User reviews

I did not watch this with the expectation that Larry, Moe, and Curly-Joe would be performing as The Stooges, so I wasn't so disappointed as some. In fact, although I would have liked more bumbling and funny situations, I wished that they had been LESS "Stooge" like, and showed even more warmth and camaraderie toward each other; I was GLAD that there was no hitting. (I do rather wish Moe and Larry had worn their usual hairstyles, since it made them look a little younger and funnier, but that's no big deal.)

In my opinion, Maurer did an excellent job of making a "complete" film out of the footage, in spite of Larry's incapacitation. Being a dog-lover, I was highly amused at Moose's "adventure", particularly in the water. With all three Stooges being front-and-center in the final shot, and Larry offering the last words, the movie seemed quite nicely finished, and with a good ending joke. If I'd watched the movie without reading about it ahead of time, I would not have guessed there was a problem.

If the cinematography had been truly excellent, Disney-like, I think it would have been quite a fine travelogue-hosted-by-the-Stooges (what a concept!). Or too bad it wasn't more of a Vincent Minnelli "Long, Long Trailer" kind of thing. But it wasn't. As it is, if you accept it as a sort of giant, well-made home movie, it comes off best for you.

It is indeed poignant to muse that this was IT, after which there would be no more 3 Stooges, but isn't it nice to think that they got to be all together to make one last film, and did so in America's most beautiful natural parklands. It is pleasant to think that Larry got to experience this while he could still ambulate and move about so well. They certainly seem to be happily running around out in the woods and boating through the lakes; falling down, getting wet, watching geysers and playing with the dog. We all should be so lucky to have such a great final outing amongst our best friends.

The 3 Stooges are now living in retirement and are out to take it easy, even though some things do wrong, prompting Moe, always the boss to get mad. But hey, they are in retirement, so no more poking the eyes or any hair pulling.

What makes KOOK'S TOUR so maddening is that it isn't really very funny. Yet it is still an essential part of every Stooge fan's collection.

This film is, after all, the swan song of the 3 Stooges as a comedy act. The picture quality is poor because the only copy found of KOOK'S TOUR is an old 16 mm film and the color has deteriorated over time, as a grim reminder that this film is indeed something out of the distant past. It's even sadder yet when one realizes that Larry, during the filming, would suffer a stroke that would cripple him and ultimately result in his death in only 5 years.

At least one could smile at the thought that the 3 Stooges in KOOK'S TOUR are finally taking it easy and enjoying themselves in their final days as an act.

It was sad that this was their last. But hey they were on for 40 years. Moe took care of Larry & his bros and was just a salt of the earth. They don't make men like that anymore. This was cute and would have been a nice series had Moe not finally decided to throw the towel in, after Larry got sick.

Watching Kook's Tour on DVD is not going to stretch the capabilities of your player. The colors are washed out, and the sound is terrible. In fact, it looks and plays just like an old pre-video home movie! This actually works to the film's benefit, as the footage of the aging Three Stooges meeting fans and messing about in their favorite boat isn't too far off the type of shenanegans captured in the Stooges' real-life home movies that are also included on the DVD release.

It's hard to tell whether Kook's Tour would have made it as a series if Larry hadn't had his stroke. It is funny in places, but as Moe himself says, by this point in the game they were simply too old to do the eye-poke routines anymore. Yet for once the trio aren't stuck on some studio backlot - they're actually on location! And if a second episode had been made, it seems it would have been filmed in Japan. Once the bugs were worked out, the Three Stooges could well have provided TV with an early comedy-travel-reality TV hybrid!

Still, even in its reedited form, Kook's Tour has a fun spirit about it, and even with the padding, it makes for an interesting hour of viewing. It isn't their funniest work by any means, and Larry's fate makes it difficult for some fans to watch, but it's worth checking out at least once.

This was it, the last Three Stooges film ever made. It came decades after their heyday in almost 200 Columbia shorts in the 30s and 40s, and just a few years after those shorts being rerun on television lead to a brief revival that had the Stooges staring in several feature length films. It's an essential film for Stooge fans. Unfortunately, it's not very entertaining on its own.

'Kook's Tour' follows Moe, Larry, and Curly Joe as they retire and take their RV and boat to visit the great national parks of the American Northwest. This consists mostly of Moe narrating over footage of the gorgeous natural scenery, some comedy bits where the three attempt to be outdoorsmen, and lots of scenes of them fishing.

The most obvious knock against the movie is the washed out picture quality. The footage was basically shot as a glorified home movie intended to be a pilot for a television series that would follow the same pattern, and was virtually lost and not taken care of for decades. Even by 70s film quality, the picture is hard to watch.

Beyond that, it's just not funny. The Stooges are too old by this point for their trademark physical comedy. Even the comedic dialog falls flat more often than not. There are a few bits that warrant a nostalgic chuckle, but not enough to make up for the rest of it. This is a real shame, since they missed a great opportunity to just have the old stars reminiscing about the old times amongst each other or possibly fans they encounter.

Plans for a show were cancelled when a stroke forced Larry Fine to fully retire before production was complete. Both Moe Howard and Joe DeRita would attempt Three Stooges revivals in the next few years, but none would come to fruition. Moe made some TV appearances but died in 1975, just four months after Larry. Joe DeRita retired from show business due to failing health the same year. With Moe's brothers' Curley and Shemp both long gone by then, that was the end of the Three Stooges.

It's sad to see the end of a legendary career, especially when their last effort proved unremarkable. Stooge fans should definitely seek this out. The casual viewer is unlikely to find anything of value in it, though. If you want a taste of the Stooges, find their shots from the 30s and 40s, and don't bother with 'Kook's Tour.'

Ever since I was a little boy, I was a big fan of the Three Stooges. I had seen every movie they ever made, except "Kook's Tour." When it was finally released on video in 1999, my jaw nearly hit the floor. Unfortunately, my hopes were too high for what I was about to see. Billed as "Their last and funniest film," the Stooges simply take a camping trip and that's about it. Larry Fine suffered a stroke and was unable to complete the filming, so Norman Maurer filled the remaining time with scenery and narration by Moe Howard. "Kook's Tour" is indeed an important piece of Stooge history, but it is not a worthwhile film.

This movie would be appreciated by Stooge fans only. The movie starts out by showing some clips of some Stooge movies, all with Curly Jo. We then see the Stooges, in full color talking about their careers and now that they are retired, they will take a vacation and enjoy the places that they have been to but couldn't enjoy because of having to perform. I have to hand it to the camera crew. There are some beautiful landscape shots that are an enjoyment to me. The Stooges travel to some state parks and fish with their dog "Moose". Larry cannot catch a fish and they are poking fun at him because of this. The Stooges use some old lines and there are just a few times that they get hit but that is more for nostalgia than any thing. I think that the funniest part of the movie is when Larry dresses up in a camouflage outfit in order to get a picture of a deer. They loose their dog so they go out to try to find him and no one can see Larry because he blends in with the scenery. Larry never does catch a fish and because of that, Larry speaks his final words on film; "I quit". Larry suffered a stroke during the filming and was unable to finish the project so Norman Maurer had to piece together this hour long film using his own hands to dub for Larry. I gave it a 9 because this film is of great value to us die hard Stooge Fans

If you are hoping for something on par with the classic early Curly shorts, you will be greatly disappointed. If you are hoping for something on par with the, generally very good, 1959-1964 features, you will still be disappointed.

However, if you want a final glimpse of The Stooges via a "home movie-type" farewell, then this is ok. As others have stated, there is a fair amount of padded footage and the film quality is not the greatest.

There are a few laughs, but not much. This is more of a novelty than an actual movie.

To view The Stooges true sawn song, watch The Outlaws is Coming, which is very good.

I actually find this movie quite fun. The purists expect these old men to be bonking and hitting like they were 30 years ago. The fact that in 1970, this team who made their first film in 1933 should make a film is in itself just amazing. Imagine Chaplin, Lloyd or Laurel and Hardy still going strong in the 1970's? The details of the film have already been posted by other reviewers. My only complaint is there is much better prints of this film, existing in 16mm in the hands of collectors. The color is more rich and the picture quality is of course much superior to Super 8.

It is also possible that the Maurer family even still has the original negative but I am not sure. Little effort was made in locating a 16mm print, one collector sold one on ebay a few years back. Perhaps someday we can see Kooks Tour as it was meant to be seen.

This isn't really a Three Stooges film -- it's a travelogue that happens to feature the Stooges. As such, there isn't really much comedy in it. Nice scenery, but not much of anything funny. Moe's narration doesn't really add much -- it over-explained the jokes at times. And the long stretch focusing on Moose the dog really dragged. The almost stereotypical '60s "light comedy" soundtrack was grating at times.

But the sped-up parts were kind of funny at times. Many of the best lines were references to the Stooges now being retired. I've never cared much for Curly-Joe (not in comparison with the Howard brothers he replaced, anyway), but at least here he's no less funny than Moe and Larry get to be.

The old black & white footage at the beginning was kind of interesting. I assume this all must come from the Curly-Joe-era theatrical films (most of which I haven't seen); but whatever its origin, they managed to make it look convincingly (and appropriately) really OLD. If one didn't know better, one might think Curly-Joe had been with the Stooges for their entire long career! Which, by the way, was NOT the "50 years" they keep saying. I guess they wanted to use a nice, big, round number. "40" would have served that purpose AND it would have been accurate.

I didn't know what to expect when I put this in the VCR. Yes, I am a fan of the 3 Stooges, but this was made in 1970 and not even finished (Larry suffered a stroke while filming, and could not continue to do so)so what would it be like. First off, it wasn't really funny. I will admit there were some parts that got me laughing, but nowhere near the extent of an original short. Second, be prepared for a bad transfer of the movie. Some parts are a little hard to watch because of the bad film elements, but believe it or not, this is the best version that you can find. The original negative was lost, (as is described before the start of the movie) so this is the best 8mm transfer (which was very hard to come by) that they could find. 8mm doesn't age well and this was well over 30 years old, so it is going to be in bad shape. I actually had fun watching this, but I almost cried at the end, because I knew that Larry had already suffered a stroke and the the Stooges would be no more. I think that every Stooge fan should see this and cherish it, because it is a piece of stooge history, and it is somewhat funny. You'll like the fishing scenes with Larry, they are the funniest scenes in the movie! People say that Norman Maurer (Moe's son in Law) did a bad job at finishing and directing the movie, because he tried to make it longer with scenery and Moose the dog. I think that he did a good job considering that he didn't have much to work with. After all Larry was in bad shape and he couldn't just replace him, so he tried to finish the movie as best as he could. All in all the movie was fun but sad to watch. 7/10 Stooge wise 7/10 movie wise

this film calls to mind many "swan song" finales for other great teams like Laurel and Hardy, Abbott and Costello, the Marx Brothers, etc. all disappointing but having a lot of "typical" stuff, enough to keep the viewer "going".

KOOK'S TOUR is a TOTAL curiosity...yes, conceived as a real feature, and reportedly with very nice cinematography, as the team travels North America, looking for the perfect spot to "retire". as one might expect, nothing works out...they work harder at not working! it appears that it was parceled out as connecting material for their cartoon series. since that series did have a few laughs, the flick can be considered a success! MOe made a movie cameo three years later; Larry was confined to a Nursing Home (look for a great interview on youtube from that period!); Joe D. appears to be the only fully retired Stooge > in "real" life!

Originally, "Kook's Tour" was envisioned as a TV show for the Three Stooges, the project was doomed to failure for a variety of reasons. The biggest was that Larry Fine suffered a serious stroke and simply was unable to continue his career. Years later, the existing footage was combined with stock footage to make a one-hour film which was apparently sold to customers in the early days of video and Super 8 film.

The series concept consisted of the elderly Stooges taking a trip across the world...playing, essentially, themselves. Gone would be all the slapping and mayhem the Stooges were known for doing. And, in addition to Larry Fine, Moe Howard and Joe DeRita, Moose the dog goes along for the fun...if any.

What happened in this one is Moe narrating, some lovely (but washed out) footage of the nicest sites in the west (such as Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks) and a few scenes where the Stooges act stupidly (such as when trying to launch a boat). Is it funny? Not really....and it's a film that strictly is for the most devoted of fans since it's little like the Stooges' other work. Overall, an odd but not especially necessary curio.

This was the last film made by The Three Stooges. The story line deals with the Stooges, long retired, going on a camping trip to relax after their long careers. My favorite scene is when Larry tries to catch the fish. Larry was always my favorite stooge which made it sad for me to watch knowing that he suffered a stroke during the filming. Knowing that, it's really hard to laugh at this. It's still a great film to watch and interesting to see the Stooges in color. Watch this, because there will never be anything like it again. A 10/10.

I bought a DVD called "The Three Stooges: All Time Favorites" that had "Kook's Tour" on it. I was very excited because I knew it was the Stooges' last film, although I did know that it wasn't very good. Not very good was an understatement: it's a mess. The Stooges look pretty tired and don't seem to be having much fun, and they don't do anything that made them famous. No eye pokes. No face slaps. No "Knuckleheads". Not even any witty verbal banter. This is sad.