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Still entertaining after all these years !

This movie was released not long after Tom Hanks hit it big with "Big". It was not as successful as Big but I think it is a much funnier movie than Big and "Highly repeatable". The only down side is, no special features on the DVD. 20th anniversary is 2 years away, so I do hope Universal can re-release this as a special edition DVD.

The plot, Tom Hanks suspected that his next door neighbour are serial killers/mass murderers so he sort of organize his neighbourhood to put a stake out on his neighbour. Hilarious stuff, great cast (Bruce Dern, Carrie Fisher, Wendy Schaal, Corey Feldman, and Rick Ducommun-too bad this career didn't take off).

I would have given it 5 stars if not for the lacking of special features, but this early DVD picture transfer is fine, and the Dolby 2.0 Surround is not bad. Highly recommended movie.

charming, amusing film

now this is a funny, well-done comedy. strong cast/lots of fun touches.
get a big bowl of popcorn and just relax.

Wonderful 1980ies comedy

I've seen this film several times at different age and I still think it's one of the most hilarious black comedies. Tom Hanks in his comedy period combined with Joe Dante's ability for spectacle movie-making brings great results. Hanks is Ray Peterson who just got few weeks of vacation and instead of leaving his small town, decides to stay at home for timeless relaxation. But his plans are interrupted as strange things start to happen in his neighborhood. The Burbs can be described as suspenseful sitcom, as some thrilling episodes go together with sudden laughs. The overall atmosphere is stylish as it manages to mix the atmosphere of an average American small town with Gothic spooks into one big hilarious shake. Pity they don't make such comedies these days anymore.

UNDERCOOKED

Although this movie is imaginative and fun it fails to take full advantage of the "zany" set-up it creates so well. I feel as if there are a lot of scenes cut out and the movie was cut down to size in the editing room.

Tom Hanks and his pals get carried away with the idea that their neighbors (The Klopeks) are psychos and they take their suspicions to morbid extremes by spying, nosing around and harassing them. I enjoyed this movie as a kid but it's a bit annoying now.

We never REALLY find out what exactly it is the Klopeks do or who they are. All we know is that they don't mow their front lawn and that's it.

Bruce Dern has a lively role as an old Army Vet, Rick Ducommun is Hanks' scrounger pal, Corey Feldman is a stereotyped "Bill and Ted" stoned teen and Dick Miller makes his obligatory appearance in a Joe Dante movie.

Dante's signature is all over this movie. It's just a shame they decided to cut it down due to running time.

The DVD is in Dolby Surround and is anamorphically enhanced at 1.85:1.

One last thing...on my DVD I have a picture of a bunch of flowers located somewhere on the disc as a hidden feature. How odd!

not so good

Tom Hanks became a star with the movie SPLASH (after Chevy Chase and Dudley Moore turned down the part). He then made a few good movies that were also hits. Then he went into the gutter with THE MONEY PIT, JOE VS. THE VOLCANO and THE BURBS. If BIG hadn't rescued him from this string of losers, he might be doin TV now. But he was rescued by BIG. Anyway, THE BURBS is a bad movie; the type of movie that makes you scratch your head that it ever got made. Yes there are some funny moments. But overall, this is junk.

Walter, I Have Your Dog

Ah the middle-class, something to be a part of, something you have immense hatred for, the boring day to day life of suburbia. What can we do in boring suburbia? I know, we'll investigate the eccentric, hermit new neighbours who just moved in next door who make a lot of noise at night and dig holes in the back garden.Let's get one thing straight - I really liked 'The Burbs', is what was one of the very first films that I saw and remembered, I think I was about 6 or 7 when I first watched it and I still like it. I wondered why there was never a sequel because I think a sequel could have expanded on this film more, maybe a special edition with a 2 1/2 hour runtime on DVD. This film was made back when Tom Hanks was actually good as a comedic actor, back when he wasn't regulated to doing such (frankly) schlock as 'Forrest Gump' or 'Castaway'. Along with 'Big', 'Splash', 'Turner & Hooch', and 'The Money Pit', this film made Tom Hanks into a reliable commodity within the film-industry in Hollywood, and many roles were offered to him afterwards, following the success of these films. Some people often say that Tom Hanks was always a good dramatic actor (I don't), I think his roots lay heavily in Comedy, and some might also say that he was type-cast during the 80's, which is very true in a way, which is why 'Philadelphia' (a brilliant film) must have been a breath of fresh air for him. I really dislike Tom Hanks in romantic comedies, much for the same reason I dislike Hugh Grant in romantic comedies, because I think he's just wrong for those roles. This is not a review of 'Sleepless in Seattle', however, a film which I hate almost as much as 'Forrest Gump'.'The Burbs' is a good film, it's a good comedy featuring the likes of Carrie Fisher, Bruce Dern, Rick Ducommun, Corey Feldman and the great Henry Gibson, and the premise of the story is told quite well, the story being that the suburbs are a deeply paranoid place filled with people who are always concerned that maybe, just maybe, a serial killer family will be lurking in the house next door, except, this time they are right, and a serial killer family are living next door. The best thing about this film is the addition of the wacky Vietnam vet who lives in the neighbourhood, an addition to any slightly less-serious film that I always love (Burt Gummer in 'Tremors', for example), who takes everything seriously, makes constant references to his time as a soldier, waking up in the morning to smell his fresh grass under his American flag, the kind of person who would teach his kids what the first amendment was before they could even read, a hard Republican voter. I love comedy films that involve this kind of character and I think this film is great.

Funny!

Funny! Funny! Funny! Insightful, Clever, well written & performed. and extremely ... Funny. Don't listen to the priggish critics. They can afford not to have weird neighbors. I am and you are stuck with them. Tom Hanks is great. Bruce Dern is hilarious. It's all good. Enjoy this one and tape it.

Neighbours, everybody needs good neighbours . . .

The plot to this film is pretty straight-forward and centres around a street called 'Mayfield Place'. One that looks very much something Tim Burton would create. Within the neighbourhood live some interesting characters which involve sceptical average Ray and Carol Peterson (Tom Hanks and Carrie Fisher), greedy impulsive crow-shooting Art Weingartner(Rick Ducommun), ex-military soldier Mark and Bonnie Rumsfield (Bruce Dern and Wendy Schaal), typical late 80s teen Ricky Butler (Corey Feldman) and a short role by Gale Gordon as cantankerous Walter Seznick who lets his dog Queenie poop on Rumsfield's lawn.Ray notices strange goings on from new neighbours called The Klopeks which consists of 'The Doctor' Werner (Henry Gibson), Uncle Reuben (Brother Theodore) and his ungainly son called Hans (Courtney Gains). This starts a huge investigation by the suburbanites, especially when they discover Hans is driving the squelchy garbage out of his garage and bashes it into a bin with a stick. As time goes by, the investigations headed by Mark Rumsfield get more extreme as they understand Walter is missing and all that's left is his toupee . . .Okay, the film is a great comedy about social values and the way communities interact with each other (especially when an outsider comes on the scene). All actors play their parts very well. Tom Hanks plays his typical blasé character to perfection, Rick Ducommun and Bruce Dern are brilliant as enthusiastic Art and off-kilter Mark respectively. You know that these paranoid twosome are the driving forces in the film. Both showing some great character acting with some cracking lines . . ."I find one more . . . Just one . . . I'm gonna catch him and staple his ass shut" - Mark Rumsfield finding out the hard way that Queenie has been crapping on his lawn."'Bout a nine on the tension scale there, Reub." - Mark Rumsfield after Reuben responds dramatically after being asked whether his name was Slavik."Listen to your wife!?! Who listens to their wife?" - Arts way of trying to persuade Ray to his way of thinking."Ray! You're chanting! I wanna kill everyone. Satan is good, Satan is our pal . . . Once they get in here (points to head) it's over pal." - Art's response to Ray's refusal to listen to him by sticking his fingers in his ears and talking over him.The ladies, soft and naive Bonnie and level-headed Carol are the counterfoil to the men's extreme child-like behaviour and do their bit to drive the plot along too (most notably inviting themselves face-to-face into the Klopeks house armed with a plate full of brownies).Ricky Butler's role is to stir the pot and goad Art and Mark on in their investigations(though they need little encouragement) and also to be a spectator for the events that unfurl (inviting his mates around to 'watch the show').Incidental bits like Ray throwing coffee all over the paperboy, Art blindly picking out some food from a bowl not knowing it's meant to be for the dog all help to flesh out the characters.Some great scenes involve Art and Mark (with half his face covered in shaving foam) sitting in a garbage truck looking through rubbish hoping to find a body part from the Klopeks and one hilarious roof pratfall made by Mark Rumsfield which causes him to release a shot from his gun and smash a car window.However, the film loses it's way in the end because it opts for the two endings in one which I think is a bit of a cop-out. What would have been nice is to see the film have two alternative endings - one showing the Klopeks to be innocent with the neighbours being the ones who are crazy, driven mad by their boring monotonous lives and the other ending showing the finale discovering that the Klopeks killed the Knapps in the end.I remember this film getting cinema coverage over here in the UK but don't remember it getting the acknowledgement it deserved. Still . . . Some of the best films don't.

"These Old Guys Never Go Anywhere Without Their Hair."

Once Upon A Less-Enlightened Time (the 1980's, of course), Tom Hanks was regarded as a comedic actor...and despite the universal acclaim (and the Oscars) he's received since making "Big" a far more serious film than surely it was intended to be, I STILL think he has betrayed his true talent.
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This movie, as well as "Bachelor Party", "The Money Pit" and the role he had as Dan Aykroyd's co-star in "Dragnet" confirm just how talented Hanks was as a comic actor (you can include "Stand-Up", if you want...but that was really more of a tragic role); I wish he still made movies like this.
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Soapbox rantings aside, this movie is hilarious...I think about it every time I mow my yard for the 10,000th time and see someone new moving into the neighborhood. Think of every suburban cliche' you've ever heard of...it's in this movie somewhere. The Supporting cast, as mentioned in other reviews, is also incredibly engaging...even Corey Feldman is good (when's the last time you ever heard someone say that? He wasn't even good in "The Lost Boys"), and Bruce Dern is terrific in the role that might well have gone to Christopher Walken had he been just a bit older at the time. Rick Ducommun ("Art's got a gun") must have been the role model for a particular softball-playing boss I worked for a few years ago, and Carrie Fisher is perfect as Hanks' long-suffering wife.
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In short, this is great 1980's comedy fare from the "Don't Worry, Be Happy" portion of the decade...don't take it too seriously, but by all means see this movie (particularly if you live "outside the perimeter").

all time great

This film is one of my alltime favorites that falls somewhere in the top ten. There is no oscar performance here, just plain old fun with a memorable cast. This film does a great job of dealing with social/cultural differences and fears in a light hearted fashion using a cauldesac as their location. Its on the dark comedy side but leaves you feeling happy.

A very good action/comedy movie

This movie was one of the best for it's time, and still is. Tom Hanks played a good role in this movie, as well as the others.If you haven't seen this movie, you're missing out.

an underrated hitchcockian comedy masterpiece

THE 'BURBS is another one of those movies that just never seems to get the kind of recognition it deserves. Having seen the film many times, my appreciation for it only grows with every consecutive viewing. My respect for its director, the darkly witty Joe Dante, also grows with leaps and bounds. A film that may be written off as campy 80's schlock at its first viewing, closer inspection inevitably reveals something more calculating and sinister. Dante has managed to harness suburban paranoia and turn it against his audience, making them see things that may or may not be there.
His direction also successfully captures the growing paranoia within his on-screen characters, and it seems like the neighborhood becomes darker and more sinister as the movie progresses. Through all of this he maintains the ambiguity of the focus of the paranoia, the Klopeks. Are they murderers or not? Almost the entire movie can be viewed from either perspective, as the answer is only revealed at the very end of the movie. All the elements are very reminscent of another director who turned fear and paranoia against his audience numerous times in numerous ingenious films. That director is of course Alfred Hitchcock. The term "hitchcockian" has been thrown around enough times, many times quite undeservedly. In THE 'BURBS, the term finds a perfect home in a movie that would have done Hitch proud. Is THE 'BURBS campy? Yes. Is it dumb? Not remotely. Joe Dante weaves a intelligent narrative out of Dana olsen's shrewd script that holds us in with amusing characters and comic suspense. He guides us along, letting us see what we want to see, waiting for the true answer. That answer only comes at the very end of this aptly-described Hitchcockian film with an ending that is very -to coin a phrase- Dante-esque.

Funny

The 'Burbs is one of the funniest movies I've ever seen. The first time I saw it was shortly after it was released on video. This movie is unlike any other. The first time I saw it, I wasn't sure what to make of it. I mostly thought it was weird. I wasn't sure if the tone of the movie was supposed to be serious or funny. Now, after having seen it many times, I realize that there is nothing serious about this movie. I think all the critics who gave it bad reviews just didn't understand it.This is one of those movies that can be watched over and over again and it just seems to get funnier, especially when watching with people who also appreciate it. This movie has become something of a cult film in my family. All my siblings can quote the many, classic one-liners. Some examples that will bring smiles to the faces of 'Burbs lovers:"I've never seen anybody drive their garbage down to the end of the street and bang the hell out of it with a stick. I-I've never seen that.""Klopek. What is that, Slavic?""In Vietnam we used to call this sort of thing bad karma.""Sure was damp today."I think the funniest scene is when they go visit the Klopeks at their house so they can get to know them. The small talk they try to make ("How's the drainage on your property?") and the part with the pretzels and sardines and the accompanying sounds just makes me laugh. Anyhow, my whole family loves this movie and I suggest you see it. Watch with an open mind and don't take it at all serious.

Dana Olsen's ingenious screenplay, Joe Dante's skilled direction, Tom Hanks' brilliant comedic performance, and misguided reviews and general critical rejection make this movie perhaps the most underapprecia

Dana Olsen's script is amazingly witty, and Joe Dante's incredible direction brings it to life with remarkable energy and humor. Tom Hanks is at his comedic best in this film, so much so that if I had any pull with the MPAA I'd have given him an Oscar back in '89. The rest of the cast is superb as well, and each of the characters is so well defined you feel like you know them. Even Jerry Goldsmith's score is a riot. I've seen this movie quite a few times and remain in awe at how sharp and funny it is with every viewing. Ray Peterson's awkward and nervous behavior in the Klopek's house is one of the most subtley funny things I've ever seen on film. Tom Hanks is a comedic genius! I cannot comprehend how Washington Post critic Hal Hinson can call The 'Burbs "...not remotely, momentarily, intermittently, or otherwise funny." He is simply dead wrong. See it for yourself, and appreciate the high-caliber of this movie by watching it over and over. You'll pick more things up the more you watch it.

a great throw back movie

Classic!
This is a favorite. Quirky and stylized, the film ranges from over-the-top to subtle. Perfectly cast, it's a comedic romp where the leads are almost as fiendish as the adversaries. It never did much box office, but it's now almost a cult pick.

Back when Tom Hanks was fun to watch

Before Tom Hanks got all serious and delusional under the guidance of Steven Speilsburg, he had a long string of enjoyable comedies in the 80's. The Burbs is a good ol' 80's flick in the same fun vein as Volunteers, Splash, and Bachelor Party.

Well the 80's are gone forever (sniff sniff), but the movies live on. The Burbs is about a typical American neighborhood that just got some weird neighbors. You got the 'Doctor', 'Hans', and the rest of the ghoulish gang. The whole neighborhod thinks they murdered and sacrificed an elderly neighbor (who's really at the hospital).Carrie Fisher is great as Tom's wife, however the big breasted blonde housewife steals every scene she's in.


Some good laughs in this one.

Better after repeated viewings-satire, not reality

This satire, taking place entirely inside an upscale cul-de-sac, relies on it's setting and subject matter to drive it's points home.

I think it does the job fairly well, with amusing characters, jabbing at life in suburbia in a way that rings true to reality and offering a huge dose of ridiculous comic relief that makes for an enjoyable, fun movie.

If you take the movie for what it is, you can be entertained and even amused by the sly, serious points it attempts to make, amid some improbable clutter!

Alltime favourite

Absolute best comedy ever!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! There was never a comedy with a camera like that, joke after joke, best casted acteurs and a Tom Hanks brilliant as never before or again. What about "The return of the burbs"?!?!?!?! A world like this needs fun and comedy! Tom please return 2 the comedy sector again!

Favorable and honest.

The Burbs is a very clever and amusing movie. It is also very underrated. I greatly enjoyed it, and think that anyone who gives this movie an honest try will enjoy it too. Tom Hanks,Bruce Dern, Carrie Fisher, Rick Ducoman (spelling?), Corey Feldman, and all the other actors, are at their best. And the actors who play the Klopeks are hilarious. The acting and writing is top-notch and the timing is well done, as are the special effects. It's got to be admitted that Tom Hanks hasn't made a bad movie, and though some are better than others, The Burbs is probably one of his best comedies. I strongly advise everyone to see this movie, and to go out and rent it if you don't want to own it.

The Greatest Comedy Movie Ever!!!!!!!!

This is my all time favorite comedy movie. I never got a chance to see it when it originally came out in the theater although I wish I had. The acting in this movie is great and has some of the funniest lines that I've ever heard. This movie won't make sense if your trying to find some hidden meaning or insight. It's just plain fun. I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys a good laugh. 10 out of 10. :):). Enjoy!!!!!!!!