User reviews

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'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.

In Illinois, Chicago, the suburban Clark Griswold (Chevy Chase) decides to travel on vacation with his wife Ellen (Beverly D'Angelo) and their son Rusty (Anthony Michael Hall) and their daughter Audrey (Dana Barron) driving his new station wagon to the Walley World theme park in California. Ellen and the children suggest that they fly to the destination, but the stubborn Clark wants to spend more time with his family and say no to the proposed airplane travel.

The Griswold family has many problems along their journey and they visit Ellen's cousin Catherine (Miriam Flynn), her useless husband Eddie (Randy Quaid) and their children. When they leave the place, they are forced to give a ride to the inconvenient Aunt Edna (Imogene Coca) and her hateful dog. Soon Clark learns that his planned journey has become a trip from hell.

"Vacation" is a hilarious road movie that makes anyone laughs. The clumsy Clark Griswold provokes very funny situations with his attitudes, supported by his beautiful wife. Unfortunately this type of naive comedy is forgotten by the studios on the present days. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Férias Frustradas" ("Frustrated Vacation")

Clark W Griswold is one of the great characters, funny, charming and more than a little crazy he wins you over with his heart felt dedication to being the best family man he can be.

He, along with Homer Simpson, is where I took many of my parenting tips from, especially at christmas.

NLV is a great movie that never gets old and is easy to recommend :)

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

In a cross country voyage, Clark Griswold takes his wife Ellen, and children Rusty and Audrey cross country to the idyllic California fun park, Wally World. Along the way, we cross paths with Cousin Eddie and his oversized rural family, and Aunt Edna, who they pick up for the ride. Chevy Chase is in full blood as the patriarch and luckily the rest of the cast steps on the gas, keeping the comedy light and breezy in this early John Hughes penned screenplay. Some gags are a little rusty, or nonplussed; mostly those involving Edna are her beloved pooch. Cameos from Eugene Levy, Brian Doyle Murray, and an especially memorable bit from John Candy keep the show entertaining start to finish. While not perfect, this is a model screenplay, and one that's been reattempted by others to much less effect. Some bits are redone a little bit better in the later Christmas Vacation, but this is a surprisingly resilient show, that stands the rest of time outside of it's era and intended audience. Funny and relatable to anyone who ever just wanted the perfect vacation. Recommended.

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.

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!

Always been a fan of the legendary funnyman Chevy Chase as he's funny and I've over the years enjoyed the Lampoon Vacation series movies just fine. 1983's original "National Lampoon's Vacation" is excellent and perhaps the best in the series(with a close fight from 89's "Christmas Vacation"). The movie plot is simple and funny Clark(the super great Chevy Chase) plans to take the family cross country by drive from Chicago on summer vacation to theme park Wally World in California. Along the way the journey is full of twists and turns and mishaps and the writing is funny as some of Chase's lines are smart and witty! It's one road trip of family fun and bonding. Look for the late John Candy as a theme park security guard and Jane Krakowski(long before she became hot and sexy) has a small role as cousin Vicki. Overall a classic I've seen many times great memories a super film that never gets old it's timeless and seems to get better a classic and top notch summer film one of the all time best!

Chevy Chase & Beverly D'Angelo play Clark & Ellen Griswold, a happily married couple with two teenage kids, who take a long-planned vacation to Wally World, a famous amusement park, but their efforts to get there do not go as planned, and almost end in disaster...

Probably Chevy Chase's most likable performance, he is mostly appealing here, helped by the beautiful Beverly D'Angelo, also good. A more successful variation of "The-Out-Of-Towners" school of escalating chaos, film is reasonably funny and engaging, though does become crude and silly at times. Twist at the end when they meet John Candy is quite funny, and help end the film on the right note.

First and foremost I must just say that there is something timeless about this comedy, and even when watched today the movie stands on its own and holds its ground.

It is a mixture of many different things that come together and make "National Lampoon's Vacation" work out so nicely, such as the directing by Harold Ramis, the acting by the entire cast, and the entire storyline of course.

The storyline is loaded with hilarious scenes and comedy, and it works out so nicely especially because the cast are so perfectly cast for the roles, and they each bring something very unique to the story. Chevy Chase and Beverly D'Angelo truly immortalized Clark and Ellen Griswold with their performances here in what was the start of a franchise of funny movies. It was also nice to have Randy Quaid as cousin Eddie here, especially knowing what a glorious return he will make in the "National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation" later on.

There is a good amount of laughs to be had throughout the course of the movie, both from the blunt and in-your-face comedy, but definitely also from the more subtle jokes there is.

"National Lampoon's Vacation" is the type of comedy that you can watch again and again.

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.

This movie came out when I was in college, forty years ago, and at that time I just wasn't interested. I was more into dark, cult comedies, like REPO MAN.

Looking back though, this movie is much darker than I remembered. The visual image of Aunt Edna, riding high on the roof, with her face wrapped in a towel, is closer to PSYCHO than ANIMAL HOUSE. When I saw that last night on TV I screamed . . . With laughter!

And by the way, did you ever read the Grapes of Wrath? Because what happens to Aunt Edna is almost exactly what happens to Grandma Joad . . . And the family handles it in exactly the same way!

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!

When you have some time to waste, any of the movies in the National Lampoon "Vacation" series is worth killing some time with. Chevy Chase knew the part of Clark Griswold and always managed to capture the character bang-on. Beverley D'Angelo as his long-suffering wife Ellen also hit the ground running in her first stab at the character. (I was a bit surprised to see her do two topless scenes in this - one fairly close-up in the shower, the other from a distance at the hotel pool.) As far as I know, Chase and D'Angelo are the only actors to have been in all 4 movies. This initial chapter in the series spawned three sequels (European Vacation, Christmas Vacation and Vegas Vacation.) Of the four in the series I have to say that my favourite (for various reasons) was Christmas Vacation. Interestingly, given that sequels tend to go on a downward spiral in terms of quality, I thought this initial chapter was perhaps the weakest of the four movies - still good for a laugh, but not as funny as the others (certainly I'd rank "Christmas" and "Vegas" ahead of it.)

Here, Clark decides to take his family (somewhat against their will) on a drive from Chicago to California to go to "Walley World" - a National Lampoon spoof on the Disney World theme parks. They have the assorted adventures along the way that you expect, including the requisite time spent with Cousin Eddy (Randy Quaid) and his family - cousin Eddy is always one of my favourite characters in the series. It's good fun.

What weakened it (in my opinion at least) was that Clark seemed less lovable (if you will) in this movie. Maybe it was just the way that the character evolved, but in his initial outing he seems harder, he spews a lot of foul language (even in front of his kids) and there are a number of scenes where he just doesn't seem like the Clark Griswold who appears in the later movies. There were also too many unnecessary characters (or, at least, characters whose place went on far too long.) I didn't care for Aunt Edna. I thought Christie Brinkley's unnamed character was humorous for one scene, but she kept appearing everywhere the Griswold's went - she started to seem as creepy as a stalker after a while. And John Candy's security guard at Walley World was too over the top. He wasn't a believable character at all - and watching the Griswold's ride the roller coasters with him got really old really fast.

So, this is my least favourite of the "Vacation" series. I can't be too hard on it though. It spawned three very funny sequels, and for whatever shortcomings it may have it still packs a few laughs of its own.

National Lampoon's Vacation (1983) is a movie in my DVD collection that I recently watched on HBOMAX. The storyline for this film follows a family road trip from Chicago to Los Angeles to visit a famous theme park. As they stop to see various attractions and family members along the way they discover the most simple tasks may not be so simple...

This movie is directed by Harold Ramis (Caddyshack) and stars Chevy Chase (Fletch), Beverly D'Angelo (American History X), Brian Doyle-Murray (JFK), John Candy (The Great Outdoors), Christie Brinkley (Jack and Jill), Eugene Levy (American Pie), Frank McRae (License to Kill) and Anthony Michael Hall (The Breakfast Club).

This move makes you feel good from the opening song. The soundtrack and cast for this is absolutely outstanding, from top to bottom. There is so much creative comedic content in this that is gold - from the video games opening, the car exchange, the Dodge City scenes, Aunt Edna, the desert sequence, I could go on forever. The cameos by Christy Brinkley and John Candy are legendary. Randy Quaid is always awesome in these movie. And what can I say about the Beverly D'Angelo shower scene?

Everything about this movie is sheer perfection. This is a timeless masterpiece that is an absolute must see. I would score this a 10/10 and strongly recommend it.

The griswolds go on the road trip from hell as everything that can go wrong does. Getting lost, car trouble, having to drive a relative who dies, meeting trashy cousins, losing luggage and credit cards, and finding the theme park they were going to visit closed.

This is a comedy classic because it's true to life. Who didn't have this experience as a kid going on a family road trip? For the time this was raunchy, and a few moments still are, but it was the satirical truth behind the movie that allows it to still work 40 years later. One of Chevy Chase's best roles and the start of a franchise that lasted a long time. Overall a funny start.

If you have read the title, you have read this whole review, I think this movies is simple, comedic fun, I'm laughing the whole time while not getting enough time to actually pay attention to what was going on, which is ok, I thought this movie was good, and might watch it every once in a while.

On a scale from 1 to 10, how do you rate a movie that bore you to death?

This is the second classic I've watched in my newly found obsession with movies that has a big hype around it but in reality isn't of any quality at all. Idea for the plot is fine, but it's extremely poorly executed. Acting is stiff and awkward, and the script feels like actors were improvising 98% of the time. There are two, maybe three, funny scenes, but that's not enough to call it a comedy.

To sum it all up, I wouldn't recommend this movie to an enemy. It's just not worth it.