National Lampoon's Vacation: Amazon.ca: DVD

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Vacation paved the way for the John Hughes movie dynasty of the 1980s. Written by Hughes (who would go on to write, direct, and/or produce The Breakfast Club, Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Uncle Buck, Home Alone, and so on) and directed by Harold Ramis (Caddyshack, Groundhog Day, Stuart Saves His Family), the first Vacation movie introduces us to the all-American Griswold family: father Clark (Chevy Chase), mother Ellen (Beverly D'Angelo), son Rusty (future Hughes staple Anthony Michael Hall), and daughter Audrey (Dana Barron). They all pile into the car for a cross-country road trip to Walley World, stopping along the way to view the world's biggest ball of twine. John Candy, Imogene Coca, and Randy Quaid (as yokel Cousin Eddie) pop up along the way. The movie was a big hit, and was followed by several sequels--National Lampoon's European Vacation, National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation, and National Lampoon's Vegas Vacation--but this one is still probably the freshest and funniest of the bunch. --Jim Emerson

Additional Features

This version of the film is part of the Dinner & a Movie video series, based on the cable TV show, and includes commercial breaks as well as recipes.

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Customer Reviews

109 Reviews

5 star:		(62)
4 star:		(26)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(9)

Average Customer Review

4.2 out of 5 stars (109 customer reviews)

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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars 4.5 stars - a comedy classic, April 14 2004

By

Taylor X "Taylor X" (Las Vegas, NV (USA)) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)

This review is from: National Lampoon's Vacation (20th Anniversary Special Edition) (1983) (DVD)

INTRODUCTION:
National Lampoon's Vacation was the first film in the Vacation series of films. For many years, the film has been hailed as a comedy classic. And according to most viewers of this series, the first film is the best one of all. Are they right? And is this twentieth anniversary edition of the DVD a worthwhile buy if you already got the original DVD issue? Read on for my review.

BASIC PLOT:
The storyline of the film goes something like this. A middle-aged man working in the food preservation industry (Chevy Chase) wants to take his wife (Beverly D'Angelo) and children on a road trip to Walley World, one of the nation's biggest and best amusement parks. And he wants to do this in the new car he has ordered. But the vacation turns into a disaster almost instantly - the car company sends him the wrong car, and even once the vacation is in progress, one thing after another goes wrong - with each experience being even more devastating than the last.

FILM OPINIONS:

Anyone who calls this film a comedy classic is right. It's very rare that a film this funny comes along. The acting (Chevy Chase's in particular) is great, and the simplistic storyline prevents things from getting confusing. As has been previously stated, this film predated the Motion Picture Industry of America's PG-13 rating, so even though it's an R rating, it's really not much worse that a modern PG-13 is. If you haven't seen this movie yet, and you're a fan of comedies, what are you waiting for?

DVD:
The so-called "special edition" version of the DVD is a huge disappointment - this is why this set loses half a star. The commentary track is pretty bland, and the "new extras" are pretty much worthless. I recommend getting the original DVD release of the movie, as it is generally priced lower, and NO, you won't be missing anything if you get that version.

OVERALL:
Overall this film is a comedy masterpiece. Sure, the DVD could have been WAY better, but the movie itself more than makes up for this. Movies don't get a whole lot funnier than this one - so what are you waiting for? See it if you haven't yet!

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4.0 out of 5 stars even funnier than than i remember it being, Jan 4 2010

By

falcon "disdressed12" (canada) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)

This review is from: National Lampoon's Vacation (20th Anniversary Special Edition) (1983) (DVD)

i remember watching this movie more than a few years ago and thinking
it was OK,but nothing great.then,having just watched it again,i really
enjoyed it.i laughed a lot in all the right places.all the jokes worked
worked.there's not a boring moment.and as someone who also lived
through a vacation from hell which was almost a carbon copy of the one
endured by the Griswold clan,i could certainly sympathize with them.of
course it's always nice to see someone else go through something
instead of yourself.it's hard to believe this movie came out in 1983.it
still stands the test of time,in my opinion.it's one of those classics
that will never(hopefully)get old.for me,Vacation is a 4/5

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5.0 out of 5 stars The family vacation series of all time, April 16 2004

By

Chris (St.Louis,MO) - See all my reviews

This review is from: National Lampoon's Vacation (20th Anniversary Special Edition) (1983) (DVD)

This is one great movie the 1st from the Griswalds all 4 were funny they took a road trip to California.Blah Blah Blah
Yada Yada Yada this was a great movie to see funny Chedder.
Story 10 Acting 10 Directing 9 Action 10 Entertainment 10
Overall=49/50 wich is 98% a lot of laughs in this one

Buy if you like movies this is pretty insane for you.

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Most recent customer reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars Enjoyable, funny comedy
"Vacation" is an enjoyable, funny comedy that has spawned several sequels, but none have been as good as this one, the original. Read more

Published on Mar 27 2004 by TacoGuy

5.0 out of 5 stars 50 Yards!
its a great movie with michael anthony hall playing rusty chevy chase and randy quade as uncle eddie. Read more