Amazon.com: Ray Peterson (Tom Hanks) would like nothing better than to spend a quiet week's vacation in his suburban home, drinking beer and watching TV. But, spurred on by his two friends' spinning of boyish paranoid fantasies about their reclusive neighbors, the Klopeks, the usually down-to-earth Ray begins to suspect his idyllic neighborhood has been invaded by an evil force, to the point where he and his friends become psychotically nosey. You see where this is going, and you see it from a mile off. Only the general surface-thin plot is somewhat offset by director Joe Dante's fine sense of the absurd, and a host of engagingly played neighbor-types, namely Rick Ducommun as Ray's best friend who's always proposing bad ideas, and Bruce Dern as a sometimes wild-eyed ex-vet who'd love some action. Dante and crew seem to have a knack for keeping these broad characterizations light enough that you don't mind their superficiality. But the best jokes in this unprepossessing film come from composer Jerry Goldsmith's score; Bruce Dern's presence, for instance, is announced by the theme from Patton, and the boys' first approach to the Klopeks' for a meet-and-greet is buttressed by classic strains from Sergio Leone spaghetti Westerns. Kudos to the Klopeks, for their evil ways are ably embodied by Henry Gibson, Courtney Gains, and Brother Theodore. In particular, any suburb that finds it's inhabited by the likes of Brother Theodore is in dire need of new zoning laws. But Carrie Fisher's role as Ray's amiably long-suffering wife is thankless, and she deserves better. --Jim Gay
Product Description: A suburbanite cancels his vacation trip to help keep watch on his creepy new neighbor. When a grouchy neighbor disappears the watch group descends on the suspect house. Genre: Feature Film-Comedy Rating: PG Release Date: 3-JUN-2003 Media Type: DVD
When Neighborhoods Fight Back This is a superbly farcical dark comedy. There are, surprisingly, many layers of subtle humor in this otherwise madcap comedy. It may take a number of times watching this movie before you begin to see some of the more subtle jokes that often happen in the background.
As always, Tom Hanks is great, but the supporting cast does an equally superb job in their respective roles: the former soldier across the street; the childish, simplistic neighbor who drags the world down to his level; the longsuffering wife; the stoner teen. They just culminate in a cast that makes this movie eminently watchable.
This one is a great movie for a Friday the 13th party if you want a semi-dark movie that is still funny.
Beyond strange. The 'Burbs is one of the strangest films starring Tom Hanks. Parts of this dark comedy are good and funny but mostly this film is a mess. Hanks saves this film and Carrie Fisher is pretty good as well but the plot is bizzarre. I won't give away too much but expect a quirky tale, I think I like Corey Feldman, it's a sick 1980s crush, give The 'Burbs a viewing soon.
GOOD MOVIE THIS HAS BEEN MY ALL TIME FAVORITE MOVIE IN THE WORLD. AND COULDN'T FIND IT NO WHERE!! TILL I LOOKED ON AMAZON AND TADA! THERE IS WAS AND I HAD TO BUY IT.. IT CAME UNDAMAGED..
classic hanks and a classic 80's flick Hanks' rant at the end ("WE'RE the wierdos!") is awesome. As is all the performances in this movie. That Corey kid is pretty damn annoying, but that was his role in pretty much every movie he's ever been in (with Stand By Me as the obvious exception).
My favorite quote: "I'm gonna kill everyone, Satan is good, Satan is my PAL..."
The intro to the movie that goes from the Universal Studios logo/animation and zooms in to the 'burbs is a personal favorite sequence of the movie.
The burbs This is a terrific Tom Hanks film. It's one of his best and my family loves to see it repeatedly. We never tire of it, it's hysterical!
Anything Goes Trivia
Trevor
Megaton Man
