The Great Outdoors is an old American adventure comedy film directed by Howard Deutch, written and co-produced by John Hughes along with Arne Schmidt. It stars Dan Aykroyd and John Candy as Roman Craig and Chester Ripley, the two main characters of the movie who accidentally met on a lake resort when the sister of Connie’s wife decides to bring her investment broker husband.
Both the families set up a barbeque vacation and plans to have fun together but the things turned different and nothing goes as planned. The movie was released inside US cinemas in 1988 under the Universal Pictures distributorship.
Where was The Great Outdoors filmed?
Even though the The Great Outdoors movie sets in Wisconsin, the actual filming was done inside Bass Lake, Madera Country, California in a small resort town near Sierra National Forest. The resort featured in the movie is a real resort named Ducey’s Bass Lake Lodge located within Madera. Other prominent locations featured in the movie were Wally and Juanita’s Perk’s Pine Lodge.
According to a report by The Studio tour, the Loon’s Nest Vacation cabin was built on the backlot at Universal Studios. The log cabin was built near the falls lake where there is a large open area with a large water tank that can be digitally replaced with anything. Moreover, the same set is used for filming Shooter(2007), Desperate Housewives TV series, Naked Gun 3, and Coach TV series.
California is regarded as the filming hub of the US where most of the TV shows and movies shooting took place. Every month, there is a new movie of web series shooting in the LA like Stranger Things Season 4, The Villains of Valley View, Love Under The Lemon Tree, Jackass 4.5, Holey Moley new season, etc.
Cast of The Great Outdoors
- John Candy as Chet Ripley
- Annette Bening as Kate Craig
- Chris Young as Buck Ripley
- Stephanie Faracy as Connie Ripley
- Ian Michael Giatti as Ben Ripley (as Ian Giatti)
- Dan Aykroyd as Roman Craig
- Hilary Gordon as Cara Craig
- Robert Prosky as Wally
- Lewis Arquette as Herm
- Rebecca Gordon as Mara Craig
- John Bloom as Jimbo
- Lucy Deakins as Cammie
- Nancy Lenehan as Waitress
- Britt Leach as Reg
- Cliff Bemis as Boat Yard Owner
- Paul Hansen as Hot Dog Vendor
- Zoaunne LeRoy as Juanita
- Sierra Somerville as Girl in Arcade
- Christine Spiotta as Woman in Crowd
- Debra Lee Ortega as Dancing Biker Girl
- Chris Bass as Lodge Patron
- Shirley Harris as Lodge Customer
- Christopher Kinsman as Irate Customer
- Andy Prosky as Grill Chef
- Brian Healy as Man in Crowd
- Bart the Bear as The Bald-Headed Bear
- Mark Sawtelle as Picnic Dad
- Barry Thompson as Kitchen Help
- Raleigh Bond as Grandpa
- Jerry Maren
Review
The great outdoors movie is rated 6.6/10 on IMDb which seems apt with the movie’s performance. Most of the viewers have rated 5 out 10 considering the acting, screenplay, and the execution of the director. We will say that it is a good 80s movie which is not that funny but rather clumsy and mundane.