
The Great Outdoors (1988)
This is no holiday… this is war!
Keywords
The Great Outdoors rating: IMDb, Rotten Tomatoes and Metacritic
With 43% on Rotten Tomatoes, backed by 6.6/10 on IMDb and 24/100 on Metacritic, critical reception of this film has been modest.
About The Great Outdoors
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.
Cast of The Great Outdoors

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
The Great Outdoors facts
- Budget
- $24M
- Box office
- $43.5M
Ranked by the iRankMovies editorial teamUpdated August 2026MethodologyData sources
Audience opinions
What the audience liked
- •Family holiday comedy delivers lighthearted charm with ensemble chemistry
- •Grizzly bear encounter provides genuine comedic peril and adventure tension
- •Cabin setting creates intimate backdrop for relationship-focused humor
What the audience disliked
- •Plot feels lightweight lacking substantial conflict or narrative stakes
- •Comedy timing occasionally feels dated despite strong comedic fundamentals
Trailer
Where to watch The Great Outdoors(US)
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Availability may change. Data by JustWatch.
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