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Canadian Bacon

Canadian Bacon

List Price: $14.95
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Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Good comedy; satire on American "hatred" for Canada
Review: 'Canadian Bacon' is a pretty funny movie with quite a few funny lines and some great casting and acting. The best part of the movie is what some people just don't understand and hate it for -- this isn't an anti-Canadian movie; it's a movie that pokes fun at the almost "playful" hatred Americans have for Canada, making America look like the idiots. At that, it does a good job. It also has one of my favorite lines ever-- "There's a time for thinking, and a time for action. And this, gentlemen, is no time for thinking!"

Overall, it's a fun movie that won't disappoint if you like John Candy and think the hatred Americans pretend to have for Canadians is just silly.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Get Over Yourself--This Movie is a Riot! Five Stars Plus!
Review: I wasn't surprised to read the so-called "professional" critics blast this movie, they should get real jobs in the first place. I also wasn't surprised to see most of the "real" people who reviewed this movie loved it, as I also thought it was hilarious. Matter of fact, I only read the reviews of those who DIDN'T like it as I couldn't figure out why anyone wouldn't...but I think I have. If you check out the unfavorable reviews, you will see they were all written by people who take themselves way too seriously! How can you expect someone like that to like such a funny movie? 'Canadian Bacon' goes over their heads, the subtle humor is lost on them and they can never laugh at themselves. Did anyone notice that all the Americans are played by Canadians? John Candy, Alan Alda, etc. What a great way to poke fun at Americans poking fun at the Canadians! I am sure the same people that didn't get this movie are the same ones that realize that the so-called "racist" scenes in 'Blazing Saddles' are actually anti-racist. And what is so remarkable is that both Michael Moore and Mel Brooks can send a message to the world through very funny movies. This is pure genius!

'Canadian Bacon' isn't a movie you want to rent, it is a movie you want to own. Why? Because you have to watch it over and over again to catch all the subtleties, as they are hard to catch when you are laughing your ... off. Of course, you have to be able to laugh in the first place!

And by the way, I am not related to the Michael Moore who made this movie!

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Shrill and offensive
Review: None other than the leftist fire breather Michael Moore lensed "Canadian Bacon," a film that turned into a huge box office bomb. That should serve as the first warning to potential viewers interested in viewing this film. If it doesn't, many other red flags pop up as the movie unfolds. Apparently, some genius in Hollywood thought Moore's documentaries meant that the guy could do a feature film. Wrong. "Canadian Bacon," while boasting an occasionally funny scene or two, is nothing more than propaganda served up on a celluloid bun. The film stars Alan Alda, Kevin Pollack, John Candy (in one of his last film performances, a fact in and of itself noteworthy for fans of the Canadian comedian), Rhea Perlman, Rip Torn, G.D. Spradlin, Stephen Wright, and a host of other familiar faces. With a cast like this, you would think the movie would be an outright tour de force. Wrong again. Before watching this film, you should probably join the National Rifle Association, vote Republican, or simply fly an American flag for a few weeks. Whatever you do, do something to offset this unpleasant slice of good old left wing hate.

Alan Alda plays an American president in trouble with the voting public. With the end of the Cold War and the attendant downsizing of the defense industry, lots of red-blooded American citizens are now out of work, and unemployed workers tend to vote for the other guy. What is a corrupt politician to do? According to Moore, the solution lies in creating a new enemy against which the American people can rally. After a failed attempt to restart a conflict with the tottering Soviet Union, the president and his slimy advisors set their sights on Canada. Urged on by his National Security Advisor Stuart Smiley (Pollack) and General Richard Panzer (Torn), the president sets into motion a flurry of anti-Canadian measures. Before too long, the media joins the fray by broadcasting thinly veiled slurs against the Great White North. An ugly incident at a hockey game in Canada, where American Sheriff Bud Boomer (Candy) starts a riot when he casts an aspersion on Canadian beer, further stokes the fires back home. Everything is really starting to work in the president's favor: the voters rapidly forget about the nation's economic troubles and begin arming themselves to stave off a possible invasion from Canada.

When a few Americans decide to take matters into their own hands and invade Canada themselves, the real trouble starts. Bud Boomer, his girlfriend Honey (Perlman), and a few other brain dead hicks sneak across the border to cause a little disturbance. When some Canadian cops interrupt the fun, the Americans flee back into the United States without realizing they left Honey behind. This mistake leads Boomer and his companions to reinvade Canada in search of their beloved woman, a mission loaded with lots of humorous situations comparing the stupidity and aggressiveness of Americans with the simplicity and friendliness of Canadians. Meanwhile, back in Washington, D.C., the evil corporate boss R.J. Hacker (Spradlin) spurs the White House on in their fake little war games. He tells Stuart Smiley that he sold the Canadians a doomsday device that has the capacity to launch American missiles at the former Soviet Union. Hacker will sell the code to defuse the weapon to the government for a paltry sum of a few billion dollars. What started out as a political ploy to carry the next election has suddenly turned into a scenario involving all out nuclear war.

I am willing to overlook a bit of cant in a movie from time to time, but the avalanche of propaganda in "Canadian Bacon" is simply a wonder to behold. Moore skewers everything he hates about America: guns, the military, corporations, the media, patriots, and just about everything else under the sun. R.J. Hacker comes off as a power mad lunatic, the politicians are manipulative cynics, and the movie tars the average American with a generous coating of stupidity and blind patriotism. The latter is surprising since Moore consistently presents himself as the mouthpiece of the downtrodden American worker. But there is the director himself in one scene of the movie, carrying an assault rifle and mouthing jingoistic platitudes about wiping out the Canadians as if to put an exclamation point on his messages. As difficult as it is to swallow these sequences of truly nauseating hate, the movie as a whole is even worse because it isn't funny. Sure, a few scenes made me laugh out loud: the CIA spook outlining the sinister secrets of Canada is a real hoot, as are several of the encounters between Boomer's "army" and Canadian citizens. Overall, however, the movie tanks due to its shrill tone.

The American public knew better than to buy into this junk when the movie opened back in the mid 1990s. Moore's recent popularity has inspired a few revisionists to resurrect this mediocre effort in order to sing its praises. Most people who speak about "Canadian Bacon" now refer to its prescience concerning the existing administration in the White House--and do so without a trace of irony--as though America's forty-second president didn't try and distract the public from his scandal plagued regime by launching missiles into Afghanistan and Africa. I admit Moore scores some points in this movie, but those barbs jab both ways, folks. Watch "Canadian Bacon" for a few select scenes and try to ignore the movie as a whole.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Offended me as a Canadian.
Review: This film is Michael Moore's attempt at political satire. Canadian Bacon is an un-funny borefest that really says nothing about relations between Canada and the U.S. That said, the thing that really bothered me was the urbanite Toronto hipsters that sat in front of me during a screening of the film. They rolled thier eyes, made obvious anti-american comments and congradulated themselves on being saintly, right thinking people.

This film will appeal to members of "the cult of Moore" as Canadian Bacon reflects Mr Moore's twisted view of Canadians as innocent and dull saints. Moore also shows a shocking contempt for working class Americans. The main characters are ignorant hicks who bungle thier way through an attempted invasion of Canada.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: EXCELLANT COMEDY, ONE OF CANDY'S BEST!
Review: In this satire on the Cold War mentality, the President of the United States and an arms manufacturer find it in their best economic interests to plant rumors of a potential nuclear attack--by our neighbors in Canada! Then, following a cross-border incident at a hockey tournament, a patriotic sheriff, Bud B. Boomer, and his deputy, Honey , and suicidal friend, Roy Boy, plan a counter-offensive... with hilarious results. John Candy plays Bud Boomer, a Niagara County, N.Y., sheriff who spends much of his day fishing for laid-off, suicidal defense-plant workers at the foot of the Niagra falls. His sidekick, Honey (Rhea Perlman), is psychotic; his buddies Roy Boy and Kabral (Kevin J. O'Connor and Bill Nunn) are thickheaded and unemployed. The plant, owned by R.J. Hacker (G.D. Spradlin), has become the victim of the pro-peace policies of a President (Alan Alda) whose approval ratings are on a slide; he needs a war in order to give people jobs and keep his own. With most of the world's major villains dead or imprisoned, the President's oily national security adviser, Stu Smiley (Kevin Pollack)--who is also in Hacker's pocket--suggests Canada. The smear campaign is under way. This movie is a perfect example of how great character casting can be the movie all in its self. In my opinion all the characters were cast greatly. Their terrific acting only added to an already hilarious movie. The acting in itself was also excellent, very believable and in no way were the actors simply 'reading the lines'. John Candy added great humor to this movie as his portrayal of Bud Boomer. The acting of the supporting roles was no less impressive, especially by the witty psychopath female deputy, Honey. Then you have the desperate President who would do anything for a thirty point raise in his approval rating. The description of the characters is indirect but very well shown through the movie's events. Their development is also gradual and flows very well. The plot is like the acting, excellent. It hooks the audience from the very beginning keeping the audience wanting more and more as they sit on the edge of their seats, or while they're rolling on the floor laughing. The plot definitely flows well, it sticks to the same event not leaving any 'holes' or any skipping around and leaving the audience lost. Although "Canadian Bacon" is a hilarious comedy, the validity of the events is to be debated. A war with Canada? Canada is a valuable trade partner with America, and a war, even a cold war would set both the nations into a depression. And compared with other films by the director, Micheal Moore, this movie does well to his reputation. As well as setting the reputation for the director, John Candy does honor to his long list of comedy films as his role in "Canadian Bacon", one of his best films done, as well as his last. The ratings this film has been given are extremely varied. They range from completely devastating to extremely praising. It depends on how much you expect in the beginning. But in my opinion, this is by far one of the funniest films I have viewed in a very long time, and will stay in my memory for a time to come. I recommend this movie to everyone and anyone interested in having a great laugh!

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: The critics are wrong
Review: Maybe I live too close to the Canadian border, but I thought this was an incisive and hilarious look at the end of the cold war and our relations with our forgotten neighbor to the north. John Candy is perfect in his role as a jingoistic sheriff determined to save us from the Canadian menace. Kevin Pollak is Kevin Pollak, but he does it well. This was the first film in which Alan Alda redeemed himself to me ("Flirting with Disaster" was the second). I find most of Michael Moore's stuff too precious and uncomplicated, but in going to fiction, he's able to show that there are multiple sides to a complicated story like the end of the arms race, and he pokes tremendous fun at our complete unfamiliarity with Canada.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Honestly
Review: You all take yourselves way too seriously. Live a little, will you?

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Everything I learned about Canada
Review: The basic story is that we need to heat up the cold war. This will take the focus off of the president for the slouching economy. The Russians are unwilling to play the game, so we must find a new adversary. Canada wins the choice.

Comedy is like smiling. You take a situation that you cannot do anything about, or an attitude that you cannot do anything about, and just laugh at it. This movie is the essence of what many people think they know about Canada. It also contains what many people snicker about politics. So let's take it to the extreme add John Candy, Rhea Perlman a few eh's, a too clean to be true environment; you have "Canadian bacon".

What makes this comedy is not the story but the one-liners and the parody on Canadian life. One of everybody's favorite, is when a truck is stopped because it has obscenities written on the side of it. The authority points out that the obscenity is written only in English and must also be written in French.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Excellent satire
Review: I've read some bad reviews for this film. I think it's probably because some people just had different expectations from it. It is an excellent political satire, with a strong statement, which makes you laugh and think at the same time. If that's what you are looking for, if you like "Wag the Dog" and "Doctor Strangelove", then you'll probably like this one as well!

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Shrill and offensive
Review: None other than the leftist fire breather Michael Moore lensed "Canadian Bacon," a film that turned into a huge box office bomb. That should serve as the first warning to potential viewers interested in viewing this film. If it doesn't, many other red flags pop up as the movie unfolds. Apparently, some genius in Hollywood thought Moore's documentaries meant that the guy could do a feature film. Wrong. "Canadian Bacon," while boasting an occasionally funny scene or two, is nothing more than propaganda served up on a celluloid bun. The film stars Alan Alda, Kevin Pollack, John Candy (in one of his last film performances, a fact in and of itself noteworthy for fans of the Canadian comedian), Rhea Perlman, Rip Torn, G.D. Spradlin, Stephen Wright, and a host of other familiar faces. With a cast like this, you would think the movie would be an outright tour de force. Wrong again. Before watching this film, you should probably join the National Rifle Association, vote Republican, or simply fly an American flag for a few weeks. Whatever you do, do something to offset this unpleasant slice of good old left wing hate.

Alan Alda plays an American president in trouble with the voting public. With the end of the Cold War and the attendant downsizing of the defense industry, lots of red-blooded American citizens are now out of work, and unemployed workers tend to vote for the other guy. What is a corrupt politician to do? According to Moore, the solution lies in creating a new enemy against which the American people can rally. After a failed attempt to restart a conflict with the tottering Soviet Union, the president and his slimy advisors set their sights on Canada. Urged on by his National Security Advisor Stuart Smiley (Pollack) and General Richard Panzer (Torn), the president sets into motion a flurry of anti-Canadian measures. Before too long, the media joins the fray by broadcasting thinly veiled slurs against the Great White North. An ugly incident at a hockey game in Canada, where American Sheriff Bud Boomer (Candy) starts a riot when he casts an aspersion on Canadian beer, further stokes the fires back home. Everything is really starting to work in the president's favor: the voters rapidly forget about the nation's economic troubles and begin arming themselves to stave off a possible invasion from Canada.

When a few Americans decide to take matters into their own hands and invade Canada themselves, the real trouble starts. Bud Boomer, his girlfriend Honey (Perlman), and a few other brain dead hicks sneak across the border to cause a little disturbance. When some Canadian cops interrupt the fun, the Americans flee back into the United States without realizing they left Honey behind. This mistake leads Boomer and his companions to reinvade Canada in search of their beloved woman, a mission loaded with lots of humorous situations comparing the stupidity and aggressiveness of Americans with the simplicity and friendliness of Canadians. Meanwhile, back in Washington, D.C., the evil corporate boss R.J. Hacker (Spradlin) spurs the White House on in their fake little war games. He tells Stuart Smiley that he sold the Canadians a doomsday device that has the capacity to launch American missiles at the former Soviet Union. Hacker will sell the code to defuse the weapon to the government for a paltry sum of a few billion dollars. What started out as a political ploy to carry the next election has suddenly turned into a scenario involving all out nuclear war.

I am willing to overlook a bit of cant in a movie from time to time, but the avalanche of propaganda in "Canadian Bacon" is simply a wonder to behold. Moore skewers everything he hates about America: guns, the military, corporations, the media, patriots, and just about everything else under the sun. R.J. Hacker comes off as a power mad lunatic, the politicians are manipulative cynics, and the movie tars the average American with a generous coating of stupidity and blind patriotism. The latter is surprising since Moore consistently presents himself as the mouthpiece of the downtrodden American worker. But there is the director himself in one scene of the movie, carrying an assault rifle and mouthing jingoistic platitudes about wiping out the Canadians as if to put an exclamation point on his messages. As difficult as it is to swallow these sequences of truly nauseating hate, the movie as a whole is even worse because it isn't funny. Sure, a few scenes made me laugh out loud: the CIA spook outlining the sinister secrets of Canada is a real hoot, as are several of the encounters between Boomer's "army" and Canadian citizens. Overall, however, the movie tanks due to its shrill tone.

The American public knew better than to buy into this junk when the movie opened back in the mid 1990s. Moore's recent popularity has inspired a few revisionists to resurrect this mediocre effort in order to sing its praises. Most people who speak about "Canadian Bacon" now refer to its prescience concerning the existing administration in the White House--and do so without a trace of irony--as though America's forty-second president didn't try and distract the public from his scandal plagued regime by launching missiles into Afghanistan and Africa. I admit Moore scores some points in this movie, but those barbs jab both ways, folks. Watch "Canadian Bacon" for a few select scenes and try to ignore the movie as a whole.


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