Schöne Bescherung 2 - Eddie geht baden

I just watched National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation 2 on DVD, hoping to see something at least close to the original, great holiday comedy, 'Christmas Vacation'. I saw nothing of the kind. You can tell right from the start that this movie just wasn't going to measure up. It's too bad it has a title that links it to the original Christmas Vacation. It's really kind of sad. The film can't stand on it's own merits. I think too many people will view this film on the strength of the title and it does not come close to that level of comedy. Other than the title, there is very little connecting the movie to the original 'Christmas Vacation' and even less of a connection to Christmas at all. The comedy is very simplistic and the plot poor. Children might find some humor here but most adults would only get a chuckle here and there. This movie is a flop. Don't waste your time with it.

I'm a big fan of the "Vacation" franchise, and I love Randy Quaid as Cousin Eddie, and at least a couple of the behind-the-scenes names were involved in this project (most notably Matty Simmons, who produced or executive-produced all 4 of the theatrical releases, as well as "Animal House"). For those reasons I figured this made-for-TV spin off might be worth checking out, even without Chevy Chase.

For the record, I did not expect it to be very good; I just thought it might be a slightly amusing diversion. Therefore, my high level of disappointment goes to prove just how bad this utter turd of a movie really was. It was mind-numbingly, jaw-droppingly, heart-stoppingly, head-explodingly terrible. Yet, somehow, I could not stop watching it. It's a sickness I have; I can't seem to walk out on a film or give up on a TV show before it ends. Nothing has ever made me want two hours of my life back more than this movie.

I am a fan of a few of the Vacation films, but when a movie franchise goes from the big screen to the TV screen, you know it's out of steam. Made for TV National Lampoon films do not do well on TV. This movie is another reason.

I think a lot of us were excited when this was coming out, but we also had to face the reality...it's a TV movie. Randy Quaid is fine as Cousin Eddie, but is better in a supporting role than the lead. Dana Barron sets history as the first actor to reprise her role as one of the Griswold kids. She is just as pretty, but it doesn't help a thin script.

Why was this movie even made? It was probably because NBC recently picked up another few years of presenting X-mas Vacation. There is nothing wrong with the acting. It's all in the script. It's just not that funny. People need to think before they write stuff like this. It is one Christmas movie I do not recommend.

I was wondering why I had never heard of this movie and after watching it, I know why. It's not very good. Bringing back the original Audrey was cool, but they had her act like the second Audrey. They brought back Eric Idle to try to make up for the lack of comedy but he wasn't in enough scenes. Using a green screen instead of actually having them be on a boat in the ocean was just sad. If you liked the original movies you will want to see this once, then forget about it.

This movie was a disaster. Why do movie producers insist on tarnishing the name of something that was truly great? They did not HAVE to use the "vacation" name to make a story out of this piece of crap, but that is the ONLY way anyone would have EVER watched I suppose. First off, what is Vacation without Chevy Chase? He WAS the movie. The original vacation was hilarious and I still laugh when I see it. The second was not as good, but still pretty decent. The Christmas one,....hmmmm, not crazy about, but not horrid. This one basically found the long lost Audrey and put her together with her trailer trash cousins, which if you had seen the first movie know would NEVER happen. So it was her, cousin eddie, and his wife and the grandfather, played by Ed Asner. All these characters were morally depraved, and just disgusting all together. The story was rediculous and not the least bit funny, but really sad.

They did the same thing to such greats as "Jaws", "Crocodile Dundee", "Superman" and so many others. They milked these stories for all they were worth. They took the original piece of work and dragged it through the mud!!!! Why? So Sad!