Critic Reviews
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Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times
A long shaggy dog story.
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Fernando F. Croce, CinePassion
Dante's excoriating view of homegrown isolationism is as profound and misunderstood as Spielberg's in 1941
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Widgett Walls, Needcoffee.com
Moderately amusing comedy with a nice twist.
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Ken Hanke, Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC)
Lots of in-jokes and a few agreeable moments.
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Scott Weinberg, eFilmCritic.com
A weird and misshapen farce, but there's something going on here beyond simple goofiness.
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Shane Burridge, rec.arts.movies.reviews
Works effectively as a kind of goofy homage to suburbanites
Read all 6 critic reviews
Featured Audience Ratings
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This comedy shows Tom Hanks at his early best, as him and his friends are trying to investigate the disappearance of a neighbor and the new oddball family that moved in next door. The film has little flattering things to say about the so called normal suburb life and its picket… More
This comedy shows Tom Hanks at his early best, as him and his friends are trying to investigate the disappearance of a neighbor and the new oddball family that moved in next door. The film has little flattering things to say about the so called normal suburb life and its picket fences. At the same time, it's hard not to like these narrow-minded and silly characters. The plot is smart enough not to reveal if they are just seeing ghosts or if evil has been moving in next door. It's just good 80s kind of fun to see things develop and turn into a whole lot of mess.
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Dante is one of my favourite directors, and I remember absolutely loving this comedy about a strange new family that moves into the neighbourhood, but I can't seem to remember it too well. I need to re-watch this one.
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One of the best early films from Tom Hanks, The Burbs is a terrific horror comedy with plenty of laughs. The Burbs is actually a great film for non horror fans to watch because its scary elements are used purely for comical effect.
The film surrounds neighbors who have to deal with a… More
One of the best early films from Tom Hanks, The Burbs is a terrific horror comedy with plenty of laughs. The Burbs is actually a great film for non horror fans to watch because its scary elements are used purely for comical effect.
The film surrounds neighbors who have to deal with a weird family that has moved into the neighborhood. Tom Hanks plays Ray Peterson the neighbor of the new family, The Klopeks. Ray gets more and more involved during his vacation into investigating the family next door. At first, he suspects something strange as Ray comes out and sees strange flashing lights and a strange roaring sound. It's not soon after that his neighbors start suspecting the strangest things that are happening next door to ray's place. Art is the neighbor who's interests are primarily in conspiracies and other odd stuff. Mark Rumsfield is the paranoid Vietnam veteran and Ricky Butler is the neighborhood teen who tries to impress his friends with the strange ongoings in his neighborhood due to his neighbors investigating the odd family, the Klopeks. The Burbs is yet another terrific film by director Joe Dante who directed Gremlins and Piranha. The film will definitely appeal to Horror genre fans and is one of the best Horror comedies to come out during the 80's. Dante's colorful cast do a great job, and the film is as equally funny as it is tense. A terrific, underrated gem of a film The Burbs is a film not to miss. If you love light hearted horror and mystery mixed with great comedy, then this is a film that will definitely appeal to you.
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this movie is fuckin cool....
i gave it two thumbs up & a one erected penis!
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Perhaps one of the best comedies of its time. Tom Hanks leads an all star cast of comedians in this exquisitely bizarre look at suburbia and collective paranoia. The story is unique and perfectly told. It is harmless, yet surprisingly memorable.
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Classic 80's comedy and one of the only times Tom Hanks was funny.
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I watched this so much when I was in high school, its lost alittle of its bite in time but its still ooky and spooky.the cast is perfect, Hanks in his golden comedy era, and I love the way they snoop around all the time. Thing is when yr a kid, we all did this right? mess around in… More
I watched this so much when I was in high school, its lost alittle of its bite in time but its still ooky and spooky.the cast is perfect, Hanks in his golden comedy era, and I love the way they snoop around all the time. Thing is when yr a kid, we all did this right? mess around in the garden and creep over next doors fence hee hee
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A great dark comedy about a guy spying on his neighbour and begins to think they are up to no good. One of Tom Hank's best earlier films.
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Dark, sinister and damn funny, I miss Tom Hanks in these sort of roles.
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While Mr Hanks didn't win an Oscar for this movie perhaps Bruce Dern should've won one for it? It's got Dern as a psychotic military vet, Princess Leia, one of the Coreys (Feldman) and Henry Gibson before he was telling William H Macy not to confuse children with angels… More
While Mr Hanks didn't win an Oscar for this movie perhaps Bruce Dern should've won one for it? It's got Dern as a psychotic military vet, Princess Leia, one of the Coreys (Feldman) and Henry Gibson before he was telling William H Macy not to confuse children with angels in a bar. It's not particularly funny, but it is just entertaining enough to have good replay value.
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I really enjoyed this. Way more than I expected.
Joe Dante once again makes a fun film filled with homages. Patton, Leone and the Sentinel just to name a few.
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Classic goofy Tom Hanks. Not much to the film but entertaining. Spectacular acting from Corey Feldman.
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Great early Hanks and Bruce fucking Dern.
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The excellent cast give this 100%, Bruce Dern especially, but "The 'Burbs" does not represent Joe Dante at his most inspired. The plot is very slight indeed and the most remarkable thing about the film is that Dante managed to get a major studio to finance it. Jokey… More
The excellent cast give this 100%, Bruce Dern especially, but "The 'Burbs" does not represent Joe Dante at his most inspired. The plot is very slight indeed and the most remarkable thing about the film is that Dante managed to get a major studio to finance it. Jokey movie references are never a bad thing, but there must be something amiss when the best thing I can remember about the whole film is a Spaghetti Western-esque close-up of a fluffy white dog's eyes. Good work from composer Jerry Goldsmith and Henry Gibson, effortlessly creepy as the head of the suspicious Klopek family.
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Forgotten gem from Joe Dante.
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if not the worst movie tom hanks ever made certainly in contention
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This is a pretty funny comedy starring Tom Hanks before he became such a huge star of the serious movies. You can see his abilities shine through in some scenes. It is a pretty silly movie with a cast that is pretty out there but it's fun and doesn't take itself too… More
This is a pretty funny comedy starring Tom Hanks before he became such a huge star of the serious movies. You can see his abilities shine through in some scenes. It is a pretty silly movie with a cast that is pretty out there but it's fun and doesn't take itself too seriously.
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I always thought Joe Dante was hideously over-rated, and this is typical of his stuff. A kind of comic version of Rear Window, it doesn't work as suspense, and it isn't funny. So what's the point?
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really great flick, classic old school tom hanks
Read all 20 featured audience ratings
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