National Lampoon's Vacation

Spending time with the family - something you dread and love at the same time. Well mostly - something you miss at times too though. And something that not everyone is able to squeeze in - so when the Griswolds (or is it Griswalds as they are called in the sequel?) have an opening they use the time to go on vacation. And while they could have used an airplane and flown to their desired destination - that would have nullified the movie and so many great gags it does hold for you.

Luckily they do not forget any family member (named Kevin or otherwise), but they only are four people so ... there's that. They do occasionaly lose some luggage/baggage - literally. Apart from that, the movie does not care about being politically correct at all. There is a scene in the "ghetto" with quite a lot of stereotypes. Apparently they would not do this today ... well some have regrets that they shot that (production team if I got that right).

You also have jokes about incest and cheating - the girl in the Ferrari will probably stay in your dreams ... if you are either into the car and/or the female driving it. So much fun on the road, most of it feels even real. Situations that could happen one way or the other ... and almost exactly like that. Really good comedy ... only topped by the Christmas inspired sequel that came a few years later.

Every summer Chevy Chase takes his family on a little trip. This year he went too far.

Chevy Chase stars as Clark Griswold, the typical American businessman. Well, almost a basic businessman. He works in food preservatives. Beverly D'Angelo plays his wife, Anthony Michael Hall plays Rusty, his teenage son, and Dana Barron plays his daughter Audrey . This summer, Clark has decided to go all out and take a vacation with his family to "Walley World," a theme park spoof on Disney World, owned by "Roy Walley".

Basically, this film starts out strong and ends strong. There are many gut grabbing scenes, and the film never resorts to gross out humor. The biggest gross out is when Clark bites into a sandwich a dog leaked on, but that's a different story.

Along the way to Walley World, everything and everything that can go wrong does, and Clark ends up with Aunt Edna (Imogene Coca), who adds more fun to this wallop of a comedy.

The laughter just escalates more and more as we see Clark's dreams flush down the toilet farther and farther, and I can't tell you how much I laughed at some of the scenes.

"Vacation" isn't typical National Lampoon fare.

Chevy Chase gives by far his best performance (akthough he acts just as well in "Christmas Vacation") as Clark, a real optimist, go get'm kind of guy, who completely snaps toward the end of the film. The rest of the cast does well, and Beverly D'Angelo does surprisingly well as a house wife. The two children, Audrey and Rusy, squawk at each other, but not to the point of obnoxious, which is another good thing about this film.

Is it no surprise that John Hughes, the king writer/director of the 80's comedy films wrote this, or that Harold Ramis (Groundhog Day, Ghostbusters, Striped, Analyze This) directed the film?

With cameos by the likes of John Candy, Eugene Levy, Brian Doyle Murray (who played Clark's boss in "Christmas Vacation"), and more, "Vacation" is a comedic triumph of the eighties that is now an icon of how to make a good comedy.

4.5/5 stars --

John Ulmer

I have seen National Lampoon's Vacation several times over the years. My recent watch was an unedited version which contained nudity and swear words.

Watching the uncensored version actually made the movie funnier.

Clark Griswold (Chevy Chase) is the suburbanite who takes his wife Ellen (Beverly D'Angelo) and their son Rusty (Anthony Michael Hall) and their daughter Audrey (Dana Barron) to a family road trip from Chicago to Walley World theme park in California.

The trouble is Clark is well meaning but rather dim. Maybe he should had flown as his wife suggested.

Clark is fleeced before the trip starts by the car salesman. He gets fleeced along the way when he gets lost and when his car needs fixing by mechanics.

During a visit to see Ellen's cousin, Clark gets lumbered with elderly Aunt Edna (Imogene Coca) and her dog. The trouble never stops even after the family reach the theme park.

Directed by Harold Ramis and written by John Hughes. It contains the gross humour carried on from movies such as Animal House and Caddyshack.

Some of the humour is a bit hit and miss. There is no denying that there are several good laughs in the movie.

There are cameos from actors like John Candy, Eddie Bracken, Eugene Levy and Christie Brinkley as the flirty lady in a fast red car. Randy Quaid is grasping cousin Eddie. A young Jane Krakowski is the cousin who learned how to French kiss by her dad!

I have seen this movie many times on TV (the German dubbed version, of course) and I loved it every time...allthough the more often its shown, the more it gets cut on TV.

Now, for the first time (thanks to DVD), I have been able to watch it in its original language. And it was just awesome! The dialogues were even better and the characters were so much better outlined.

I swear that I will never see such a great movie in a dubbed version again!

To any Germans in here: go get it on DVD (even though it is just in Mono) - and delete the video tape if you have recorded it from TV.

Who by now hasn't seen Chase's quest to get his fam from Chicago to LA in just a weeks time to enjoy some amusement park fun? The encounters along the way are now classic, some to look for: Chase delirious in the desert, the station wagon launched into the air, the visit to Cousin Eddie's (a perfectly slobby Quaid) and the chick in the red ferrari. Maybe writer John Hughes driest script, with dead dogs and dead aunts tied various places, picnic baskets wet with the grossest of liquids, and a great foul mouthed response from Chase to his whiny family. 3 (so far) sequels have followed, which was good for Chase, seeing how this was his only real memorable character ('cept maybe for Fletch). And a testament to the films popularity: Wally Joyner, a baseball player for the California Angels who was enjoying a great rookie year in 1986, had the stadium he played in decked out in "Wally World" (the familys destination) signs by fans. So a big hit all around.