National Lampoon's Vacation

Just managed to watch this again after watching the first time around when I was 13/14 years old. Coincidentally, I watched this with my twin boys who are now approaching 14 too!

Brilliant. Chevy Chase's facial and bodily expressions are still as funny as they were back in the 80's.

My boys and I were cracking up through most of the film. A wonderful feel good road trip movie.

Beverley D'Angelo and Chevy Chase are simply sublime together.

I am very fortunate to have watched this again and especially with my twin boys.

Thank you Chevy!

I've seen this film approximately 30 to 40 times in my life, and I never get tired of it. Boneheaded, but well meaning father, Clark Griswold, driving his wife and two kids on a cross country family vacation, from Chicago to a California theme park, to spend time with all of them, before the kids are too old for such things.

Needless to say, absolutely nothing goes according to plans: they got lost before even leaving Chicago. Their new car isn't what they had planned. They're saddled with driving an obnoxious aunt to Phoenix. They get lost in the Arizona desert, after visiting obnoxious, trailer trash in-laws, and then robbed by local hicks. All of these absurd, yet wholly possible, circumstances and occurrences pile up, yet Clark Griswold (Chase, in one of his funniest roles as the hapless, clueless father) is determined to have a good holiday with the family, even if it kills them. And a junkyard dog. And Aunt Edna.

Beverly D'Angelo is equally good as the (sexy, but not overly) housewife who has enough disaster and wants to turn around and go home.

Great score by Lindsay Buckingham also.

The film is only let down a bit by the climax, when they actually get to the theme park, the laughs fizzle away. But, perhaps that was the filmmakers' intent? The journey is more memorable than the destination, as is sometimes the case.

This is one of those movies that i loved when i was younger so i really didn't know what to think as i watched it again. But to my surprise it is still charming, funny and sweet. Enter Chevy Chase as the last family guy, just wanting to spend time with his loving family. A hilarious journey from Chicago to California to get to an amusement park. You may think, that shouldn't be a problem, but it is. This is one vacation you will never forget. I have always liked Chevy Chase and if you watch this movie you will know why. The sweet caring family man losing more and more of his mind is nothing less than funny as hell. Maybe you will think twice about taking your family on vacation after watching this movie. I rate this movie 7/10

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.