It has been 30 years since "Caddyshack' was released in July of 1980 and it is still consider by many to be the best comedy ever. Now obviously it is a very subjective to call anything the greatest, but most will agree that "Caddyshack" is a classic comedy and one of the best of the 80's.
Why? Well let's start with one of the writers.. Harold Ramis. He worked on such movies as "Meatballs", "Animal House", "Stripes", and later "Ghostbusters". Then add in some brilliant comedic actors.. Bill Murray, Chevy Chase, and Rodney Dangerfield for some unbelievably funny moments. Next let's see what Ted Knight is upset about. Then add in a few caddies like Michael O'Keefe to duel it out for a caddy scholarship and the affections of Cindy Morgan. Did I mention quotes? And how about the soundtrack with Kenny Loggins and Journey. And a dancing gopher!
"Correct me if I'm wrong Sandy, but if I kill all the golfers, they're gonna lock me up and throw away the key..."
My brother lives in Ft. Lauderdale where "Caddyshack" was filmed, so last year you know I had to find the real 'Bushwood Country Club' from the movie. The name of the golf club is actually Grande Oaks Golf Club and it wasn't as easy as I thought it might be to convince them to let me play a round... Noonan!
"Cinderella story. Outta nowhere. A former greenskeeper, now, about to become the Masters champion. It looks like a mirac... It's in the hole! It's in the hole! It's in the hole!"
fans?
Posts: 7845 | From: Smiling and glancing in awe in the back of a limo | Registered: Mar 2003 | Site Updates: 22
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Perhaps not the best ever, but there's no denying it's pretty darn high up there. As noted above, it was just the perfect confluence of terrific talent in their primes (yes, the gopher too; wonder what he's up to these days?) that would be hard to do today, and the story, though somewhat meandering (although that in a way is part of its charm), still pulls you in and hits you with one good laugh after another, even when some of them are admittedly tasteless by many standards. Even the smaller jokes are good (the caddy tournament trophies looking impressive at first glance, but then revealed to be miniscule; the notice that caddies are only welcome in the pool for 15 minutes for all of Caddy Day; Chevy swinging...and falling flat on his side; even his most ardent detractors can't tear him down here). And of course Kenny Loggins's soundtrack is a decadal classic by any standards. So in the end, it's no wonder it's stood the test of time.
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If not the best comedy of all time it has to be one of the top movies for "lines." There are people out there that use lines from this movie that have never seen it! That's amazing to me.
"So I got that going for me....which is nice." "nooonan!" "Da Lama" "Cannonball" "It's the best I got it from a #$%@"
So many great ones. I agree there are a lot of bad jokes in there and yes, sometimes classles. But hey that's what was acceptable, so you can't downgrade it for that. I don't know if I've ever said this was my favorite comedy of all time but that's more because I was born in 80 so I didn't discover this movie until later in life. I think if you were in your "prime" when this came out and you could relate to it, it would be tough not to put it up in the top couple.
Love this movie, love the actors, love the lines. You can never go wrong with puting this movie in for some great laughs!!
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Caddyshack is a great movie, because it has that hard-to-do-right feeling - it feels 'off the cuff'. Like a bunch of buddies just got together and shot a comedy with a wafer-thin plot. This was also the year of 'Airplane'. Good year for comedy. What a way to enter into the 80's. The SNL alumni ruled comedy from 'Animal House' right through to the end of the 80's. This was one of their high points.
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And of course 1980 also gave us The Blues Brothers, so the year can fairly be termed the high point of American cinematic comedy.
One does have to wonder what else writer Doug Kenney might have come up with if he hadn't had his fatal fall off the cliff in Hawaii not long after Caddyshack; between this and Animal House, he was poised to have a memorable career.
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This is my dads favorite movie so I grew up watching it. As a kid I always loved the gopher but now I love it for Rodney's awesome one liners...."did someone step on a duck?"
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TKO
Contains 0.2% of Rewind Riboflavin
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Love it! I agree this is one of the best comedies ever. The only thing this movie is missing maybe is John Candy.
quote:Originally posted by Veronica Sawyer: I love it for Rodney's awesome one liners...."did someone step on a duck?"
Same here. Rodney really carries the movie with his funny/rude oneliners.
"Oh, this your wife, huh? A lovely lady. Hey baby, you must've been something before electricity."
Posts: 1058 | From: Echo Beach, far away in time | Registered: May 2003 | Site Updates: 8
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Caddyshack remains even today as one of the most quoteable movies ever.
I still do a little snorkeling and water ballet at my neighborhood pool because of this movie.
Caddyshack II never had a chance without more of the original cast from the first film. As funny as Dangerfield, Murray, and Chase were in Caddyshack.. it might of not have worked quite as well anyway without Ted Knight who passed away in 1986.
And Chris made a great point about Doug Kenney who is often forgotten, though such a huge contributor to the world of funny.
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quote:And Chris made a great point about Doug Kenney who is often forgotten, though such a huge contributor to the world of funny.
Makes me think of 'Steve Gordon' the Writer / Director of Arthur. Just think of all the great movies we lost because of early deaths...
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Same with Colin Higgins of Silver Streak, Foul Play, & 9 to 5; his career could have been infinitely memorable as well.
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aTomiK
.... has green eyes as well....
Member # 6575
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Loved the original I think I'm one of the few who actually liked the sequel...
Posts: 3845 | From: Norf Karolina | Registered: Dec 2004 | Site Updates: 0
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quote:Originally posted by Faith No Motley: Loved the original I think I'm one of the few who actually liked the sequel...
The sequel wasn't too bad. It just gets a bad rap for not being as good as the original. Same thing with Grease 2.
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Perhaps had they gotten more of the original cast back besides Chevy (something that's often rumored to be on the table with a proposed 3rd one that pops up in discussion every now and then), Caddyshack II might have had more of a chance. With fill-ins largely handling the originals' roles, it feels more like a knock off than a continuation.
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It was the slobs versus the snobs which is just such a classic theme and people love it. They moved it from a fraternity row college campus to a posh golf club, but the story was the same and is why yes, this is indelibly couched in the top 10 of all time comfortably. There are so many variations of this theme that work so well (Animal House, Slap Shot, The Blues Brothers), but as Logan5, ChrisTheCandyFanMan and Veronica Sawyer all elude to, it was part of a certain time and sensibility for comedy and the people that were producing it are still some of the best to ever step in front of a camera!
Caddyshack is such a classic that like many have said, the way many of us talk today is so unconsciously born from the greats like these and still stand as a social barometer to gauge who your talking to in any situation. It has served me on several occasions to drop a line like lip ****ed "...And that's all she wrote." to figure out pretty quickly whether I am dealing with a confused stare or a true soul mate and potential partner in crime.
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It is amazing that Bill Murray was only on the Caddyshack set for 6 days.
Most of the movie was improv.. let's put it this way.. Bill Murray had no lines in the original script.
Did you know that Scott Colomby that played Tony was dating Valerie Bertinelli at time of filming and she visited him on the set?
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Bamersy, it's not so bad.
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Valley, you must have watching the "Making of Caddyshack" on Biography recently. I did and remember Scott Colomby saying he was dating Valerie Bertinelli at the time they were shooting the movie, and then he said he and Cindy Morgan dated for 2 years after the movie. If you haven't see the Biography special, I highly recommend it - I was sitting there feeling really jealous as I watched it, because it seriously looked like the best time EVER!
Cindy Morgan looks great. We should all look so good at 55!
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I honestly think I have watched Caddyshack at least a thousand times. I have seen it too many times.
'Noonan, D'annunzio, Mitchell you're on the tee!'
It is a classic.
Caddyshack 2 obviously is not a classic but it has some great lines in that movie.
Randy Quaid is unbelievable in that movie. He really is.
'Which one of you is Chandler Youngs Son?'
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Caddyshack is the greatest comedy ever. and the most quotable movie ever.
that biography special was awesome. so was the one about animal house.
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Sorry, xchazx, but I still disagree. It's a great movie, but certainly not the best comedy ever. Some Like It Hot, for example, or It Happened One Night, are much funnier, and in very clever ways.
Most quotable? The Blues Brothers is more quotable IMHO, and probably funnier too. I hear way more people quoting Terminator, The Breakfast Club, even Risky Business, than I ever do Caddyshack.
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