The Griswold family’s cross-country drive to the Walley World theme park proves to be much more arduous than they ever anticipated.
I first remember seeing “National Lampoon’s Vacation” on VHS in the mid-eighties as a teenager. It was one of the many American films that eventually influenced me to move to the US. Growing up in wet, miserable, cold Ireland in the ’70s and ’80s, “Vacation” gave me a glimpse of one of the most enjoyable past-times Americans do every year; go on road trips. In Ireland, you can go from the east coast to the west coast in under a few hours, and that’s it, road trip over. In America, it can take you days, if not more, to travel coast to coast, depending on what sights you decide to take in, and that was it for me; I was going to live in America.
Warner Bros. Home Entertainment is releasing “National Lampoon’s Vacation” on 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray™ and Digital today, June 27th, to celebrate its 40th Anniversary. For those who may not have seen it yet, it follows the Griswold family, father and mother Clark and Ellen (Chevy Chase and Beverly D’Angelo), and their two teenage kids, Rusty and Audrey (Anthony Michael Hall and Dana Barron), as they make their way from Chicago to California on a cross-country road trip to visit Walley World, America’s Favorite Family Fun Park. Naturally, things don’t go according to plan as they encounter innumerable misadventures, including a brush with vandals and an enraged bartender wielding a shotgun.
Things go from bad to worse when they visit Ellen’s cousin Catherine and her husband Eddie (Miriam Flynn and Randy Quaid) where they ask Clark and Ellen if they could take their cranky Aunt Edna (Imogene Coca) and her mean dog Dinky with them and drop them off with her son in Arizona. They begrudgingly agree and set off, only to encounter more predicaments and obstacles. Instead of having a good time, Ellen and the kids become more and more discouraged with every new hindrance and tell Clark that they want to go home, but he disagrees and freaks out, telling them that they are no longer on vacation but a quest, a quest for fun, and that he will get them to Walley World if it’s the last thing he does. And the way this trip has been going, it might very well be!
“National Lampoon’s Vacation” spawned a franchise that included several more films; “National Lampoon’s European Vacation,” “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation,” “Vegas Vacation,” “Vacation,” and a spin-off/sequel to the first film called “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation 2,” with Randy Quaid and Miriam Flynn reprising their roles as Cousin Eddie and Catherine, and Dana Barron reprising her role as Audrey Griswold. While “Christmas Vacation” has become a cult classic over the years, with many people preferring it to the other films in the series, I have to stick with the original, as it set the ambiance and overall comedic tone for its successors.
Harold Ramis was in top form behind the scenes, directing from a script by John Hughes, while Chase, D’Angelo, and the rest of the cast were at the peak of perfection. While Chase has been labeled difficult to work throughout his career, none of that is apparent here. Chase has never been funnier or more awkward, and that is the appeal of his Clark Griswold character; the ability to make you cringe at what he does and says.
If you grew up in the ’70s and the ’80s like me, and you’re looking for a movie to take you back to those simpler times, “National Lampoon’s Vacation” is the film for you because while it is most certainly a product of its time, it is filled with inappropriate humor that would upset many of today’s snowflakes. For that factor alone, I would highly recommend it. It harkens back to when people went to the movies to enjoy themselves and laugh, and “National Lampoon’s Vacation” will most certainly achieve that.
Available on 4K Ultra HD™ Blu-ray™ and Digital June 27th
