Siskel & Ebert Review The Films of...John Hughes

A chronological compilation of Siskel & Ebert reviewing the films of John Hughes
For this one, I included the films Hughes has writing, directing, and/or producer credit on, to get the full scope of him as a major filmmaking figure of the Siskel and Ebert era
From 1983's National Lampoon's Vacation to 1997's Home Alone 3
It's missing a couple, simply because I could not find them
Primarily for educational purposes, but enjoy however you see fit!
For more of this series:
• Siskel & Ebert Review ...

[@ThreeToesofFury]

you are single handledly helping create a Siskel and Ebert Masterclass.....rock and roll!!!

[@sleuthentertainment5872]

John Hughes movies represent the pure, funniest, most innocent essence of the 80s

[@PelvisPresley420]

Yeah but he shouldn't have made this movie. This is too chick Fkicky. It should of been made by a Woman. Like Amy Herckerling. It fits her filmography also. Ridgemont High, Clueless, etc

[@billssportsandwrestlingchan]

Ebert softened his stance as years went on about the Hughes films he didn't like

[@StarryStarryNocturne]

Which is weird, cause Gene was the harshest and most nit-picky on John Hughes than Ebert was.

[@kyilmaz2]

Great series. It's so fun to watch these guys.

[@WilliamLyons-ym7ee]

Yes, Anthony Michael Hall did get type cast as the nerd. But he showed some convincing range in later roles. He played a high school jock in “Johnny Be Good” and was even menacing in “Edward Scissorhands”.

[@user-sy5sy2np8r]

The way Siskel called Ferris Bueller "unrealistic!?!" Yes it IS! FOR THE ENTIRE MOVIE! It's one of THE MOST PERFECTLY executed comedies of all time! Talk about MISSING THE POINT!?!

[@docdave15]

Is it though? Ferris is kind of an asshole.

[@tomking7039]

This series is so great

[@Revelian1982]

Siskel thinks it's crap.

[@NeutronDance]

0:13 National Lampoon's Vacation 2:05 Sixteen Candles 5:21 The Breakfast Club 6:52 Weird Science 10:25 Pretty in Pink 14:11 Ferris Bueller's Day Off 17:51 Some Kind of Wonderful 20:46 Planes, Trains, & Automobiles 23:51 She's Having a Baby 27:22 The Great Outdoors 30:37 Uncle Buck 33:31 National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation 36:17 Home Alone 43:21 Career Opportunities 46:46 Only the Lonely 49:21 Dutch 52:32 Curly Sue 55:16 Beethoven 57:47 Home Alone 2: Lost in New York 1:00:43 Dennis the Menace 1:03:22 Baby's Day Out 1:05:14 Miracle on 34th Street 1:07:51 101 Dalmations 1:10:23 Flubber 1:12:32 Home Alone 3

[@Revelian1982]

You da real MVP!

[@hansfeld5233]

Commenter knows more than actual dumass author.

[@zetetick395]

Boy did the end of his career get REAL uneven there! '@_@'

[@jimtatro6550]

I love this series of videos, thank you so much.👏

[@brysimm404]

Siskel criticizes the ending of Pretty In Pink because Andie doesn’t choose Duckie, but then doesn’t appreciate the ending of Some Kind Of Wonderful? That is SO inconsistent. Plus nothing concerning the character development of Keith in that movie? Ugh - come on.

[@bsdacameras]

loving these videos, keep em coming!

[@jedijones]

The stick hitting the bear was only seen here because the movie clip had the matte opened to make it fit the TV screen. Same reason why in Pee-wee's Big Adventure's 1980s-1990s TV version, you saw the chain being fed into the bottom of the bicycle box. Siskel wouldn't have seen that "mistake" in the theaters, because the top and bottom of the frame were "matted" over to make it a widescreen film.

[@moviefan2517]

I don't know anyone my age can think of their teenage years without the films of John Hughes. He really was the voice of an entire generation. Back then, we looked at his movies and said "that's me, that's my school, these are the people I know". So it's a little surprising to hear so many negative reviews from these two, especially Gene Siskel, who couldn't have been more out of touch about what it was like to be a teenager in the 80s.

[@ricardocantoral7672]

Hughes had a brief golden age and thankfully, he made every minute count.

[@WilliamLyons-ym7ee]

His films are dated, and they unrealistically depict high school life.

[@ricardocantoral7672]

​@@WilliamLyons-ym7ee They weren't documentaries but they were certainly relatable. His best films have held up well.

[@jedijones]

Hughes actually seemed to only care about making money. But the initial way he figured out how to make money was by talking to teenagers and accurately depicting their lives on screen. Once he figured out he could make MORE money by having little kids injure crooks with booby traps, he switched over to that, and the quality of his films went downhill.

[@zetetick395]

@@WilliamLyons-ym7ee They were _never_ realistic Bill, they are relatable and funny though

[@PelvisPresley420]

3 of my all time favorite celebs

[@richardenglish2195]

"By the rude and annoying off-screen noises you're emitting I take it you disagree" God, I miss these two!

[@bronzeager1298]

Oh god that twist ending where Ebert likes Home Alone 3 😂😂😂

[@NeoConnor1]

I think it's more shocking he liked Curly Sue.

[@cameronskye94]

In the original ending, they didn’t make it into Wally World. The whole ending was re-shot months after they originally wrapped. The studio felt the movie HAD to have a happy ending where they make it into Wally World lol

[@yournamehere6002]

I remember these reviews in real time, especially that Ebert was one of the very few critics who gave a positive review for Weird Science, as well as Siskel being one of the few who liked Dutch and Career Opportunities.

[@michelewonder5808]

Siskel's disappointment that the "perfect woman" developed a mind of her own had me in total stitches! It's like tacking on a moral lesson at the end of a porno....HA!

[@mixedmattaphors]

"Well, your credentials are terrific, but you missed the boat on this one."

[@PapaMetal47]

Nice work! They got pretty heated in those earlier ones! Did Siskel & Ebert ever review Paul Verhoven?

[@Tolstoy111]

Of course. They reviewed Flesh & Blood, Robocop, Total Recall, Basic Instinct, Showgirls and Starship Troopers.

[@collinmurr3207]

They were too caught up in the argument for Roger to call Gene on "I liked The Howling when it came to vampire films."

[@TheWickerMan1981]

Yeah. I think he meant Fright Night.

[@Sawlon]

I love The Great Outdoors!

[@user-mj4oy3rs2m]

Gene also liked The Breakfast Club.

[@Tolstoy111]

Siskel's fixation on the Sheen-Grey scene is typical of a big flaw he had. He would get caught up in some small aspect of a film and blame the rest of the film for not being more of that. He was upset that Taxi Driver abandoned the Travis-Betsy courtship for "all that urban violence stuff"

[@ryanf7362]

Gene really took a dump on Ferris Bueller. It’s aged into one of the all time Chicago movies

[@JohnLouisBishop84]

For someone who put "Back to the Future" on his ten best in 1985, I think Gene's really unfair to Lea Thompson in his review of "Some Kind of Wonderful." As much as I love Roger invoking Rob Reiner's perennially overlooked "The Sure Thing," also from 1985, this still feels like a betrayal.

[@jedijones]

Lea was not the bombshell that the script called for. Very unconvincing as a high class snob. Lea was best at playing the nice, innocent girl. And, although she's aged incredibly well, she was far from the sexpot type of character who men drool over in the 1980s. She's much more of a girl-next-door. I think the director just cast her because he was attracted to her. He, of course, later married her.

[@sha11235]

I see you put the second look at Home Alone here as well. I agreed with them I didn't think it was that good.

[@storminnorman6727]

You both are in the minority

[@todds.6028]

8:41 Another one of 1,000 examples of why I always loved Ebert way more than Siskel. Because he was so much better at enjoying a movie for what it WAS. Siskel was always ultra nitpicky. Essentially, if the movie wasn't Oscar worthy, Siskel would have SOMETHING negative to say about it. And he was always kind of snobby (like, calling a movie a "picture"). Ebert just seemed to have an unquenchable thirst for cinema. He was never too good for any movie. No movie was "beneath" him. If you go to rotten tomatoes and search ANY movie at random (Before 2013), there's a good chance that Ebert had a review about it. I RARELY see reviews on there from Gene. Even the cheapest, cheesiest, low-budget movies---Ebert would at least be willing to give them a chance. Did that mean he LIKED every movie? Of course not. But he was always objective and fair. He KNOWS that Weird Science is not a masterpiece of modern filmmaking. So he doesn't hold it to those standards. He sees it for what it IS (A fun summer guilty pleasure), and evaluates it accordingly. Hell, the dude even gave UHF two hours of his time. He panned it of course, but just the fact that he was willing to sit through it...speaks volumes. I just wish he would've liked Fletch Lives lol.

[@user-sy5sy2np8r]

Well said. TEAM EBERT 4 LIFE! lol

[@ricardocantoral7672]

His generation called movies pictures. That isn't snobbery.

[@todds.6028]

@@ricardocantoral7672 He's the only person I've ever encountered from his generation who called them "pictures". Oh, and Ebert is also from his generation.

[@DonnieBrook69]

This is evidence of your own ignorance, not snobbery by Siskel.

[@todds.6028]

@@DonnieBrook69 Cool bro.

[@PelvisPresley420]

50p we meet again. Having said that, still thank you. I know it's not your fault

[@fearlessjoebanzai]

Gene Pupkiss really exposes himself with the characters who he identifies with.

[@PelvisPresley420]

I find it kinda awkward that John Hughes made sixteen candies. He was a genius filmmaker but certain movies should be made my Female Filmmakers. It's equally awkward Siskel & Ebert Loved it 😂

[@krispysox]

BC, WS, FBDO, PT&A, UB - my top 5 Hughes picks.

[@MediaBuster]

Uncle Buck is so much fun!!

[@schmeltingaccident]

I’ll always have Planes and Trains as my fav Hughes film, Pretty In Pink coming in second, but I wanna say a couple things about his underrated titles, Curly Sue and Dutch. Now, they are both very predictable and formulaic, but I really liked those two flicks. Curly Sue had great chemistry between the two main characters and Curly Sue herself, stealing every scene she’s in. Also the movie theater scene still makes me laugh out loud to this day, along with the maid and her gambling with the two on the clock 😅. Now Dutch was both panned by S&E and pretty much the rest of America, and I can understand why. And maybe it’s because I grew up with these movies starting at a young age and my nostalgia goggles for them turned into laser eye surgery but Ed O Neal, I thought, was very likable, not overly abrasive, and had great chemistry with the kid. To this day there are 3 scenes that still make me crack up loudly and I admit I still have a goofy smile throughout the rest of the flick. Are these two movies great? No. Are they objectively bad? Probably. But I like Curly Sue and Dutch darn it, and I think they still have a couple of very good redeeming qualities.

[@MrOffthecliff]

Goddamn… I don’t think I’ve ever seen someone swing and miss as hard as Siskel repeatedly does here.

[@kylevanderheyden1128]

Micheal Mann would also be a good one

[@PeterAckarey]

Gene forgets that the purpose of being a teen is to make knuckle-headed decisions that defy good judgement.

[@giotto263]

Shouldn't they make a beeping sound when they reverse their opinions as with Home Alone?

[@lerm2866]

Too bad they didn’t review Class Reunion

[@kyilmaz2]

If Gene thinks alot of these were bad? Which were the good teen or kid movies.

[@greggwgiddensable]

The Vacation films weren't John Hughes movies were they?

[@Vanilla_Skynet]

He wrote them and they were loosely based on his family, originally anyway

[@NeoConnor1]

He wrote the original film. It was based on a short story he wrote in National Lampoon magazine called Vacation '58. Christmas Vacation was written and produced by Hughes,and was based on another short story by Hughes(the name escapes me right now). European Vacation is credited to Hughes, but he didn't contribute any material to it. The producers just reused material from the original film that didn't make it into the original. He had nothing to do with Vegas Vacation.

[@kyilmaz2]

I loved Gene but these were all good movies. When you compare them to really bad general other comedies like Porkys. These were all at a certain higher level.

[@user-sy5sy2np8r]

Hard to believe how many of these movies they DIDN'T like!?! I can't imagine my childhood in the 80's without John Hughes! My brother was a teenager; and to THIS DAY when we're together, we're still quoting The Breakfast Club, Ferris Bueller, AND YES!, Roger and Gene, Weird Science. "Did you spit in this?!?"

[@piper888]

Pretty in pink is the best brat pack movie. Besides James Spader wearing a leisure suit to high school I would say it's perfect

[@daytripperhd]

she should not have ended up with that tool in the end. but its not as bad siskel said. he really had it out for Hughes after weird science.

[@fearlessjoebanzai]

Some of Stickler's reviews here were off base, but his review of Ferris Bueller is criminal!

[@yournamehere6002]

At the time, a lot of critics hated Ferris Bueller. In fact, Esquire had an annual issue called 'Dubious Achievements Awards" where they had a feature called "Now Playing at the Hell Octoplex" and Ferris was one of the movies. Of course, the year before they had "Pee Wee's Big Adventure" on it.

[@jedijones]

@@yournamehere6002 Siskel hated Pee-wee's Big Adventure too.

[@carena8478]

I love how Siskel goes from trashing The Breakfast Club in one review to calling it "funny and sensitive" 10 seconds later in the one immediately following.

[@radiof00le]

he did the same with The Abyss

[@fearlessjoebanzai]

8

[@briansimerl4014]

Man did Siskel miss the boat on Hughes. Ebert "maybe you should get your own Word Processor". So clever.

[@pkattk]

Siskel doesn't like formulaic movies. Hughes movies in that era were incredibly competent, but also formulaic.

[@SpongeBobfan3646]

Career Opportunities bored me. Looking back at Home Alone I totally agree that a kid would be able to do all of that in order to stop burglars. I did like Sixteen Candles, Pretty in Pink, Some Kind of Wonderful and I loved and I mean loved Planes, Trains and Automobiles, Uncle Buck and The Great Outdoors.

[@ricardocantoral7672]

Home Alone was silly but it was fun for kids.

[@davenatalie4221]

16 Candles is the greatest film ever made

[@IrnBruNYC]

“The portrayal of rich WASPs in this movie is racist” is at the top of my list of Siskel & Ebert takes that did not age well.

[@laughingatbirds]

Has John Hughes ever cast anybody black or asian? Can't see any examples in all of his movies. Incredible.

[@piper888]

Long Duk Dong 😊😂😂

[@petevaldezbc1]

The guys that take the Ferrari for a joy ride in Ferris Bueller are black and Hispanic

[@adamchrysler5847]

Weird Science is classic, Ferris is an Icon, Vacation rocks, some of the others are "meh"...

[@donwalheim3050]

It's kinda sad how often Siskel made the wrong call. I mean, over and over and over he's on the wrong side of history with these clips.

[@madmaniac2552]

Over and over they both are. They often have ridiculous of the moment opinions. Makes you realise how much the context you see a film effects your viewing of it

[@madmaniac2552]

I think in this video he is very fair though, for a fully grown adult I think it makes sense to be bored by continues films made for teens

[@daytripperhd]

i always hated the great outdoors. i usually differ from siskel too.

[@Ghosthead83]

How in the actual f*** can you not like Ferris Buehler's Day Off? 🙄

[@sonnyblack0870]

To be fair we grew up with it so we love it, but at the time a lot of older practical people who’d outgrown their imaginations probably saw Ferris as fantastical, obnoxious, and unlikeable.

[@kyilmaz2]

Gene was a stick in the mud back in the day. He changed.

[@kylethompson4829]

The great outdoors is great. Lol they absolutely shit on it

[@michaeltorre8170]

Talk about missing the boat on Christmas Vacation 😂

[@michelewonder5808]

The queer coding in John Hughes film is brilliant in so many ways! Alison in Breakfast Club is the absolute outcast who no one understands, I knew so many Duckie's in high school and they were gay, gay, gay and Watts in Some Kind of Wonderful....hello!! This is what 80s queer kids did in that time period, we hid behind "crushes" on our best friends because it was safe and allowed us to seem hetro but not to actually have to be hetro! Thanks JH, you saw us and we thank you!

[@rockinggator969]

Siskel is so clueless and does not appreciate Hughes. Pretty sad to see. A critic with only high-brow taste. As so many of Hughes movies are now classics we can see who got it and who didn't.

[@damianoakes2592]

The irony of Gene Siskel, of all people, saying that James Spader's character in Pretty in Pink is "racist" against WASPs (white fragility, it seems, is eternal) when I think we've all heard him ranting about WASPs by now lol

[@jmcieslak0]

I'll have to give their Home Alone reviews a thumbs down

[@DonnieBrook69]

I'm shocked that Ebert was so positive about Some Kind Of Wonderful. It's a dreadful, tedious retread of the far superior Pretty In Pink.

[@daytripperhd]

christmas vacation is horrible. never liked one minute. why so many people like it is beyond me

[@KevanRCraft]

Sickel is an aweful film critic he has no basic sense let alone any academic knowledge of film making, intstead he wings it and does it very bady!