Vacation | | Cast : | Chevy Chase, Beverly D'Angelo | | Director : | Harold Ramis | | Studio : | Warner Home Video | | Format : | Color, Closed-captioned, Widescreen | | Released Date : | July 29, 1983 | | DVD Released Date : | February 03, 2004 | | Language : | Spanish (Dubbed), Portuguese (Dubbed), French (Subtitled), English (Subtitled), Portuguese (Subtitled), English (Original Language), French (Original Language), Spanish (Subtitled) | | Audience Rating : | R (Restricted) | | | BUY THIS DVD FROM AMAZON |
Customer Reviews
| Rating |  | | Date | July 25, 2005 | | Summary | One Of The Funniest Movies Ever And A Perfect Road Movie | Content
 | This 1983 comedy gem is one of the funniest movies ever made. Along with "Animal House" and "...Christmas Vacation", 1983's
"National Lampoon's Vacation" is the best in the National Lampoon movie franchise, as well as the best and funniest movie that Chevy Chase ever did.
The plot revolves around an all - American family man named Clark Griswald (Chase) who takes his wife (Beverly D'Angelo) and his two kids (Anthony Michael Hall, Dana Barron) on a cross country road trip from Chicago to California to go to the world famous amusement park Walley World". Everything has been planned, all the essential stuff is packed, and everything is about to go wrong. It's Murphy's Law through the whole trip, as anything you can think of happens - death, car trouble, loss of baggage. Not to mention a visit to white trash cousin Eddie (Randy Quaid) and his crude kin (including a very young "Ally Macbeal" star Jane Krakowski), the addition of Aunt Edna (Imogene Coca), and, of course, Christie Brinkley. Ah, Billy Joel, you lucky, lucky man. All this plus cameos from Eugene Levy, Brian Doyle-Murray and John Candy.
The extras are very entertaining. You get the standard extras (no original theatrical trailer), but they are all very entertaining, and this film is worth getting even without extras. A must see movie. |
| Rating | | | Date | July 10, 2005 | | Summary | Lots Of Funny Stuff; Outstanding | Content
| I've seen this movie many times. It's pretty darn good. Few comedies are better actually. Laughs at the beginning, middle, and end, with some good theme music too. Still, even with little to no identifiable flaws, I don't see it as quite making the five star list of perfection. It's very tough for a comedy to get there.
The movie starts off with Clark Griswald's car getting smashed. Ouch. So he's forced into buying a piece of junk as a replacement. Funny already. They really want to go to Wally World, which sounds like a very cool place. Heck, I'm just as excited about Wally Wold as them. They stop by and visit some loser relatives, and Randy Quaid says two of my favorite quotes ever when they do. He says, "I don't know why they call this stuff Hamburger Helper. It does just fine by itself." Then when he asks Clark for money, and Clark asks how much, he says, "About 52,000 dollars." That man really needs a job.
The movie remains unpredictable throughout. Then they finally get to Wally World, and there's a great chariots of fire type scene when they arrive. Turns out the theme park is closed. So the movie still remains unpredictable. Clark snaps, and it's funny. The film concludes with a happy ending, and the credits show as a song entitled, "Dancin' Cross the USA" plays.
This film is a must-see. Still, it's rated R, so you have to be older to see it. Maybe that's why I didn't give it 5 stars. I'm tough on the R rated movies, even though I thought the Beverly D'Angelo shower scene was a plus. |
| Rating | | | Date | June 11, 2005 | | Summary | Not Your Ordinary Chevy... | Content
| For as much as Peter Sellers embodies countenancial dynamicism, sir Chevy Chase is every bit the dynamo witty zing-slinger. This movie's "got it all" (echoes of Dudely Moore in another Chevy classic "Foul Play), and it picks up right from the get go. No exposition (thrusting viewers all over the place in time past flattens a movie's start), no disposition (OK I lied), and a lot of BS! Who's life doesn't wallow after the beat of this different drum? The Holiday Road musical theme is treating and really allows Vacation to take the feel of a commonplace, balls-to-the-walls family vacaction. Family Truckster's were all the rave then; damn SUV's straight to Schwarznegger's garage! "Dad this isn't the car u ordered." "Please Rusty...Ed, this is not the car I ordered!" Where is there anything like this in today's comedy? Sure News Radio did one heck of job reviving sly but tactful remarks - then again a cast of Phil Hartman, Dave Foley and Andy Dick has been unmatched since. Clark Griswold, a man who plans a trip with PacMan spirit demons chasing, sleeps behind his family's wheel, has hubcabs stolen beneath his nose, and finally nearly takes a bullet in Dodge City Kansas from a supposed-to-be Wyatt Earp drinks-server turned lawman, yes Mr. Griswold has it all together, just as cross-country roadtrips require. After dealing with cousin Eddie and aunt Edna...well...Edna trails along, dieing on the her way to Phoenix with her little dog too, who also get's, shall we say, "skidmarked." - "Ewww. Mom, Aunt Edna just breathed on me. A dead person breathed on me!" Clark's eulogizing Aunt Edna brought teardrops to the eye, from laughter: "Barughata...Allelujah. Please Lord I implore you. Give, give her a break." The family starts begging Clark to head back home, tired of his obsession of getting to WallyWorld. Clark responds in kind: "You wanna know what I think? I think you're all F#@$ed in the head!" Favourite part of the movie comes when Clark looses his clutch on marrital affairs (close 2nd is the vibrating bed scene when Chevy points toward the restroom with Ellen's braw in hand - "Kids, go to bed. Rusty, the bed was very...soft.").
Clark overlooking pool - "Oh her? Huh, she's a pool waitress...I was just getting you, your mom, audrey some...some fish."
Rusty nearby - "Did she take your order, dad?"
Clark's reply - "Ya. She took my order. Ya."
Oh ho ho, what a scene! Throughout this and all of Chevy's major roles (Caddyshack, Christmas Vaccation, Fletch) he has a delivery and mixture of facial "twitches," plus just the right alteration of pitch and stare to make you think he's really talking to you. What else can be said for Chevy Chase, he has no peer, and no one makes me laugh quite the same. Back to the Griswolds, their arrival at WallyWorld fun park ends bittersweet. First Clark overhand righting Marty Moose, then purchasing the first family gun..."No it isn't!"...leads to Clark's armed takeover, holding John Candy at gunpoint.
"Sit. Heel. Roll Over." were Clark's ensuing words to the guardsman. Again, having Candy at BB-gunpoint, Clark ensures the family is going to ride "the big ones." Do they ever. DO THEY EVER. Thanks for the ride Chevy Chase! |
| Rating | | | Date | May 17, 2005 | | Summary | Classic | Content
| VACATION focusses on a family road trip holiday to a fun park, and all the mishaps that occur along the way. At times, we can all relate to some of the things that occur. What is so magic about VACATION is the excellent characters (Rusty, Clark, Aunt Edna) and the places they visit. It is a classic for all the right reasons ie. there are many rewatch factor scenes, and one-liners.
DVD SUMMARY - Originally released as a pan/scan DVD in Region 1 (USA), but now saved by a widescreen Special DVD Edition (even with its minimal extras) in that region. Fortunately I bought the original Australian DVD release which had it in widescreen, so I will just hang on to that copy. AS reviewers have stated, the new Special Edition isn't full of extras. |
| Rating | | | Date | April 21, 2005 | | Summary | Take a ride in the Griswold family truckster! | Content
| One of the funniest movies of all time, National Lampoon's Vacation tells the story of a bungling middle-class man's quest to provide his family with the ultimate family vacation. Complete with a series of laughable diversions along the way, and great casting that provides for a number of hilarious supporting characters, Vacation is a cult comedy classic. Chevy Chase and Beverly D'Angelo form the perfect married couple comedy duo with a banter that is simply magical, and the comic screenplay is well-written with sequence of never-ending laughter...
When Clark Griswold (Chevy Chase) decides to take his Chicago family on a trip to Wally World, his wife Ellen (Beverly D'Angelo), along with kids Rusty (Anthony Michael Hall) and Audrey (Dana Barron), try to convince him they should fly. But Clark is intent on taking the new "family truckster" (a brand new lemon he recently purchased) on a cross country drive so as to "see America" along the way. Clark wins the argument, and the family sets off on a nefarious and unforgettable excursion across the Fruited Plain. With a non-stop series of disasters - beginning in the driveway - the Griswold family struggles to deal with hubcap thieves, their Cousin Eddie, vibrating hotel beds, a dead aunt, a tortured dog, and Clark's insistence on viewing the world's largest pile of dirt.
When the Griswolds finally reach the end destination of Wally World, Clark and Rusty race to the entrance against the background music for "Chariots of Fire". But to Clark's dismay, Wally World's notable moose character informs them that Wally World is closed for repairs. Flying off the handle, and intent on giving his family the best vacation ever, Clark takes his family on the ride of their lives...
Sporting hilarious supporting appearances by Randy Quaid, John Candy, and supermodel Christie Brinkley (a Ferrari-driving blonde whose infatuation with Clark threatens to breakup the Griswold marriage), National Lampoon's Vacation is the quintessential comedy classic. If you're one of the few people on earth who has managed to miss this one, then I definitely recommend going out and renting it right now. Rated R (by 1983 standards; minus some brief nudity, it would rate as PG today), Vacation is a film you can feel comfortable watching with your children. After all, I saw it when I was five, and I turned out all right! Because of its status as a cult comedy classic, as well as its never-ending laughs, National Lampoon's Vacation is a definite must-see film. Don't miss it...
The DVD Report |
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