For a comedy that got trashed in reviews and rediculed by movie-goers, I find this movie to be incredibly funny. The first time I saw the movie was in the theater at which time I laughed at the "obvious" laugh-parts, but it was not until I had seen it another two or three times before I picked up on the absolutely hysterical dialogue, terriffic comedy styles of the various supporting characters, and the sheer brilliance and irony the script presents. If you know anything about history, this movie becomes instantly funny. If you are a fan of almost Simpsons-style "random" humor, this film is instantly funny. Never be turned off by the first glance of this film. If you dismiss it as "poor comedy" you will be missing out.

I'm from Montana and had to study Lewis and Clark. Almost Heroes is great it makes fun of all the details from their journey. Down to Sacajawea and the waterfall passage. My favorite quote is at the start of the movie when Hunt says "If you wanted a tracker why didn't you choose William Clark?" and Edwards responds "Don't you think I tried that." If anyone likes Chris Farley they will enjoy this film. Some people says his comedy wasn't a physical as before. Did those people watch this movie. How about the eagle scene or at the party. Or how about the bar scene or the dentist. At the start of the movie his is dragged on stage to be hung. Some people on this board probably don't like Chris Farley. Or maybe they don't like Matthew Perry. That however shouldn't mean they should hate every movie with them.

9/10

ALMOST HEROES was without a doubt one of the funniest movies of 1998. It was also one of those rare comedies that are almost perfect. After seeing it several times now, I still feel it could have been perfect if not for two things. The first being that despite the movie being very well edited, there are times when it seems that there was some serious cutting down for a PG-13 rating.

The second thing keeping this movie from being perfect is just like with OLD SCHOOL, there are some attempts at humor in the movie that seem out of place in a movie like this. Sadly, this was Chris Farley's last movie. Nearly seven years after his death, it is still hard to believe he's gone. He was in my opinion, the funniest guy ever!

Almost Heroes is a deliberately idiotic movie, and much of its

humor relies on the audience being aware of this. If you don't buy

that the movie is SUPPOSED to be ridiculous and nonsensical,

then you're not going to like it. Otherwise, it is a great Chris

Farley/Christopher Guest vehicle with abundant laughs, often at

the absurd crudity of its humor. There are scenes and dialogue

that come off as cheap attempts at lowbrow humor, when in fact

the real punchline is that you, the viewer, even acknowleged the

humor when it is so utterly tasteless. I, for one, laughed my @$$

off and got overdue fees at my video store because I couldn't stop

watching it.

Farley and Perry lead a team who are racing Lewis and Clark to blaze a trail to the Pacific coast of the newly settled America. Historically speaking, the setting of the film and costumes seem surprisingly accurate and I was totally convinced that I was looking at the early 1800's.

I watched it the first time and giggle a bit, I watched it the second time and laughed here and there, I watched it for the third time and laughed nearly all the way through! This film is like an acquired taste and just gets better with watching.

I love this movie. I love movies with stupid humor in them, and this movie just cracks me up. How can you not laugh? Chris Farley's one of the greats. Him, Matthew Perry and especially the rest of the cast keep you laughing from beginning to end. It's hard for me to pick a favorite character. I really like Bidwell, his misadventures had me rolling on the floor in laughter, but the comedic genius of Farley had me going too. One of my most favorite parts had to be when they bring the boat ashore and meet the Native Americans, and they think the really tall one's the Chief, but it turns out he's not, his real name's Bent Twig and he's really mentally retarded. I laughed for almost 5 minutes straight on that part. This movie's definitely in my top 10.

This one is deliciously high concept--What if famed explorers Louis and Clark were plagued with a band of ridiculous, incompetent, bumbling ignoramus rivals?

Leslie Edwards (Matthew Perry) is the organizer of the alternate expedition, and seems the brightest of the bunch. At least until you realize that he thinks good choices for his team include Bartholomew Hunt (Chris Farley) as their wilderness-hardened guide with experience and Guy Fontenot (Eugene Levy) as the team's translator. Hunt is basically Farley playing himself, which is both hilariously funny and profoundly tragic at the same time, and Fontenot makes it clear that he doesn't know much about other languages. At first we give Edwards kudos for deselecting him, but when Fontenot lets it be known that he'll only join the expedition if his hot Indian woman (she's not a spouse or girlfriend to him, but property), Shaquinna (Lisa Barbuscia), can also come along, Edwards figures that they probably won't need a translator's services that badly anyway, so brings him on the journey.

Levy is great at playing an attractive dunderhead. But we already knew that. That's what he's been doing since his early days on "Second City TV" (SCTV) (1976). What's more surprising is that Perry can so effectively come across as a sophisticated halfwit. Perry's performance is so dryly funny that during his scenes it can be easy to mistake Almost Heroes for a much more serious endeavor than the Mel Brooks-styled farce that it is. Farley has no such subtle complexities in his performance, but he's none the worse for that. He just acts natural, aside from feigning idiocy, as an extremely self-indulgent, substance-abusing boor. That may not sound funny, but in the context of the film, it is--Farley was as good at this stuff as was his idol, John Belushi. It's only made tragic by the knowledge that similar behavior off-camera led to his premature death shortly after making this film. The rest of the cast tends to be just as funny, if a bit underused. For that matter, though, even Levy is a bit underused.

What brought my score for Almost Heroes down slightly was the fact that it may be a bit too episodic. The episodes are all like very good to excellent skits on "Saturday Night Live" (1975) or SCTV, but they didn't necessarily flow together as a film. Taken separately, many of the skits are worthy of a 10--the IMDb message boards are full of threads with viewers citing their favorite moments. Reading through those after watching the film, just thinking about many of them again made me laugh out loud. But as a whole, Almost Heroes seems a bit underdeveloped from what it might have been. This may not be Christopher Guest's best work as a director, but it's worth watching and definitely deserves a DVD release.

I know that a lot of people hated this movie, but I'm commenting in defense of it. This movie may not have been Chris Farley's nor Matthew Perry's best work, but it is funny. I laughed a few times when I watched it the first time, in fact overall I like the darn movie, even though it's not as good as Farley's other funny works like "Tommy Boy", and "Black Sheep".

Please give this movie a chance. You might like it.

I read about half of the reviews and I think my opinion falls in line with about half of the crowd. This movie was one of the best Chris Farley physical style comedies that I had seen in awhile. If you don't like Chris Farley, of course you won't like the movie. If you try to take this movie too seriously, you won't like the movie. If you just want to sit back and get a few laughs, then you SHOULD like the movie.

I still laugh the most at the eagle scenes. That is just pure lame comedy at it's best. That scene and the rest of the movie never get old after watching it numerous times.

If I saw this movie with almost anyone else cast in Chris Farley's part I probably, well, would have never seen it in the first place, but if I did I would have given it a lousy review. OK, the movie itself was completely predictable and dumb (not like it was supposed to be intellectual). I think Matthew Perry had't made it to rehab yet because during certain scenes he looks too thin and pale. During others (did they toss both of the leads in rehab halfway through shooting, then continue when they were out?) he looks pretty good. In fact, if you have the hots for Perry, you should definitely see it because he was looking pretty good to me by the end of the movie, and I never thought he was all that hot before. I have a feeling the part of "Edwards" was originally meant for David Spade, but he pulled out.

We saw it opening weekend, Saturday night, and the theater had already split up the movie (and even cut the poster in half! Jerks) with another in the same part of the theater because no-one was showing up. The audience was us and maybe a dozen other Farley fans who sat silently when he wasn't onscreen, then you'd hear us all laugh at the top of our lungs scattered from various parts of the mostly empty auditorium (the laughs were scattered, not our lungs, sorry for the bad grammar) when he did or said something funny. This is not his best movie (he was obviously and sadly on his last legs, but doing his best to give his fans their money's worth)but not his worst. If you're a Farley fan, don't be scared away by the bad reviews, rent it or buy it! The scene where he has to go find an eagle's egg in the wilderness to cure his sick friend is priceless, and so is his comment when he finally brings it back and finds out which part of the egg they needed. Every single review in the media I read said something along the lines of "this is a sad legacy to be Farley's last movie, with this weak performance, blah blah" but I think he could have done a lot worse.

RIP big guy, your fans miss you.

In 1804, President Thomas Jefferson commissioned Lewis and Clark to explore the newly acquired Louisiana Territory and find a route to the Pacific. Other explorers followed Lewis and Clark but didn't become famous--if you believe this movie.

Among these less well-known explorers was Leslie Edwards, who seemed too much of a spoiled rich kid to spend time in the untamed wilderness--which is why he tried at first to take all the comforts of home with him, including a slave. He needed an expert tracker, but for some reason he had to settle for a man who was in the process of being hanged for drunk and disorderly conduct that included forcing a military officer to waltz. Supposedly, President Jefferson had commuted that sentence, but the signature could have been forged.

The rest of the crew was nothing to brag about. In fact, a number of them, after hearing they would have to travel upstream, wanted to take the easy way out and go to New Orleans instead. One old geezer simply wanted to see the Pacific but got out of doing any work because he was ... well, old. Guy Fontenot claimed to know all the languages of the Indian tribes the group would encounter. But the first time he was called on to translate, he explained that the language was one he didn't know. He brought along the Indian maiden Shaquinna and was insanely jealous whenever anyone would even look at her.

Along the way to the Pacific, our heroes encountered a number of strange Indians and even stranger villains such as Hidalgo. They also visited a full-fledged community established by whites--highly unlikely, but then, this wasn't supposed to be historically accurate.

This was a very funny movie, but whether it was quality depends on one's interpretation. For me, this was quite entertaining. Some examples: Bidwell loses an ear, and Pratt picks it up and speaks into it--for the rest of the movie--believing Bidwell will be able to hear him. And Hunt climbed a tree to get an eagle's egg--three times. I won't say why it had to be three times, or why he really regretted the second and third trips. But it was the highlight of the whole movie. There was also a scene where an Indian kept slapping the white men because they did not respect his customs. Or was that the real reason? And the entire movie was filled with physical comedy such as falling off cliffs.

One criticism--if Matthew Perry was supposed to have a British accent, or at least the accent of New England aristocracy, he seemed to forget in the more strenuous scenes.

The objective was to get to the Pacific before Lewis and Clark. Did they? Of course I can't say. I can say that from a distance in several scenes, we could see what appeared to be two men and an Indian woman, and a dog. Whether they made it or not, the effort was certainly one to be enjoyed.

This is without a doubt, one of my all-time favorite movies. Chris Farley does not disappoint in what is his best and last, lead role ever. You will be clutching your stomach from laughter from the get-go all the way until the final minutes. There is no weak part in this movie. Almost Heroes is packed with unforgettably hilarious scenes that will keep you laughing years from now when you reminisce on them. Farley's top-notch performance is aided and enhanced by his nearly equally funny ensemble of fellow cast members. Eugene Levy and Matthew Perry keep the laughter ball rolling throughout and there are about four others who are downright hysterical. This is a must-see film that is wildly underrated and enormously under-appreciated. Watch this movie if you want chiseled, 6- pack abs from laughing so hard.

First off, Chris Farley is hysterical in any movie and can make even the weakest material work. At some points in this movie, that is exactly what he did. However, the story wasn't a complete mess, it was actually quite good in parts. Especially when they encounter all the pitfalls throughout their journey, the script is very sharp and funny. Other parts drag quite a bit, and Eugene Levy's character was just completely unnecessary and unfunny. Matthew Perry had only a couple funny scenes, the rest of the movie he just served as straight man for Farley, who honestly didn't need him--- he could've made this movie work on his own without Perry's help. Better editing could've made the film seem less strung-out and I think it ran a little too long for a comedy. I also wish Franklin Cover's character could've been featured more extensively, I really enjoyed his scene in the film. All in all, a decent comedy adventure. 7/10.

this is a pretty obscure movie, so it may be hard to find. i couldn't get it at blockbuster but it was at the local library. its got some language and sexual content but its not really really dirty or any thing.

its about 2 explorers who are racing lewis and clark to the pacific. the main characters are supposed to be just like the people from the lewis and clark expedition. (lesie edwards is meriweather lewis, hunt is clark, etc.)

its really funny and it has some "chris farley getting hurt" in it. i saw it on comedy central and then i rented it and forced my family to watch it.

Someone really should help Matthew Perry choosing better movie scripts or at least explain him that overacting and making a fool out of himself isn't exactly a guarantee for funny movies. In 'Friends' he was OK, probably only because there were enough characters to keep him out of the spotlights most of the time, but this time he's one of the main characters, so you'll see him more than is good for your (mental) health.

The movie is about a bunch of people who will try to reach the coast of the pacific ocean before Lewis and Clark. Of course the entire expedition consists of lunatics, idiots and fools, but that won't keep them from trying to win the race anyway.

The tag line already said everything you need to know: Almost History... Almost Legends... Mostly Ridiculous. I couldn't agree more or have you ever thought to see the conquistadors fighting some 19th century colonists? Neither did I, but here they are. 'Almost legends'? True, this movie is already legendary because of its stupidity and bad taste and 'mostly ridiculous', I don't even bother to explain that one.

I'm not saying that everything in the movie is bad, but it just tries to be too much and ends up being nothing at all. It is some kind of spoof, an adventure movie, a historical movie (although far from correct, but that's probably where the humor should be in),... all in one. I'm not saying that the combination has to be a guarantee for failure, but than you'll need much better direction and a better script. This time it isn't worth much. I give it a 4/10.

Almost Heroes (1998)

5 Word Summary

Explorers race Louis and Clark

In early American history two explorers named Louis and Clark attempt to be the first to map a route to the Pacific Ocean. However, Bartholomew Hunt and Leslie Edwards are on their tail. Hunt (Farley), Edwards (Perry) and their men race their way to beat Louis and Clarke. Even squirrels, waterfalls, bears and crazy Spaniards cant stop them.

Honestly I'm at a loss of words with the rating of the film. This is probably my favorite Chris Farley film, even over Tommy Boy (though I've seen Tommy Boy tons of times, that might be why.) Now I know its not necessarily well made but its not poorly made by any means. The Performances are hilarious, at least from Farley and Levy and some of the other men, Matthew Perry wasn't at his best by far but held in there.

Its just one of those adventure comedies that have been done plenty of times but this is just a new version of it. With any film like that (Vacation, Harold and Kumar, Detroit Rock City, ETC) you know its going to be ridiculous and completely unrealistic but that just adds to the humor in my opinion.

It also is one of my favorite movies to quote. There is so many hilarious lines that you can pretty much quote it for as long as the film is itself. "White water in the morning," "Bent Twig," "Pittsburg Nellie," "why don't you get your own bottle" these are just a few of my favorite lines/scenes, (if you haven't seen it yet these wont make sense obviously.)

It is for sure a "dumb" comedy for the most part but sometimes that's more fun.

Id recommend this film to anyone that needs an easy laugh, and of course anyone who loves Chris Farley

This movie is awesome. I love it when Hunt gets attacked by the eagle. And when Edwards eats the eagle egg shell medicine. Pretty much the whole movie is one laugh after another. This is comedy at its best. I give it a 10!

This was a huge flop when it was released (if memory serves correctly, it is in the Box Office Failures Hall of Fame). Chris Farley had died five months before its release, there were bad screenings, negative sneak preview reviews, etc... and when they finally put it out, the film tanked.

I've never found Farley funny but this movie is okay. It's got some funny scenes. It's original and has some clever puns on the whole Lewis and Clark adventure - it's essentially about two guys (Matthew Perry and Farley) who decide to "beat" Lewis and Clark by "getting there first." Christopher Guest receives directorial credit, which is surprising considering this isn't a "mockumentary." The direction overall isn't too great and I would never guess it was one of his films if I didn't know any better.

Farley is annoying as usual, and Perry is doing his Chandler routine - could he BE any more predictable? (Wink, wink.) There's a lot of crude humor and some stupid childish gags that embarrass rather than entertain (such as Farley's fight with the eagle).

To be perfectly honest this isn't a "terrible" film. I've seen worse, and at least it made me laugh, which is more than can be said for Farley's other film, "Beverly Hills Ninja." But at the end of the day it's still just okay and not good enough to warrant a good review.

I enjoy watching Chris Farley and I've seen quite a few movies featuring him (no real good ones though) and also I like Matthew Perry a lot and those two combined in a film, this I had to see. This is a comedy that is typically Perry and Typically Farley. It features all the weird running and looks we know Perry for in Friends and Farley has some of the same stuff he does in Tommy Boy or Black sheep. This one also is a tag corny, sometimes because some of the supporting cast has like the IQ of a slice of bread plus we are introduced to what losers used in the 19th century instead of rubber women. Nonetheless this one has some good laughs and one or two great ones. The story isn't too good and sometimes it's corny but hey what the hell, most comedy's are (Naked Gun, Black Sheep, Scary Movie and so on). If you know and like Farley this won't disappoint you.

6 out of 10

Leslie Edwards (Matthew Perry) and Bartholow Hunt (Chris Farley) lead a team of rag-tag misfits on a quest to beat Lewis & Clark to the Pacific Coast. A magnificent early 1800's western environment encompasses the explorers on their journey. All awhile, an undeniably catchy score plays in the background.However, obviously, the comedy is the movie's overt strong point. Decent to commendable comedic performances are had throughout the whole cast. Despite the wonderful work done by Perry and Farley, the true comedy emanates from the supporting cast; including an outrageous performance by Eugene Levy as the Frenchman Guy Fontenot. The movie is so entertaining that an empty feeling is cast upon some when the movie reaches it's conclusion. The sorrow is even more painful due to Farley's death and it being his last major performance. Overall, huge laughs are to be had in this 'historical' comedic achievement.

From the opening credits, I had a smile on my face because of the graphic and introduction the film gives its viewing audience. I thought to myself what a delight it is to see a film where your mind does not have to stress over thinking of who did what to whom.

This was Chris Farley's final and it was too bad that he died so suddenly because this was his best film performance ever. It showed how he dominates the film by his brand of physical, in your face comedy. The script was hokey at best, meaning it wasn't trying to be the best movie; if it did that task failed.

Based upon the story of Lewis and Clark's expedition, Chris Farley and Matthew Perry embark on a journey to do the same as Lewis and Clark did, but beat him to it. Perry and Farley play Edwards and Hunt a fumbling pair of wannabe explorers that want to make a profitable discovery.

"Almost Heroes" is a fun movie to watch and a pure delight for everyone wanting stressless viewing.

I won't say much other than this film is extremely underrated, especailly compared to other of Farley's films. Farley and Perry are hilarious together in Almost Heroes, a Monty Python-esqe comedy that is funnier than just about any Farley film save Tommy Boy. This film is definately worth a better rating than IMDB has it listed as.

This is the kind of movie you need to watch more than once to appreciate. I'd never go so far as to say this is a "good" movie, on the contrary, its a very bad movie, and thats what makes it funny. No one seems to be able to appreciate the humor in the poor writing and acting that make this movie hilarious. Watch Farley's battle with the eagle a few times and you'll see the humor. Watch the gauntlet with creamed corn and tell me thats not funny because of its sheer ridiculousness. I say people need to lighten up and respect this movie for what it is, a harmless farce that allows for some cheap laughs at physical humor and absurd dialog.

Today was the first time I actually saw this movie (I know, I'm late), but I think it was a really good movie. It was a great comedy that had me laughing all the way through. I loved the plot of it all, as I never thought I could be laughing at the setting and time this was happening. Chris Farley and Matt Perry were a great combination in this film, and it really made me see Matthew Perry for the great actor he is. The sad thing is, I never even heard of this movie until I came across it today. You'd think a great funny (very, VERY funny) comedy like this would be more noticed. I'm actually very surprised I've never heard people even mention this fantastic title. I loved everything about this film. Hilarious characters, great actors... this movie is a must see.

As I look through the pages of comments, I see a fairly common recurrence. People either love this movie, or they hate it. I've watched this movie upwards of 10 times and it has not ceased to be hilarious. Me and other friends who have watched the film even get laughs out of references to this film, because its so classic. Let me warn you that if you try to take this movie seriously, critique its script or plot, you will most likely fall into the category that hates this film. The true comedy comes from the absurd nature of the dialogue and the overacting which makes it that much funnier. Hopefully you will enjoy it.