FuzzyTagz If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

ThedevilChoose When a movie has you begging for it to end not even half way through it's pure crap. We've all seen this movie and this characters millions of times, nothing new in it. Don't waste your time.

Brendon Jones It’s fine. It's literally the definition of a fine movie. You’ve seen it before, you know every beat and outcome before the characters even do. Only question is how much escapism you’re looking for.

Aubrey Hackett While it is a pity that the story wasn't told with more visual finesse, this is trivial compared to our real-world problems. It takes a good movie to put that into perspective.

mymangodfrey Usually, when an actor of Henry Fonda's age and reputation wins an Oscar for a late-career performance (in this case Fonda's last performance), the award is a de facto lifetime achievement award. In this case, the Oscar was actually merited by the work itself: Fonda is just wonderful here. Lines that might not have been funny on the page are laugh-out-loud funny in the film thanks to his delivery, and his character is believably complex and deeply sympathetic. I love Henry Fonda, and I particularly love him in On Golden Pond. As with so many of his films, this one is worth seeing for him alone.The film as a whole is best described as the all-time greatest Hallmark Hall of Fame TV movie. You can easily make the case that it's schmaltzy, safe, and predictable - but why bother, when the movie is so enjoyable? The cinematography and Dave Grusin's score are lovely, and Fonda is not the only actor turning in career-best work.But, an admission: this was the first movie I ever saw in a theater. I was four years old, and I remember the whole night so clearly. I was in love with the movies instantly. Forty or so years later - at a point when I've seen dozens of Fonda movies and Hepburn movies, everything from Bringing Up Baby and Young Mr. Lincoln to Once Upon a Time in the West and Rooster Cogburn - I still enjoy On Golden Pond.

joshmartinzal As often as I can, I try to give a second, or a third watch to one of those movies, somehow powerfully charming for me. I go back to them, again and again, to confirm my feelings about the story that enchanted me when I saw it for the first time.The films don't change, they are always the same, forever and ever. It's just you, me, those who are not the same anymore. So, if I fall in love again with the film I first watched as a teenager, when I took my mother with me to the local movie theatre and now, again, as I did by that time, cried and laughed at this story about life and getting old, oh well, that's simply because the film is that good.

HotToastyRag On Golden Pond is famous for many reasons, and if you haven't seen it yet, you're missing out on some of the most memorable moments of semi-modern, semi-classic film history.Katharine Hepburn and Henry Fonda play an old married couple who return to their lake cottage to celebrate Henry's 80th birthday. He's a crotchety old man who's grumpy all the time and doesn't like getting older. Katharine supplies the warmth in the family, including their relationship with their daughter, Jane Fonda. Jane and Henry don't get along, mirroring their real-life relationship, and when she comes to the lake house to mend their old wounds, it's an uphill battle.Dabney Coleman costars as Jane's fiancé, and Doug McKeon plays Dabney's teenage son who bonds with Henry. Both Katharine and Henry received Oscars for their performance, as did Ernest Thompson for his adapted screenplay. It's hard to choose one famous moment from the film, since there are so many: Katharine's "go go go" speech, Jane's backflip, Henry and Jane's hug, Jane's tearful "I want to be your friend" line, and Henry's pronunciation of his wife's name. It's definitely worth watching, especially if you're a fan of anyone in the cast, or if you have issues with your father.

Rob Starzec Seeing that this was one of the last films for both Henry Fonda and Katharine Hepburn, I was a little disappointed that this film marked the end of their acting careers. What is disappointing is not their ability in the film - they both won Oscars, rightfully so for Fonda, not so sure for Hepburn's fourth Oscar - but rather the fact that each of them had amazing movies such as 12 Angry Men for Fonda and The African Queen for Hepburn, yet they ended their careers on this simple and cheesy melodrama about aging.First, let's talk about what is done well - Henry Fonda's great performance as a senior citizen. We get all the humor we can get about an old man through Fonda's performance - he doesn't sound like himself at all, he'll make harsh jokes every now and then based on sexuality or race, he's extremely forgetful. But most of all, from a few key scenes we can clearly see that Thayer is afraid of death hitting him soon, even though this contradicts what he says throughout the movie. It is nearly heartbreaking (but also pretty cheesy) when his daughter confronts him towards the conclusion of the film about never acting as a true friend to her like he has been acting around Billy, who is Chelsea's soon-to-be stepson. It is a great moment to analyze whether their relationship has failed in the past based on gender or simply because Fonda's character was not a good father to Chelsea.Sadly, Fonda's performance along with that climactic moment about repairing his relationship with Chelsea are the only things of merit/interest for this film in my eyes. The main story is about Chelsea and her new fiancé Bill leaving Bill's son, Billy, with Chelsea's parents while they take a trip. What a weird decision to leave a thirteen year old kid alone with two elderly citizens whom he just met and is not even related to. Best parenting ever. While it is a delight to see Billy become friends with Norman, their "journey" is not that exciting at all except for when Norman and Billy become stranded on a rock in the middle of the pond after an accident.To put it simply, with actors of this particular caliber, their final movie could have been a lot stronger, but instead they starred in a decent melodrama at the end of their careers, not quite reaching the greatness of movies we come to expect from Henry Fonda and Katharine Hepburn.2.5/4.0