Customer Reviews

Planes, Trains and Automobiles

5 star:		(268)
4 star:		(47)
3 star:		(16)
2 star:		(9)
1 star:		(10)

 

 

When I think of "Planes, Trains & Automobiles" I smile. It is an absolutely wonderful movie. Yes, it is regarded as a comedy but when I think of it I think of it as more of a drama. The jokes don't get old. This is probably my favorite comedy of all time. Hughes takes the traveling nightmare genre to a whole new level. It's more a triumph in script writing than anything

For those who don't already know Planes, Trains and Automobiles is simple in its approach. Everything that can go wrong does. It's a comic routine that can be funny, but here it is a trip to hysterical. The plot is simple enough as well. Neal Page (Steve Martin) is on his way home for Thanksgiving. He's your typical businessman that works in New York and has a family he wants to see in Chicago. The only problem is everything from delayed flights to ripped up car tickets happen on the way. Only worsening matters, Del Griffith (John Candy), is along for the ride. An annoying shower curtain ring salesman, Neal can't get rid of him no matter how hard he tries.

John Candy gives the performance of his too short career as the traveling shower curtain ring salesman Del Griffith. What makes Candy's performance so impressive is that while Del is an obnoxious, annoying slob, Candy shows that this is a very lonely, sweet, kind, and caring man with a great heart. This is a man who is putting his needs behind the needs of another person, a complete stranger in Neil Page. Candy creates an incredibly complex man, who the audience really gets to know and genuinely care about. They say comedies are the hardest films to get nominated for Oscars, which is true. And while "PT & A" is no Best Picture winner, it certainly in my mind has a performance not just worthy of a nomination but of an Oscar as well. It would be interesting to see how Candy's performance would be regarded if the film came out today.

The ending, whew!, it's a rough one. And again, despite all the wonderful comedy in this film, whenever I think of "PT & A" I think of the wonderful character of Del Griffith and the powerful ending. If you haven't seen this movie, rent it. I strongly recommend it as a first rate comedy that doesn't come along often. Whether it's the music capturing the perfect mood in the hilarious bedroom scene or meeting Owen, it's an earnestly frantic and tender trip through the modern transportation system.

For those of you thinking about buying this new DVD version, here are the extras on it: 3 featurettes ("Getting There is Half the Fun: The Story of Planes Trains and Automobiles", "John Hughes for Adults", "John Candy"), and a deleted scene ("Airplane Food").

Not bad, but would have liked to see more deleted scenes since apparently Hughes had a 3 hour version of this movie. Maybe those will come out eventually.

A stellar performance from Steve Martin and the late, great John Candy.

I don't know where that guys doing the Editorial Reviews are coming from, this movie is great!

Steve Martin is stuffy ad executive Neil "I can take anything" Page and John Candy is the bungling but warm-hearted shower-curtain-ring guy (I know what you mean), Del "Extra set of fingers" Griffith. We follow this mismatched pair half way across the States and back again as they encounter one crisis after another. As the title says, our heros travel whatever way they can to get to Chicago- from planes to trains to cars.

One of the funniest scenes is when after Del gets his coat caught behind the driver's seat, panics and sends the car on a tailspin causing him to go the wrong way down the Interstate. We see their car get caught between two semis. During the squeeze, Neil looks and sees Del as the Devil, complete with pitchfork and horns.

In all, this movie is great! You will not be disappointed, that I can promise you because it's "filled with helium, which makes it 10% lighter."

We are blessed to have not only a film but a great film combining the talents of veteran comics Steve Martin and the late John Candy. Far superior to most films of its type, "Planes" has wit, warmth and heart. The plot is simple - Suave ad man Neal (Martin) tries to get home for thanksgiving with his family but encounters frustration at at every turn. To top this off, fate decrees that he spend most of his travel time with well-intentioned but eternally irritating Del (Candy). Candy and Martin seem made for their roles. Candy is perfect as never-ending talker and shower-curtain ring salesman Del (we've all met him!) and Martin is solid as the serious ad-man. Film is full of hilarious moments - Candy and Martin watching their final mode of transport (a car) literally going up in smoke; waking up snuggled up against each other on their first night (one bed in the last room in the last hotel complex) and freezing together on the back of an open truck - but also its tender moments displaying Del's vulnerability. I noted that film critic Leonard Maltin criticised the awful music score, but to me, this is representative of the tone of the entire trip. Film doesn't deserve the R rating I see that it has, despite the the notorious bad language scene. To me, this film exemplifies what quality family entertainment is all about - friendship prevaling against the odds and identifiable characters. John Hughes once again has his finger on the pulse as to what a mainstream audience will enjoy and this film is a credit to him and the stars. See it!

Planes, Trains, and Automobiles is THE funniest movie I have ever seen. It combines two comedy greats, Steve Martin and John Candy together, on a roadtrip to get home for christmas.

What happens is Steve martin, a buisness from Chicago, needs to get home for christmas. Not only is his flight cancelled, train wrecked, and car not in the rent-a-car parking spot, he meet John Candy. In this movie Candy plays an extremely nice guy that can't keep his mouth closed. On the other hand, Martin plays a quiet-type person that can get annoyed very easily.

As you can see, they could never travel together....

....or could they?

This movie brings out a real common bond or friendship that can form between two absolute strangers that have absolutely nothing in common.

Planes, Trains, and Autos has comedy written everywhere. Jokes, pranks, and all sorts of fun are performed well in the movie. I recommend this movie to anyone that wants to laugh!! Honestly folks, this movie is the best and should really be recognized. I guarantee you will love it!

Thanks for reading my review and have a nice day!

Just another voice to echo the disappointment and anger surrounding a horrible DVD release of one of the finest comedies I've ever seen. Paramount, as with their pathetic Star Trek DVDs, has once again decided to put the smallest amount of effort into producing a DVD that could and should have (at the very least) trailers and commentary. What really infuriates me about this release is the fact that I feel Paramount knowingly and willingly misrepresented the DVD in order to increase sales. Other sites besides Amazon have advertised "deleted" scenes for the DVD, and I'm inclined to believe that they were all duped by Paramount and encouraged to provide a product description that is a farce. (At this point, I must ask why Amazon hasn't changed its erroneous product review.) The DVD provides NOTHING extra, not even a trailer, and the $30.00 price tag is offensive. What little respect I had for Paramount is now dissolved, and from now on I'll think twice before purchasing any more of their products.

This movie is an ALL-TIME classic and I couldn't wait for it to come out on DVD. What a disappointment and WASTE of money. The DVD does NOT contain the theatrical trailer nor does it contain the deleted scenes. DO NOT WASTE YOU MONEY ON THIS ONE. You would think that if Paramount went through the time and expense to put it on DVD they could have added one of the greatest deleted scenes of all time (the airplane food scene). I wonder if is because they sold the rights to that scene to TNT and therefore were unable to put it in the DVD??? It is a shame that Paramount did such a poor job on this DVD release.

When John Candy passed prematurely in 1994 it caused me more than a momentary sadness. From his days on "SCTV" to his film work Candy could elicit laughs just from his presence and inner warmth even in the lamest of vehicles. Candy had a prolific film career, that's not to say a consistent one ("Who's Harry Crumb?","Nothing But Trouble"). His constant film work might have been his way for portending his early demise. Among the dross Candy made a number of good films. I'm still waiting for my personal favorite, "Only the Lonely" with Maureen O'Hara playing his mother get a DVD issue. Fortunately for us, "Planes, Trains, and Automobiles" is also one of his better films. The film concerns two disparate individuals, buttoned-down family man Neil Page(Steve Martin) and shower-ring salesman Del Griffith trying to get home for Thanksgiving. Through a series of coincidences or just Del attaching himself to Neil they end up traveling and boarding together throughout their sojourn. There are any number of hilarious scenes("Those aren't pillows!"). My personal favorite has to be one where the pair, bereft of cash, attempt to barter with a motel clerk for a room. Neil presents a valuable Swiss watch as colatteral. Del in turn brandishes a Casio. Alas, this is also a John Hughes film. Despite alot of inspired comic anarchy that preceded it, Hughes injects a Norman Rockwell sentimental moment at the end. That quibble aside, "Planes, Trains, and Automobiles" is timeless comedy and a great opportunity to see these comic legends interact.

I'm giving this 5 stars first, because it's a great movie, one of my favorite comedies. The other reason is that the "dinner" scene ( or "brownie" scene ) on the plane is one of my favorite scenes in the movie that is inexplicably taken out most of the time it's shown on TV and on all of the DVDs. The scene is classic, if you like the movie already and haven't got a chance to catch this scene, you need to.

I don't care about extra features, I usually don't watch them more than once, if that, so my rating is for the movie and the added scene ... finally.

I was amazed to see the running time is only 92 minutes, cut from the 93 minute normal version. The DVD does not have the food scene on the plane. Just as Steve Martin was going to eat the desert (cake I believe) the lady in front of him put her hair down right in the food. THE SCENE IS MISSING!

Everyone needs to put pressure on Paramount to make a corrected DVD showing the entire movie!