User Reviews

[SPOILER ALERT: This review contains spoilers.]

Life amongst the white middle class at the dawn of the 1990s, as seen through the exaggerated eye of a super-powered magnifying glass. Tom Hanks plays the lead, a meek all-American dad who's plagued by quirky neighbors throughout his long-awaited staycation. There's a lot of truth at the core of these characters, who should seem quite familiar to anyone who's ever so much as visited a similar neighborhood, but their personalities are so thoroughly overinflated that at some point they cross a hidden line and become straight-up cartoon characters. The story, which seems to have plenty of fuel to burn in setting alone, is strangely preoccupied with other things. What seems like a simple side story (about the creepy neighbors in the big, spooky, haunted house) instead dominates the entire picture, taking the film in weird, obsessive directions. Hanks is good as the weary everyman, deeply curious but terrified of confrontation, and he enjoys good help from his supporting cast. Carrie Fisher, Bruce Dern and Rick Ducommun work well together as the not-quite-cordial neighborhood welcoming committee. It's strange to see Corey Feldman, just four years removed from The Goonies, as a hard-drinking, home-owning Spicoli clone, but it works for him. Excessively nutty and silly like any number of the era's comedies, if perhaps somewhat genre-confused.

I have feelings about this movie. I like most of it. I thought it was a funny kind of dark comedy and some points and I really enjoyed themes about what if this weird people from the European regions are evil it just felt like a funny kind of movie but the ending took me completely out of it.I really like the characters. They feel like cartoon characters not very subtle at all. They feel like stereotypes, but in the funny way like I'm watching some cartoon of it and all the promises are spot on and a look of the movie is good I can almost feel the weird superb vibes from the **** the way it shot the way they do it the entry the feeling of slowly going insane. It's just really nice, but I last f** 10 minutes of the movie take me me just out of it. It's just so sad it took it from 7 out of 10 to 5 out of 10 to **** I would recommend it maybe you don't get pissed off by the ending like I did but I really do like the movie, but it's just sits in the sad place because of the last five minutes.

This is one of my go-to shows where I can rewatch and be entertained every damn time. This is one of my top 5 movies of all time. Burb's is one of those times when everything comes together and filmmaking magic happens. The script, the acting, the story. All so incredibly well done.

Honestly, a good movie. The primary trio of lads are hilarious and endearing. Acting is excellent. It is a corny film, but it is entertaining. Other than the second act being a little dry, I really liked it.

This is my second favourite Joe Dante's movie after "The Howling". I really enjoyed this thrilling suburban crime movie that mix at least four different genres resulting entertaining and balanced. Only good directors can shot a movie like this.

Its quirky attitude and Joe Dante's direction are all welcome in making a sometimes intriguing, exaggerated world, but "The Burbs" is held back by a highly predictable plot and use of clichés.

The Burbs is a 1980s cult classic and well deserves it. The relativity of nosey neighbors and paranoid behavior amongst newcomers settles well in middle America, and provides a comedic outlook on a grim topic. Whether the actors be A list or B list, they "B" cast well in their respective roles. An absolutely entertaining movie for anyone who enjoys a mildly thrilling comedy.

In this film, situational comedy reigns as a trio of crazy neighbours get together to discover what is going on with a family that has just arrived and no one knows yet, but that totally clashes with them. They get to the point of ridicule, entering each other's houses, rummaging through personal possessions and stirring up the most absurd theories about new neighbours. It is a film that it's not for me and I did not find it funny, but rather a little offensive. I do not belong to that culture. I will never understand the American suburban mentality with open lawns, open doors, neighbours who strangely see themselves present at the door of newcomers, with welcome gifts and who seem willing to, amicably, meddle in each other's lives under cover of the friendliest and most well-intentioned thoughts. Starting from this premise of natural cultural difference, I look at this film with some incredulity and, sometimes, shock. A welcome commission on arriving at a new home? It seems absurd to me. Have the worry of introducing myself to my new neighbours? I was never going to do it in my life. Seeing a neighbour invade my home or my private life because they think something strange is going on? Poor guy, he signed his death sentence! For me, situations like those in this film, even the simplest ones, seem unbelievable. For me, an open lawn is an invitation to enter, so the higher the wall and the sharper the barbs on top of it, the better. And a good neighbour is the one who gives me the least trouble. I don't care if I don't know his name or he doesn't give me the good days, as long as he stays in his corner and leaves me in peace and quiet in my corner. It's my culture, it's the world where I was raised, and where that neighbourhood culture doesn't exist. But this film is all about it and shows the sense of community that exists in some American neighbourhoods, where hypocrisy goes hand-in-hand with mutual assistance, as can be seen in the way everyone is concerned about the disappearance of an older character, the same they used to be angry with when his dog poop on their lawn. A sense of community that creates patterns and makes everyone follow similar lives, ostracizing or taxing as “weirdos” all those who choose to put themselves out, live a more reserved life or simply adopt different habits. The film stinks of satire, in fact, and it seems a harsh criticism of that way of thinking, but it is a criticism that is not funny to me. Tom Hanks is the main actor, and literally carries the film on his shoulders as he is the best and most talented in the cast. In any case, the characters are stereotypes or just pure comedy figures. There is no depth or complexity, and the work of each actor is simplified to a minimum: saying the lines, making laugh and looking funny. Next to Hanks is a good supporting cast, with strong comedy figures like Rick Ducommun, Bruce Dern and Bruce Dern, as well as a more restrained but very effective Carrie Fisher. Everyone did a good job. The film is not notable for its technical aspects or production values, but the sets and special effects worked very well and helped a lot in the comic effect. For those who like silly comedies and cardboard characters, just to spend some time, this film should work very well. I had a lot of difficulties with this film, I felt the culture and mental clash but I recognize that its not a bad film, although it is totally forgettable.

Only seen this film once, Tom Hanks gives a good performance in The Burbs and so do a few others. The problem for me is this films storyline could of been better and it could of been funnier and more entertaining. It's a weak film with a weak formula that doesn't really work aswell as it could have.

I remember watching this movie at least a dozen times, the way it was set it one area was quite masterfully executed, you never leave the neighborhood, which helps keep your attention focused on the plot, and the quality of the actors, and the comedy, I know people did not like this movie back when it came out, but I loved it, the music was masterfully put together and unforgettable, the characters are introduced and you immediately feel like your part of the neighborhood, and you are watching the story unfold, the ending was sort of shocking, and there are many funny moments in the movie, and I like the dynamic that the actors have working off of each other in many of the comedic situations.