'Ferris Bueller's Day Off': Cameron's Ferrari Destruction Scene

What were his demons?

 

Sounds like some of you fellas had a hard time in highschool.

 

His father doesn't love him and he is uptight about it. He makes a change and is ready to live his life out of his father's shadow.

 

One of the most overrated movies of the '80s. Some Kind of Wonderful is actually much better.

 

I like SKOW but it's about half as fun as Ferris.

 

It's implied that his father is neglectful, abusive or both, which suggests why Cameron has the personality he does. The movie doesn't spell this out (except in the car crash scene, to an extent), but you can connect the dots. Both Cameron and Jeannie spend too much energy defining themselves by how their parents treat them, rather than embracing themselves and living life on their own terms. They both realize this by the end of the movie, in different ways. Again, Hughes, to his credit, doesn't hit the viewer over the head with the theme, but gives the viewer enough information to figure this out, if they are so inclined.

 

I like both. I'll suggest that Ferris is more fun, Wonderful is more nuanced and thoughtful.

 

I believe they were sued by Ferrari over this car:

Movie Cars: Five Facts About That Ferrari in “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off”

5. Ferrari sued Modena Design & Development.
To make it realistic, Modena Design put Ferrari badges on their replicas. The problem? They did it without securing the rights from the automaker. Not surprisingly for a company as protective of their branding as Ferrari, a lawsuit citing trademark design issues was promptly brought against Modena Design. Glassmoyer and Goyetter were quickly put out of business due to the legal fees that piled up during litigation.

 

I graduated from high school the week before this was released... there was already a strange disconnect as I watched it opening week in the theater... I'm not sure I found it unbelievable but more along the lines of "well, thank gawd that book's finished"... I already couldn't identify with the trials and tribulations of high school though it was only a week in the rearview mirror... I'd been wanting to move on for so long... I had a fine time the last three years of high school but I split from school and my hometown the day I turned 18 and was so glad that chapter in my life was over...

 

I don't know about that. While I liked that movie a lot and the character Val Kilmer portrayed, the character himself is more fantasy than Ferris is. Sure, there are some cocky, smart ass, geniuses out there in real life, but none of them act like a class clown who pull of stunts that could get people killed and could get them kicked out of school. Not to mention of showing up their mentor/advisor/professor and have their gravy train yanked from them. And speaking of mentors/advisors/professors, there are none that would take that kind of crap from a student even if it meant not ever having the one discovery/invention that would make them famous/infamous from the contributions of said student. Very, very unlikely a serious, studious, genius would change on a dime, without cracking and having a breakdown, and say "Screw it".

That being said, I still loved that movie, especially some of the characters. Lazlo, the ex-student genius, living in the depths of the dorms with the only access being a dorm room closet. Loved how he won all those sweepstakes prizes by just sending in millions of entries (not realistic, though.) Also, the blond-headed guy with braces and glasses who was the main rival to Kilmer's character. Loved how they knocked him out with gas and then implanted a radio receiver in his braces. Then making him believe God was talking to him. LOL. Then more silly stuff, by putting huge amounts of Jiffy Pop Popcorn in the house of the professor and then having the laser target his house. Those three examples are some funny stuff, but also fantastical and not realistic.

Now there were some things in the movie that hit home and do happen in real life. Such as students not showing up for class, but still setting up tape recorders on their desks to record the lecture. Though, what made that funny was that the professor himself had set up a tape recorder on his desk to play his lecture one day when he didn't show up for class. So, had a full room of nothing but tape recorders on desks. LOL.

I'm going by memory from this movie. Probably the last time I've watched it was early '90s. Haven't seen it in over 30 years. I need to go watch it again and see if it still holds up.

 

Nice writeup.

I recognize that I did not like Ferris because I was Cameron. I was nervous and had an emotionally abusive wicked stepmother. I suppose that I was supposed to look up to Ferris as the guy who could do everything I couldn't -- a kind of aspirational character. But I just didn't back then, and I don't now. He just struck me as the type who got people around him in trouble, including his supposed best friend, and he never faced any consequences. You know when Cameron has to deal with his dad later that night, Ferris isn't going to be standing next to him in support.

And Ferris can tell himself he did Cameron a favor all he wants, but it wasn't his "favor" to do. And he didn't take the car out as a way to help Cameron get over his anxieties. It was all Ferris-Ferris-Ferris-collateral-damage-be-damned.

And while we're at it, Jennifer Grey ( ) had no business covering for him at the end.

 

That feels to me less like "figuring it out" as much as justifying a somewhat unsatisfying (to me) ending to Cameron's story. Cameron is suddenly smiling and joking about what he's done, and how he's going to have a "little chat" with his father about it. Cameron's issues with his dad only come up briefly in the film, it doesn't feel set up too strongly. We don't ever actually see any conflict with the father onscreen, and Cameron just in general seems to suffer from various neuroses. But I guess it's fine, if Ferris is indeed the main character we are supposed to care about. I still like to wonder if it would have been more meaningful (if less fun) film if it leaned a bit further into Cameron's perspective over Ferris's.

Haha, I too prefer Kilmer's character there, over Ferris Bueller, even if I think that the latter film itself may be stronger. As relatively shallow as the film is, Kilmer's character is far more likable to me and seems to have more honesty and vulnerability with his friends under his cool genius persona, which makes him more relatable. If you're a kid watching both films and you had to choose one as a best friend, there's no contest. Ferris seems like he is manipulating everybody, friends included, for the audience's entertainment of course, but there's always been something odd about that to me.

 

Yeah, I rewatched the "Cameron accepts his fate" scene just now on YouTube, and Ferris does seem to genuinely offer to take the blame, but it's also done in a way that implies that Cameron can't handle it, while Ferris can. There's just something glib about the guy, haha. He's an iconic 80's comedy film character for sure, but it's interesting how there are different perspectives about him, in a way that few of those John Hughes movie characters seem to generate.

 

Here's the scene, starting around 6:25 is where Ferris tries to accept the blame. I do appreciate his willingness to support Cameron, and it does feel genuine. I still don't like the guy, but he's a better person in this scene than I remembered.

Alan Ruck is terrific here.

 

Yeah! Ruck really is great there. I love the bit where he is saying "I can't hide this" (about 4:25 into that clip) and then touches his face, as if to then - ironically - immediately hide his face for a moment or a tear. It's not too subtle, but relative to the rest of the film, it comes off as a subtle touch of complexity.

What really makes him great in the whole scene overall is, as I mentioned, the film never shows us anything of what he is talking about. We never see the father or the dynamic - I guess there wouldn't be time to do so, even though generally films are supposed to "show, don't tell." So, Ruck has the burden of "telling". And he does it great.

 

The wacky race home is wonderful and enhanced greatly with "The March of the Swivel Heads" by The English Beat which is an instrumental remix of "Rotating Heads":

 

The version used in the movie is not on streaming services, unfortunately, though it was included on that new John Hughes Mixtape box set (which isn't on streaming services, at least yet). Streaming services only have the bonus track version from the Special Beat Service reissue, which is a significantly different mix.

 

Pretty in Pink redux

 

high school was a joke. a bunch of amateurs constantly posing (and yes, i'm including myself in that assessment).

 

Yes, those stereotypes were real back in the 1980s. I think point, however, is that none of us (or very few) who were in school at the time were having intelligent and insightful conversations about all these cliques and stereotypes like the characters in the breakfast club. It was fantasy. I think John Hughes was a terrific filmmaker and even still, underrated. Underrated because he had too much comedy on his films, which doesn’t get taken seriously.

On a personal note, I was a jock in high school. It was only a few years later that I realized I was actually a nerd in a jock’s body.

 

Yes, the bonus track on Special Beat Service is 3:32 while the dub version used in the film is 5:15 which I linked to in my post from a needledrop of the B-side of the "Jeanette" 12" UK single on YouTube.




It was released in the US as the B-side on the "I Confess" 7" single.




I would love to pick up that Life Moves Pretty Fast: The John Hughes Mixtapes boxset but at $40-$55 it's a little pricey for such an eclectic collection of songs. When La-La Land Records released an official Ferris Bueller's Day Off soundtrack in 2016 they noted that they tried to get this version of "March of the Swivelheads" for it but couldn't due to licensing restrictions so it's nice to see it's at least finally released on CD after all these years.

 

Huh, I had good highschool years. College too. Guess experiences vary.

 

Yep

 

I don't think this movie has aged well... Sure, it's got some funny parts... but, I think serious analysis has to go out the window.

It's only gotten more "smug" as the decades pass... Ferris is clever and witty? He appears more privileged than anything else... All of Cameron's anxieties stem from his relationship with father? Sure that's common, but the fact that he can "exorcise his demons" on his dad's Ferrari (!) is a pretty sweet deal. You want to feel for the guy, but having "father issues" with a millionaire is still better than having the same issues with an antagonistic, unemployable violent drunk or some such.

I guess I saw this movie shortly after graduating from high school... I came from a stable, middle-class background, so this movie was just farcical fun at the time.

It'd be cool to hear what folks born in the 21st century think of this movie... the whole idea of "high school" has changed dramatically... For example, in my four years there, some maniac coming to school with a gun and killing other students never once crossed my mind... I figure a thought like this enters a high-school kid's mind many times a week now.

 

This is true. Never had a fear of someone bringing a gun to school. But, the thing at my school back in the early-mid '80s (and the entire county high school system,) was bomb threats. Someone would call in the bomb threat and we had to evacuate the school. The fire and police departments had to come and check the entire school, room by room. After the first one was called in (and after the students saw how long it took to be cleared,) the bomb threats became more frequent. Of course, the more frequent they became, the checks became faster. But early on, they took hours and instead of standing out in the parking lot for hours, they had us go to the football stadium and sit in the stands until the all clear was given. I can't remember if they ever caught the person calling in the bomb threats. Though, I do slightly remember some copycats were caught and punished.

The whole bomb scare craze all started because in '80 or '81 one of the high schools in the county was an older school and had a boiler room. The heating systems in the school was based on those old steam radiators in every room. Apparently something in the boiler room had too much pressure built up and then exploded, knocking out a wall and killing and injuring people in the next room (a classroom was next to the boiler room.) Before what was determined what happened, people (including fire and police department) speculated that a bomb might have gone off. Though, quickly after they evacuated that school and saw it came from the boiler room and inspected it, they knew what happened. After that incident is when the bomb threats started to happen throughout the entire school system.