Paul Magne Haakonsen 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.

methodman-14473 I try to watch this movie every couple of years and it always cheers me up and takes me back to times gone by.

Jackson Booth-Millard I'd always heard about the National Lampoon movies, spin-offs from the original magazine, I'd seen Animal House, but I'd never seen Vacation movies, so I started from the beginning, written by John Hughes (The Breakfast Club, Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Home Alone, Beethoven), directed by Harold Ramis (Caddyshack, Groundhog Day, Analyze This, Bedazzled). Basically Chicago food chemist Clark Griswold (Chevy Chase) wants to spend quality time with his wife Ellen (Beverly D'Angelo) and children, son Rusty (Anthony Michael Hall) and daughter Audrey Griswold (Dana Barron). Clark decides to lead the family on a cross-country expedition, travelling from the suburbs of Chicago to southern California, to "America's Favorite Family Fun Park", amusement park Walley World. Ellen wants to fly, but Clark insists on driving, so he can bond with his family, he has ordered a new car in preparation for the trip, but the Salesman (Eugene Levy) says it will not be ready for six weeks. As Clark has already traded the car he brought, and it has already been hauled away and crushed, he is forced to accept a Wagon Queen Family Truckster, an ugly, out-sized station wagon. During the trip, the Griswolds experience several mishaps, including being tagged by vandals in St. Louis, and Clark is continually tantalised by a beautiful young woman (Christie Brinkley) driving a flashy red 1983 Ferrari. They stop in Coolidge, Kansas to visit Ellen's cousin Catherine (Miriam Flynn) and her husband Eddie (Randy Quaid), they ask the Griswolds to drop off cranky Aunt Edna (Imogene Coca) and her mean dog Dinky at her son's home in Phoenix, they reluctantly agree. The family stop in Colorado for the night at a decrepit and dirty campground, Clark forgets to untie the dog's leash from the car bumper, and in the morning unintentionally kills Dinky, a state trooper lectures Clark on animal cruelty, and Edna becomes irate. Ellen loses her bag after they leave Colorado, forcing Clark to have to cash a check for future payment, Clark and Ellen argue in the car, then they crash somewhere between Utah and Arizona, they are stranded in the desert. Clark sets off alone to find help, unaware that the rest of the family have been rescued by a passing mechanic, they reunite, and the mechanic extorts the rest of Clark's cash to repair the car, which is barely operational. They are frustrated and stop at the Grand Canyon, Clark is unable to convince a clerk at a hotel to cash a personal check, because his card was reported stolen, so Clarks takes from the cash register behind the clerk's back and leaves the check. Back on the road, the family find out that Aunt Edna has passed away in her sleep, they wrap her body in tarpaulin and tie her to the roof of the car, they reach Norman's house, but discover he is out of town, so they leave Edna's body at the back door. Ellen and the children have had enough of the road trip and the numerous mishaps, they want to go home, but Clark has become obsessed with reaching Walley World, they carry on. Ellen and Clark have another argument, he goes to a hotel bar, there he finally meets the Ferrari-driving blonde beauty, she invites him to go skinny-dipping with her in the pool, but the family discover them before anything else can happen, Ellen forgives Clark, and the couple goes skinny-dipping as well. Despite the many misfortunes, the family finally arrive at the theme park, only to find it is closed for the next two weeks for repairs, causing Clark to finally slip into madness, he buys a realistic-looking BB gun, and demands park security guard Russ Lasky (John Candy) take the family through Walley World. While Clark, Ellen, the kids and Russ ride the various roller coasters and rides, an LAPD SWAT have been called, along with park owner Roy Walley (Home Alone 2's Eddie Bracken), but Roy understands Clark's impassioned longing for a perfect vacation, he decides not press charges, Roy allows the Griswolds to enjoy the park, along with the SWAT team. Also starring James Keach as Motorcycle Cop, Licence to Kill's Frank McRae as Grover, Jane Krakowski as Cousin Vicki and Henry Gibson as Hotel Clerk. Chase is terrific as the accident-prone father who will do whatever it takes to reach the destination, no matter how insane, D'Angelo is good support as his tested wife, and there are memorable scenes with Candy, Levy and Brinkley. It is a simple premise, a road movie gone wrong, with various slapstick disaster moments, it is most funny to see how far the dad goes as he slowly cracks, and the silliness is well-paced, this is always considered as the best in the Vacation series, understandably so, a fun comedy. Good!

mmallon4 The noble all American pursuit of taking your family on vacation (or holiday as we call it in the UK); that is the ultimate aim of Clark Griswold. Chevy Chase is Clark Griswold in one of those roles which is so identified with one actor. He's such a family man in an extreme yet subtly comic way with is repressed frustration making him a ticking time bomb. He's a proponent of the American dream if there ever was one; an unashamedly white Anglo Saxon protestant who takes family ideals a little too far at times.Vacation is my favourite John Hughes movie and a very American movie at that. You can't do this in the UK; here you can hop in your car and you will be at the other end of the country in a day. It seems like the idea of a road trip was designed for the vast open country of the United States in which you drive for days on end. However the theme of vacation (or holiday) frustration is relatable to anyone who has been on vacation. As Clark puts it "When I was a boy just about every summer we would take a vacation, and you know in 18 years, we never had fun". Even the most out there jokes such as the car still moving while Clark has fallen asleep at the wheel or the death of the aunt still manage to feel relatable to some degree and remain grounded in reality.Road movies give some of the best opportunity to create great mounts of character development and I feel there are few other writers in cinema history who had the ability to generate so much character development within such a short space of time than John Hughes; and like The Blues Mobile of The Blues Brothers, the car in Vacation is a character itself. As seen in many of Hughes' film, the kids and/or young people are fully sexually aware (In Vacation Rusty's cousin teaches him about masturbation for the first time) which I find liberating to watch as Hughes is a writer who treats young people like adults with themes which were explored further in films like Sixteen Candles and The Breakfast Club. Sigh, why wasn't I a child of the 80's?Vacation is one of the most summery movies; watch it during the cold months of the year to escape the winter blues.