The Great Muppet Caper (1981)

Kermit, Gonzo and Fozzie float in on their balloon. Kermit and Fozzie are reporters and Gonzo is their photographer. The guys miss a jewel heist against Lady Holiday (Diana Rigg) happening right in front of them. They travel to London to interview Lady Holiday. They stay at the Happiness Hotel where they find many of the other Muppets. Miss Piggy wants to be a Holiday model and gets a job as the receptionist. Nicky (Charles Grodin) is Lady Holiday's irresponsible brother. Kermit mistakes Miss Piggy for the real Lady Holiday.

I love the Muppets and they know enough to highlight the stars. The caper is nothing special and it's an excuse to have a plot. It doesn't add much to the Muppets. Nevertheless the little guys are still full of charm. Also sending them to London doesn't do much to add to the comedy. This is good for anybody who loves the Muppets (which should be everybody).

Fmovies: Jim Hensons' beloved Muppet characters again light up the screen in this, their second feature vehicle. Kermit and Fozzie play "twin" reporters who travel with photographer friend Gonzo to London. Kermit intends to interview fashion mogul Lady Holliday (Diana Rigg), whose precious jewels are being targeted by thieves. He gets distracted when he falls in love with Miss Piggy, a wannabe fashion model who agrees to take a receptionist job for Lady Holliday. The requisite villain is a hilarious Charles Grodin, playing Lady Holliday's ne'er-do-well brother Nicky. In order to foil him and his accomplices (all models), Kermit, Fozzie, and Gonzo must rely on the permanent residents of the extremely dilapidated Happiness Hotel.

As a lifetime fan of the Muppets, this viewer will admit that the movie does go on a bit long, and contains a few too many musical numbers. (Although the Esther Williams-style water ballet with Miss Piggy is indeed a hoot.) If anything, though, this movie comes off as even funnier to this viewer as an adult due to all the "meta" moments, where the Muppets acknowledge that they're in a movie. There are many inspired gags, such as Kermit "shaving" despite having no hair to speak of (there's no blade in the thing!). Even in 2018, an age when so many things are rendered digitally, the effects magic that makes the Muppets appear to ride bicycles is impressive.

The movie gets off to a great start, with Kermit, Fozzie, and Gonzo riding a hot air balloon while the opening credits play out. Kermit tells the worried Fozzie that they'll be over in a few minutes.

Many of the Muppet characters get a brief hysterical moment of their own, including some of this viewers' own favourites, like the Swedish Chef, Animal, Statler and Waldorf, and Rowlf.

Adding value to the shenanigans are a couple of cameo appearances: Jack Warden, Robert Morley, John Cleese, Peter Falk, and especially Peter Ustinov, who's one of the recipients of Miss Piggy's classic "Hi-YAAAAAH!" routine. And keep your eyes peeled for Jim Henson himself, at about the 43 minute mark as a restaurant patron.

Overall, good fun for Muppet fans, with a generous dose of genuinely funny lines.

Seven out of 10.

I will begin to say that I do think that Muppet movies such as Treasure Island and Christmas Carol are just as delightful, but The Great Muppet Caper will always have a special place in my heart. From the hilarious opening credits to the rollicking finale, this is just a hugely enjoyable film, with just one or two minor discrepancies. The Muppets are great as usual, Jim Henson especially as Kermit. It was such a shame that he died, he was such a talented man, though Steve Whitmire is a very good replacement in the later Muppet films. Great to see Sam the Eagle, Fozzie, Wrolf and Rizzo. Out of the human cast, Charles Grodin and Diana Rigg are very good, Grodin with his charm and Rigg with her frostiness, though if anything I wish the two stars had more screen time. Not to mention the amusing cameos from John Cleese and Peter Ustinov. The songs were very pleasant, perhaps not as memorable as ones in other Muppet films but First Time It Happens is one of my all time favourite Muppet songs, and there are some clever jokes about British eccentricity and what have you. My favourite Muppet and the the best aspect of the film, or for me anyway, was the always wonderful Miss Piggy, who delighted in every scene she was in. She was particularly sensational in the musical numbers especially the restaurant and pool scenes, where the choreography is just dazzling. Overall, a great movie, that is definitely up there with the Muppets best. 10/10 Bethany Cox

The Great Muppet Caper fmovies. "The Great Muppet Caper" had a fantastic start, as Kermit, Fozzie and Gonzo fly about in a hot air balloon. During their flight, they see the credits and make comments about them--priceless. And, the first 15 minutes or so of the film is great. However, when the actual plot begins, the show starts to drag. Much of this is because I wanted to see Muppets--not Charles Grodin, Diana Rigg and other human actors as well as some uninteresting plot about jewel thieves. And, because the Muppets are best when not over-burdened with plot and are allowed to just cut up and be silly, the more there was plot the more the film lost my attention. Now this is not to say that the film is bad or not worth watching--but as it progresses, the laughs do become less and less frequent. For my time, the best of the Muppet films were "The Muppet Movie" and "The Muppets".

For kids, this film is like a kind of methadone for the heroin that is known as Pokemon (in other words, watch the muppets to get off of Pokemon even though there is no comparison to the muppets). For some of us adults who grew up with the muppets, and this movie in particular, it's a kind of small-scale piece of homage heaven. This is a fun movie, plain and simple, which parents won't find too bad either. Story takes the trio (Kermit, Fozzie and the Great Gonzo) to London as journalists who have to investigate dastardly jewelry robberies. There's plenty of great gags, horribly awesome puns, the cool flavor of the 'Jewel of the North Atlantic', and a few cameos (John Cleese and Peter Ustinov notably) surrounded by the nut-house that is the muppet world make this a near must see. The musical numbers, by the way, are close to perfect. Jim Henson's first feature length film as director is close to being his best, though not quite.

The Muppets are often a delight. I say that as an adult male- I still think they're great. The Muppet Movie (1979) is a classic and very funny. When The Muppet Movie VHS release was advertised, the second Muppet film, The Great Muppet Caper (1981), was trumpeted along with it. That set the bar high, and unfortunately, it didn't click with me well as a child.

You might attribute that to drab scenery (the newspaper office and the Happiness Hotel) and costumes (Kermit and Fozzie are none too appealing in this), and themes of newspaper writing and jewel thievery that aren't going to attract every child. Having rewatched The Great Muppet Caper now, I've come around on it, or at least the first half. The film starts strong with numerous funny gags, but runs out of steam. We have some humorous self-references and Gonzo being reckless, and then as we get into the film we have dubious claims Kermit and Fozzie are identical twins, and much fun over how bad the Happiness Hotel is. The British couple who barely register Miss Piggy climbing their walls are a riot. After that, particularly when Miss Piggy begins her dancing and modelling scenes, the film begins to drag and the story isn't all that strong. There are still some laughs in it, but this isn't the Muppets' best showing.