Customer Reviews

Volunteers [VHS]

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Back in 1984, Tom Hanks was on a roll. After making it big on the small screen in the popular comedy, Bosom Buddies, and making an even bigger "Splash" in the 1983 film directed by Ron Howard, Hanks started gaining prominance as an actor. His next film, 1984s Bachelor Party, brought his persona to a much different audience which did not stop the film from becoming a success. 1985s Volunteers, however, would be a different story. Although this film is about Ivy Leager, Lawrence Bourne III (Hanks) who joins the Peace Corp to get out of a gambling dept, it is not for a huge audience. However, there are a couple of important reasons to own it.

1. This was the 2nd and final teaming of Hanks with fellow "Splash" costar, John Candy, who's performance in this film as the goodnatured Tom Tuttle can be hard not to laugh at (the brainwashing scene is a killer).

2. Volunteers is the movie where Hanks met his wife, Rita Wilson, who costars with him as Beth Wexler. It's just a lot of fun to watch the chemestry between these two and also quite touching since they are still together today. One of my favorite scenes is when Beth is unsuccessfully trying to get the natives to move a log, so Lawrence tells her to repeat something he says in their language, and after she does, the natives scurry the log away. "What did I just say?", she asks him. He replies, "Move this log and I'll sleep with each one of you". A silly but intimate exchange between the two of them.

This DVD is not bad as far as price is concerned and it's even shown in the Widescreen Format (1.85:1), but you may not know that since the back of the case is a bit unclear (the only indication is "Aspect 16:9", which some people may not understand). Even the original theatrical trailer is here in Widescreen. Plus you even get some nice Cast & Crew Bios.

So if you really enjoy Tom Hanks and/or John Candy, check this film out.

"It's not that I can't help these people, it's just that...I don't want to".-Tom Hanks as Lawrence Bourne III

This comedy really struck me as great. Some have bashed Tom Hanks in this movie as unfunny and John Candy as the highlight, but I think Tom Hanks is just plain hilarious, but then again I've always loved dead-pan humor. Candy on the other hand is the fallguy to Hanks straightman.
The basic plot is Hanks is a rich prick in serious debt and joins the peace corps to get away from it all. While in Thailand, Tom Hanks has to learn to become a better person. Simple premise, but, like I said earlier, you'll love it.
Also, this film features and early score by James Horner, which is a nice bonus for soundtrack fans.
Truthfully the only reason this film did not get 5 stars was the lack of DVD features, but the flick itself is great. Worth your cash.

Glad to see only one bad review for this movie. I loved it. It really just depends what you like in a movie. I loved 1941 but hated American Pie. If your an Adam Sandler fan then I bet you hate it too. If your a Hanks or Candy fan then you must see it. Alan5973 has most of the high points covered. Great lines. The Tom Tuttle from Tacoma brainwash is classic. I also think it is cool seeing Hanks and Wilson together.

Being a Returned Peace Corps Volunteer myself I find this film hysterical. The first time I saw it, in fact, was while in Peace Corps at a training session with fellow volunteers. We couldn't stop laughing the entire time! It's just ridiculously overdone - and wonderful because of it :)

Sure, it's campy and the jokes are predictable, but it was never meant to be a high-brow film. The jokes are often over the top and half the plot is totally unrealistic, but it's funny nonetheless - perhaps moreso if only because of these things.

I highly recommend this movie - John Candy and Tom Hanks always shine as a comedic pair and this movie is no exception. Hanks' cluelessly priveleged character coupled with Candy's overzealous patriotic naivety is a perfect comedic match-up.

Hanks and Candy at their best. If you grew up in, or have any appreciation for '60s culture, you will really appreciate this film. Spoofing everything from the folk music endemic to the Peace Corps in the '60s and the absurd one-dimensionality of communism (if not capitalism), it's a laugh a minute. One of Hanks' earlier films, it shows off his natural humor and appeal. Takes place mostly in Thailand where Candy and Hanks are supposed to be building a bridge to improve the locals' infrastructure and living conditions. Along the way, they've got to deal with a whacked out, over zealous CIA agent, a local Communist military leader, and the local drug lords and his sumo bodyguards. All the while, Hanks is romancing his future real-life wife who is totally serious while he's just in to figure a new angle to make a buck.

Like I wrote in my review of 'Splash' it is a shame that Candy and Hanks can not team up to do any more films. Hanks, even early in his career is good, but it is obvious that at this point he still can't pick up the best scripts available, Candy was funny in just about everything he did and his role in this movie is very funny.
This is one of those old movies that isn't by any means great, hardly a 5 star movie, but if you enjoy Hanks, it is worth seeing everything he did and as for Candy, his part in his movie is short, but you will laugh at what he does. A mild recommendation.

This movie has it all... the upper-crust socialite, the super-patriotic and single-minded engineer, an idealist do-gooder, a Chinese warlord, a CIA agent, a foreign kid who's picked up American slang, Commie agents... the list goes on and on. This has always been one of my favorite movies and I like watching it every once in a while, whenever I feel like laughing at the Peace Corps. "We were never crazy about the bridge anyway."

Back in the day, before Tom Hanks starred in serious and dramatic roles, he did more comedic roles. This is one of my favorites. Tom Hanks plays a rich boy, snob on the run from a large gambling debt, who switches places with his college roommate on his way to join the peace corps. He is paired with Rita Wilson and John Candy on his journey. John Candy is fantastic as always, playing overly outgoing goofball. A role he plays perfectly. Also, Gedde Wantanabe is hilarious. In my opinion he steals most of the scenes he is in. Great cast, funny movie.

This movie was great. Rent it and give it a chance and I know you won't be disappointed. I've loved this film from the day it first came out. I must have seen it over 30 times and I love it more and more each time.

The movie is a classic with many quotable lines, Tom Hanks' portrayal of an arrogant, shameless womanizing, gambling rich kid from the Northeast makes the movie as well as John Candy's over grown Boy Scout character, Tom Tuttle from Takoma