Customer Ratings & Reviews

Great movie! Blu-ray looks good, although I probably should have waited for the 4k

I somehow literally lost my disc and needed to replace it. Great price for Blu-ray version; some are going for much more. As far as the movie... this is one of a handful of movies that were worth "upgrading" every time technology moved. Started out with VHS, then DVD, now Blu-ray. This has become to Thanksgiving what Christmas Story became to Christmas! What more can you say... State Trooper: Do you have any idea how fast you were going? Del: Well, funnily enough, I was just talking to my friend about that. Our speedometer has melted and as a result it's very hard to say with any degree of accuracy exactly how fast we were going.

John Hughes wrote/directed this movie which was a clear departure from his teen movies. Steve Martin and John Candy are firing on all cylinders (automobiles...get it?). Funny and touching.

Hilarious movie that includes a DVD, Blu Ray, and a digital copy. What more could one ask for? There are some nice extras too.

A classic Christmas comedy that will make your hands all warm and toasty as if they were between two pillows...

I would like to offer something more substantive than how much I love this movie or how I watch it every Thanksgiving as other reviewers have offered. This John Hughes directed, produced, and written film is a far departure from many of the alleged comedies that grace the movie theatres these days that rely on gross out humor, sexual innuendo amped up to ten, or situations that are stretched to wildly fantastic levels of absurdity. Planes, Trains and Automobiles is an old school comedy with a message about finding friendship in unexpected places. Neil Page (Steve Martin) plays an uptight advertising executive trying to get home to his family in Chicago for Thanksgiving. Page’s plans and attitude changes when he meets the loveable, if somewhat grating shower curtain ring salesman Del Griffith (John Candy). Through a series of spectacular incidents, the polar opposites become bonded together as they make their way throughout the Midwest in an effort to get Neil home for Thanksgiving. Beyond having two comedy masters in Candy and Martin and the grand vision of John Hughes, Planes, Trains, and Automobiles succeeds in my view because the situation is highly realistic---I mean who hasn’t had a trip that hasn’t gone according to plan? The viewer feels like he could be one of these characters either the desperate to get home Neil Page who wants time with his family or Del Griffith who is desperate for a friend or in a broader sense a home.

"THOSE AREN'T PILLOWS!!" There are a lot of classic Halloween/horror movies and plenty of Christmas movies, but not too many Thanksgiving ones. Follow Steve Martin's Neal Page character as he tries to get home to his family for Thanksgiving. Neal bumps into John Candy's Del Griffith and they travel together. Unfortunately, anything that can go wrong does... One of Steve Martin and John Candy's best films. Written and directed by John Hughes who also did The Breakfast Club, Weird Science, Ferries Bueller's Day Off and many other classic 80's movies... Definitely one to own. (Especially since Neal's rant at the car rental counter is edited on TV!) Looks great on Blu-Ray and has some good bonus material.

Can't go wrong with a classic. The legendary late John Candy with the hilarious Steve Martin is a duo that should have been explored more.

Christmas movies are a dime a dozen. You could literally fill multiple RedBox machines with Halloween movies alone, but there is only a handful of films set during Thanksgiving, and Planes, Trains & Automobiles has the market cornered. How? Well... Let me tell you a tale of two John's and a Steve. 2 days before Thanksgiving, Neal Page (Steve Martin) is in New York trying to get to the airport to fly home to Chicago and prepare for Thanksgiving with his family. Of course, nothing goes right after he steps foot out on the streets, chasing for a cab, losing $75 to a lawyer but having the cab stolen from right under his nose, to a delay in his flight. While waiting for his flight, he meets the guy who stole his cab, Del Griffith (John Candy) a shower-curtain ring salesman. Unfortunately, a snowstorm in Chicago diverts their flight to Wichita, Kansas, where they team up to get home on time for the holidays, either by plane, or by train, or by automobile. But fate keeps them from getting anywhere fast, bonding in the process. This film was something different from the usual John Hughes fare. I'm not saying there was anything with the usual from Hughes, giving us classic films like Sixteen Candles, Ferris Bueller's Day Off and The Breakfast Club, but this was a big step above teenagers lives and moving into adulthood and eventually parenthood with his last few films, and Planes, Trains & Automobiles is arguably his best work. The main plot is getting home before Thanksgiving Day, so they can enjoy time with their loved ones. Simple enough, but its the character interactions and dialogue that makes this film what it is and where it really shines. I love the clever visual gags, the one-minute long f-bomb tirade unleashed by Martin's character is hilarious and the whole film is just filled with great comedy, but the heart helps the humor land without fault. Helping the film with the comedy and emotional core are two excellent leading performances by Martin and Candy, bouncing off each other extremely well. I was also surprised of how well they acted, able to breathe life into these characters. Take note: in the hotel scene, when Neal unleashes his frustrations of his bad day on Del, Candy just takes it and it's heartbreaking to see his face. His retort is classic, noting his flaws but wears them openly and without care. It takes skill to make us care for the characters and not hate them after an angry diatribe (Neal is visibly regretful with his speech) that Neal has spewed forth. John Hughes directs and with his signature style, and manages to make this film soar to the skies and above. Balancing drama and comedy is hard, but Hughes has always made it look so easy and continues his success here. His maturing style gives the film a better look and feel, while capably directing his actors and eeking out great work from all involved. The cinematography (C/O Don Peterman) is not fantastic, but this is more of a travelogue film, so its more of a journeyman look, which delivers in spades. The score is also very mediocre, with Ira Newborn giving a fairly lightweight track, mainly dominated by a synthesizer, but still manages to be memorable in its own right. The editing is great, the costumes evoking that warm, cozy look and the sets accurately capturing the cheap motel rooms and greasy spoons with aplomb. Moving onto the BluRay itself, we start off with the PQ. Paramount usually has terrific releases when it comes to their releases, even their catalog releases usually are decent at the very best. When I read that Footloose had a terrible, DNR'd mess of a BluRay (It had great sound and tons of extras to counterbalance the poor picture), it had me worried that Paramount was pulling a Universal and DNR-ing the living daylights out of everything. Fear not, as the picture here is decent but still has some flaws within. While retaining accurate colors and retaining the overall look of the film, DNR rears its ugly head with some waxy-looking faces and frozen grain, but still has some decent facial details and fabrics also look nice. Still, a nice 4K remaster with sparring use of DNR would be terrific, but still not a terrible picture. Faring better is the AQ, sporting a decent 5.1 DTS-HD track, which was a remix created back from the first DVD release. Though an 80s comedy track through and through, it manages to keep the dialogue clear and pop-free, front and centered at all times, but there is some nice surround use, with music and ambient noises taking up the majority of the rear channels. Just don't be expecting Die Hard and you'll be as a sound as a pound. Moving along to the extras, you'll be glad to notice that, not only is this a major leg up from the featureless DVD from the start of the millennium, but even has more extras than the "Those Aren't Pillows" Special Edition (I'm soooo glad that Paramount stopped with the ridiculous special edition names). The newest addition is an hour-long look at the late, great John Hughes. John Hughes: Live Moves Pretty Fast is a fascinating documentary, split into two parts, and goes into detail about his life and career. Its a long look to his legendary films and filled with interviews with cast members from a variety of films he had written or directed. A truly worthwhile addition, and in HD! The rest of the extras are retained from the special edition DVD (And all, except one, are in SD) starting with Getting There Is Half the Fun: The Story of Planes, Trains & Automobiles. Clocking in at a rather short 17 minutes, it nonetheless is a nice overview of the film, with vintage interviews with the cast and crew along with newer interviews with Michael McKean and Edie McClurg giving their thoughts about the film and their scenes. Following up is John Hughes for Adults, a four minute look at Hughes making an adult-centered movie for the first time. Also too brief is A Tribute to John Candy, a 3 minute look at cast and crew reflecting on his acting abilities, comedy chops and being an all around good person. Too bad, this could have easily been expanded to an 1+ hours and been a must see. Too Bad. Last, but certaintly not least, is one deleted scene out of a rumored 3-hour cut (Supposedly there is another film's worth of footage rotting away in the vaults at Paramount), but its a good scene at that, and in HD! It is arguably the most well-known scene added to the TV version, titled Airplane Food. At around three-and-a-half minutes, this is a funny scene talking about the specifics of ordering food from different airlines, what happens hen flights are delayed and the resulting food quality and more. Easily could've been added into the film without hurting the flow or pacing, and would have been nice for the studio to have a seamless branching option, but its still nice of them to include the scene at all. Overall, this is a must own film, one of the great comedies of all time (Not just a holiday movie and could be enjoyed year 'round) packed with comedy, great performances, and sharp dialogue and direction and with a decent BluRay disc with some okay PQ but strong AQ and worthwhile extras at a low price makes the film a no-brainer!

I enjoyed this movie time and time again. I mean it’s John Hughes, how can you not. The combo pack makes for a great purchase. You get the Blu-ray for home viewing and the dvd for portable watching and also the digital for digital libraries and portable devices. It’s great. The quality is perfect for the value and the movie holds up. A definite purchase worth your while.

Fun movie. Very funny, and sad at times. Always fun to watch around Thanksgiving. Very nice artwork on the steelbook.

It just gets better and better each time I watch it. I had no idea the funniest part of the movie (the rental car scene) was even in it because I had watched the edited TV version all these years. Seeing the behind the scenes photos with John Candy is also a plus! Highly recommended for fans of John Hughes and the two title characters!

A great comedy that I bought to share with my family. Two outstanding comedians that excel at physical comedy.

Whenever I'm asked what my favorite holiday movie is, I always say Planes, Trains and Automobiles. Is laugh out loud funny the entire way and occasionally, it'll tug at your heartstrings. I've purchased older movies before that were remastered for blu Ray and they don't look so well. This movie looks and sounds great with the updated format.

A great film that still holds up in comedic pacing, plot, and acting. A few of the jokes haven’t aged well, but overall it’s a comedy with a good amount of heart to have substance as well as laughs. The blu ray edition looks crisp and sounds great (tv with no external speakers). I haven’t looked at any special features, so no comment there.

This is one of Steve Martin's best films. The same with John Candy. This movie is a main trying to get home for Thanksgiving. He will try to do anything to get home. He meets John Candy and this is what makes this movie great. They play off of each other well. One of John Hughes best movies.

It’s a shame these two didn’t make more movies together as this is a classic. The funniest scene to me is the one that got it the R rating with Steve Martin at the rental car desk. And if you don’t get a lump in your throat just thinking about the end then you don’t have a heart at all.

One of my favorite movies, real funny! Perfect holiday movie! John candy is the best.

In case of EMP use disk to signal messenger pigeons. They also use empty Blu-ray cases as currency in the future.

Have been upgrading my DVD collection to blu ray. The blu rays just look better on my 100" screen with projector. Feels more like going to the movies with that size of screen. This has always been a favorite of mine. John Candy and Steve Martin were great together.