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Planes, Trains and Automobiles |  | Actors: Steve Martin, John Candy, Olivia Burnette, Kevin Bacon, Diana Castle
Studio: Paramount
Category: DVD
List Price: $12.98
Buy Used: $3.38
as of 9/8/2010 23:09 CDT details
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New (14) Used (38) from $3.38
Seller: goHastings
Rating:  303 reviews
Sales Rank: 14263
Format: Dolby, Widescreen, NTSC
Language: English (Original Language)
Rating: R (Restricted)
Region: 1
Discs: 1
Running Time: 93 Minutes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.3
Dimensions (in): 7.5 x 5.3 x 0.6
MPN: PARD320364D
ISBN: 0792167066
UPC: 097363203643
EAN: 9780792167068
ASIN: B00003CXC0
Theatrical Release Date: 1987
Release Date: November 21, 2000
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
AN AD EXEC AND A SHOWER-CURTAIN-RING SALESMAN BECOMECO-TRAVELERS ON THE WAY TO THANKSGIVING IN CHICAGO.
Amazon.com essential video
Given the presence of both Steve Martin and John Candy, one would expect this John Hughes comedy to be much, much funnier than it is. Certainly it's not for lack of effort on the part of its stars. Martin is an uptight businessman trying to get home from New York for the holidays. But one thing after another gets in his way--most of it having to do with Candy, a boorish but well-meaning boob who takes a liking to him. Together they travel all over the map; no matter how hard Martin tries to shake him, he can't. But Hughes's writing is never as sharp as it should be and this film winds up being only intermittently humorous. --Marshall Fine
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Showing reviews 1-5 of 303
 What Could Possibly Go Wrong? September 4, 2010
Siklootd (Santa Fe, NM)
"Planes, Trains and Automobiles" is a truly unique, and hilarious viewing experience. The entire film fuels the comedic needs of the audience by supplying enough variety in the punchlines and enough tension and build up to lead to truly hysterical moments rarely seen in films. Prior to this film, Steve Martin already had a very established and recognizable name within the comedy genre of films with movies such as "Little Shop of Horrors" and "The Man With Two Brains" already under his belt. The late, great, John Candy, a legend for the comedy world, also was entering this film riding the success of several past films, including "Spaceballs", "Little Shop of Horrors" and "The Blues Brothers". The two actors truly shine in "Planes, Trains and Automobiles" and their chemistry in the film is truly outstanding.
The movie begins by showing Neal Page (Steve Martin) in a New York office, awaiting the final decision from his boss regarding a cover shot for an advertisement at the advertising company in which he works at. With every passing second, Neal is becoming more and more frustrated, since he is already running late for his flight back to Chicago to meet his family for Thanksgiving weekend. When he's finally free from his job, he begins his mad rush to the airport, having to fight the crowds of the crowded New York streets, and fight fellow civilians for the few free cabs that are roaming the streets. Upon getting to a cab, just in time, he is forced to buy the cab from the man currently occupying it. During their negotiations with one another, another man (John Candy) takes it upon himself to steal the cab and leave.
Out of money that he used to pay for the cab that he didn't even get, Neal is more frustrated than before. He arrives at the airport to find out that the man who stole his cab, Del Griffith (John Candy) is going to be on the same flight as him. Neal's luck gets worse, since he ends up sitting next to Del on the flight, leaving him to put up with Del's constant talking throughout the trip. Their flight touches down in Wichita, and cannot fly to Chicago until the snow blizzard there clears up, leaving Neal stranded at the airport. He agrees to stay with Del at a local hotel, a decision he later regrets.
The rest of the film focuses around the bad luck that the two men face trying to get back to Chicago. From a train breaking down on the tracks, to not being able to find a rental car, driving the wrong way on the interstate, and blowing up a car, Neal and Del go through the worst case scenarios in some of the worst circumstances a traveler could possibly face. Despite their constant fighting, and blaming of one another for the misfortunes they are experiencing, Neal and Del eventually bond and realize that in order to get to Chicago, the two men must put their differences aside and work with one another no matter what.
The film features many hilarious scenes, including the hotel scene where Steve Martin and John Candy awake from an awkward spooning session. Steve Martin's reaction to the rent-a-car employee is sure to provide some laughs, and the entire highway scene is one of the stand out scenes of the entire film. The deleted scene that focuses around the flight on the airplane is worth checking out, and adds its own spark of hilarity to the film.
"Planes, Trains and Automobiles" is a film that will please fans of classic comedy movies, and fans of the comedy genre in general. Anyone who enjoys either Steve Martin or John Candy is doing themselves a huge injustice by not viewing this film. The interaction between the two actors is what truly makes this film enjoyable, and it still stands to this day as one of the greatest films that either man was ever in.
"80's Classic!" August 9, 2010
Gregorypwilson (Syracuse, NY USA)
Steve Martin and John Candy star in this 1987 John Hughes comedy.
Two strangers meet and travel together to get home for Thanksgiving.
I love this film and Steve and John were terrific together. I'm so glad
to have this on dvd that not only has nice picture and sound, but
neat extras. I highly recommend this 80's classic.
 The letters in the title of "Planes, Trains and Automobiles" roar across the screen like a streamliner, and the movie itself has July 11, 2010
...the same confidence. The movie tells the story of two travelers who share a modest wish in life, to fly from LaGuardia to O'Hare on schedule, and it follows with complete logic the chain of events that leads them to share a soggy bed in a cheap motel in Wichita, Kan.
The travelers are played by Steve Martin and John Candy, Martin as the fastidious, anal-compulsive snob and Candy as the big, unkempt shower-ring salesman with a weakness for telling long stories without punchlines. Both actors are perfectly cast, not so much because they are physically matched to their roles as because the movie is able to see past their differences to an essential sweetness they share.
The film was written and directed by John Hughes, who previously has specialized in high-quality teenage movies, such as "Sixteen Candles" and "The Breakfast Club." One hallmark of Hughes' work is his insistence that his characters have recognizable human qualities; he doesn't work with a cookie cutter, and the teenage roles he wrote for Molly Ringwald, Emilio Estevez, Ally Sheedy, Matthew Broderick and others helped transform Holywood's idea of what a teenage movie could be. Hughes' comedies al ways contain a serious undercurrent, attention to some sort of universal human dilemma that his screenplay helps to solve.
All of which may seem a million miles away from Steve Martin and John Candy, whom we left on that beer-soaked mattress in Kansas. ("You should have known what would happen when you left a six-pack on a vibrating mattress," Martin nitterly complains.) But "Planes, Trains and Automobiles" is a screwball comedy with a heart, and after the laughter is over the film has generated a lot of good feeling.
The story opens in Manhattan, a few days before Thanksgiving, when Candy grabs a taxi that Martin thought was his. The two men meet again at a departure lounge at LaGuardia, where their flight to Chicago has been delayed by bad weather. Martin immediately recognizes the other man as the SOB who got his cab, and inevitably, when they finally board the plane, he finds himself bumped out of first class and wedged into the center seat next to the ample Candy.
The flight eventually takes off, only to be diverted to Wichita, where Candy has enough connections through the shower-ring business to get them a room - one room with one bed. This is the beginning of a two-day nightmare for the fastidious Martin, who at one point screams at Candy that he snores and smokes, his socks smell and his jokes aren't funny.
How bad are Candy's jokes? Martin shows no mercy. He'd rather attend an insurance seminar than listen to one more of them. During Martin's long outburst, the camera holds on Candy's face, and we see that he is hurt, not offended. He only wants to please, to make friends. And, as usual, he has tried too hard.
The next morning, back at the Wichita airport, Martin tries to dump Candy, but fate has linked them together. Through a series of horrible misadventures on trains, buses, semi-trailer trucks and automobiles, they end up on a highway somewhere in southern Illinois, trying to explain to a state trooper why they are driving a car that has not only crashed, but burned.
There are a lot of big laughs in "Trains, Planes and Automobiles," including the moment when the two men wake up cuddled together in the motel room, and immediately leap out of bed and begin to make macho talk about the latest Bears game. The movie's a terrific comedy, but it's more than that, because eventually Hughes gives the Martin and Candy characters some genuine depth. We begin to understand the dynamics of their relationship, and to see that although they may be opposites, they have more in common than they know.
This is a funny movie, but also a surprisingly warm and sweet one.
A worthy upgrade of one of the all time greatest holiday movies June 3, 2010
oldpink (Indiana, US)
When I first saw this movie about twenty years ago, I was just knocked out by how perfect it was, with the very funny Steve Martin and the late great John Candy getting the most out of John Hughes's brilliant script.
Hughes was very clever in writing a script that had so much humor wrapped around an incredibly touching core story, because those brief moments of seriousness are all the more powerful.
The story in brief is that Steve Martin (character name Neil Page) has been working away from home for an extended period and runs into an endless string of transportation woes trying to return to his home in the Chicago area.
He incidentally runs into John Candy (character name Dell Griffith), a gregarious, annoying, chatty traveling salesman.
Did I mention that Dell seems to have a hint of loneliness about him?
Dell joins Neil by trying to help him in his quest to get back home, but all manner of problems arise, such as foul weather diverting their flight, train breakdowns, and (funniest of all) a missing rental car.
Watch for the very funny Edie McClurq in the famous scene with that missing rental car.
Neil would rather ditch the annoying Dell and go it alone, but somehow he winds up in all manner of incredibly funny situations with him, including the one that gave this special edition its name that is honestly one of the funniest in film history.
As I said, this is a comedy, but there are some serious moments that are only enhanced by the humor, including the one near the end that I consider the climax of the story.
I won't spoil it for you, but it is the main reason that I look at this as something so much more than a funny movie.
You'll laugh, and (yes, corny, I know) you'll cry, and you won't mind doing it, either.
This movie is just THAT good.
An interesting personal observation I have is that - just as with the movie "The Shawshank Redemption" - all the people I know of who have seen it love it.
I have yet to hear from anyone who did not like it.
I also wanted to briefly detail the extra features this has over the stock and stripped down original DVD release.
First, the original release only had the movie and the trailer...nothing else.
This special edition has some extra features, including:
1) Getting There is Half the Fun: The Story of Planes Trains and Automobiles - a very nice interview with Candy, Martin, and John Hughes about the making of the movie, plus some of the cast and crew talking about the entire process.
2) Deleted Scene - "Airplane Food" - This one runs for about five minutes, and it has some humor, but I can definitely see why they chose to edit it out for the finished product. I still enjoyed it for the bit of extra interplay between Martin and Candy.
3) John Hughes for Adults - a very good tribute to director/writer John Hughes
4) A Tribute to John Candy - MAJOR kudos to the DVD producers for adding this moving tip of the hat to the real star of this movie. Even now, the casting directors nearly choke up on camera talking about his incredible performance, especially that key scene I mentioned above.
Also, this is mixed in full Dolby Digital 5.1 sound, so the airplanes passing Steve Martin as he stomps down the runway really sound terrific, among other things.
The only thing really missing from this is a commentary track, but since Candy and Hughes are now both deceased, the chances for that are very remote indeed.
Considering how glad I was to have the tributes to both men, I happily trade the commentary for the recognition of both for their great talent.
Anyone who has not seen this movie before really owes it to himself (or herself) to buy this one, since you will want to watch this over again through the years; it is just that good.
Anyone who has already seen it would do well to get this version, as it will probably be definitive until a Blu-Ray comes out.
Trust me, you won't regret this one, folks!
review for planes, trains and automobiles (those aren't pillows edtion) May 4, 2010
George S. Webber (Calgary,Alberta,Canada)
simply put,this is as good as it gets as far as a comedy goes.John Candy and Steve Martin are absolutely brilliant as they play off each other.it's just laugh after laugh after laugh.and it was so nice to see the deleted scene on the airplane where John Candy.. a) wouldn't shut up as opposed to Steve Martin wanting to just get some rest and have a little peace and quiet. and b) John Candy then taking off his socks and then waving them in front of Steve Martin's face....ha,ha,ha,ha,ha,ha,ha. and then at the very end of the movie they froze the frame of John Candy.....what a touching thing to do for such a beloved individual.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 303
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