It's fun, it's light, [but] it has a hard time when its tries to get heavy.

I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

It is a whirlwind of delight --- attractive actors, stunning couture, spectacular sets and outrageous parties.

John Lithgow is very good in this, and it's not very often you see him in a family comedy-adventure film. But this movie is a great family gem. Then accidentally hit a Bigfoot with their car while camping then, thinking he's dead, tie him to the roof of their station wagon and take him home, but he wakes up. The family decides to keep him to protect him because he is a gentle creature, but he causes obvious problems for them when others come looking for the creature, and obviously also creates chaos and a lot of damage to the house. Kids and parents will all like this one.

I usually avoid family movies . I find them too sappy and not really funny . This one is different . I had really nice time with it. From what I can remember the movie was successful enough that the made a TV series of it. Rick Baker rightfully won Oscar for makeup.The movie has simple message and manages to deliver it to the audience without being preachy . The message is "Don't judge anyone by their appearance" and "Killing is wrong". The pro-life message works , because it doesn't feel here like some cheap sentimentality . The movie has heart and never becomes too sappy . It's also funny despite that most jokes are simple . My favorite is Harry learning to sit and the prisoners getting away from the stinking villain.It was great to see John Lithgow ("Terms of endearment" ) in a non-villain role .It's also nice to have Don Ameche ("Trading places") in a movie and I was delighted to see David Suchet (TV series "Poirot") as a French hunter. The real star however here is Kevin Peter Hall ("Predator") who manages to give a charming performance under that suit.I've never thought I say it about a family movie , but the ending was AWESOME. I regret that I haven't seen this one as a kid. If I have kids in the future , I will make sure they would watch this movie. I give it 2/10.

Returning from a hunting trip in the forest, the Henderson family's car hits an animal in the road. At first they fear its a man, but when they examine the body they find it's a Sasquatch, or Bigfoot. They think it's dead so they decide to take it home, after all there could be some money in this. It isn't dead. Far from being the ferocious monster they fear it to be, he's a friendly giant. In their attempts to keep Harry a secret, the Henderson's have to hide him from the authorities and a man, who has made it his goal in life, to catch a Bigfoot.....During the late eighties, there were a spate of these types of movies, something out of the ordinary that invades a normal family or persons life. We had this, Short Circuit, Batteries Not Included and a few more.When these movies were released, I was at an age where I would lap these up, and so I do really have fond memories of this film. Introducing my daughter to it yesterday was revelatory, as she lapped it up as I expected, but for me, I couldn't believe how predictable the film was and how often the same jokes were used again and again.But it's still a fun high concept family film that doesn't rely on toilet humour to raise a laugh. Baker has done wonderful work on Harry, its still holds well today, and with his body language, it provides some genuine laughs.The funniest scene being when George says to Harry 'how's it going?', Harry's reaction is comedy gold.The narrative and story is something you'd expect from this sort of film, and you can see the tropes coming a mile off. The bad guy turning good at the end, George feeling bad and sticking up for hardy, and the worst troupe of all, which still gets me is the one where George starts being nasty to Harry to make him leave, AKA tough love to protect him.All in allies a typical fun eighties film, that doesn't hold up as well as I'd thought, but its fun nevertheless.

Harry and the Hendersons is one of the first films I remember seeing in the cinema as a kid. It was 1987 and my uncle had just passed his driving test so he was well into driving places and the cinema just happened to be one of them.Even though the film is only 110 minutes long, they still had an intermission halfway through, for some reason. And I swear, they actually had ushers coming round selling stuff before it started back up again. I believe that is the first and only time I have seen such old-fashioned picturehouse practices. But it makes my original memory of this film so much more nostalgic.The Hendersons consist of wannabe artist/gun salesman dad George (that always brilliant John Lithgow), loving mum Melinda Dillon, a bratty daughter and a hyperactive son. On returning from a camping trip in the Pacific Northwest, they accidentally run into some sort of large furry creature on the forest road. Originally believing it to be a bear, George steps out of the car to prod it with his gun a few times. But the bear has man-like hands and George suddenly asks his family 'What if it's...HIM'.Bigfoot! Think of how much he's worth! So they tie him to the roof of the car and drive him home, while George thinks of the best way of selling him. Later that night, he is curious as to how big his feet really are. So he sneaks down to the garage with a measuring tape only to find that he's no longer strapped to the roof of the car, but poking around in the kitchen fridge.The Hendersons stand back as bigfoot (or Harry as he is later renamed) stomps around the house and garden investigating all their strange belongings. Though he doesn't care much for all the animal trophies hanging around everywhere. Freaking out, George tries to snipe Harry from through the bedroom window, but has a change of heart when he realises that Harry is just big, harmless oaf.The best scenes of the film involve Harry making himself at home in the Henderson house. His mannerisms and body language are similar to a child warned to be on their best behavior while visiting old relatives. He constantly looks a bit nervous and uncomfortable but is always ready to grab you for a big hug.Rick Baker deservedly took home an Academy Award for Best Make-Up Effects back in 1988 for this movie. Harry Henderson is an amazing character with a wonderfully wide range of expressions and emotions. All E.T. ever did was sit there looking bug-eyed. Not Harry though, you can't help loving him. I so want my own Bigfoot.Even now as an adult I think this movie is still great. As a kid I remember feeling the panic and excitement when Harry got lost in Seattle and the half-crazed Bigfoot hunter Jacques LaFleur (David Suchet) doing lots of sleaziness in order to have him shot, gutted and sold to science. Forgive the repeated comparison, but to me it was more involving and fun than the man with the keys in E.T.You just don't get family movies like this anymore. Back in the 80's Steven Spielberg's Amblin production company made loads of great family movies like Gremlins, Goonies, the Back to the Future Trilogy, Young Sherlock Holmes and Innerspace. They all had some kind high-concept spin that crud such as Like Mike and Crapper by the Dozen don't.It was a great time to be a kid back in those days. We weren't cynical and jaded and hooked on Playstation like modern children. We still had a sense of adventure, a longing for the outdoors. Anything could be out there. Maybe Harry is actually bumbling around in the woods as I write this. Like the Patterson/Gimlin film that inspired it, Harry and the Hendersons is one movie that will be timeless forever.