viewer votes, and is a good pick if you enjoy comedy films. Read the viewer reviews on this page to decide for yourself.
Yes. The official The Great Outdoors trailer is embedded in the trailer section of this page and plays instantly, no download or sign-up required.
