National Lampoon's Vacation [30th Anniversary] [Blu-ray]

Director: Harold Ramis Harold Ramis

Overview

The first film in the Vacation comedy franchise stars Chevy Chase as Clark Griswold, an ad exec who becomes consumed with taking his family cross-country to Wally World, a California amusement park. Less a vacation than a descent into a peculiarly American kind of hell, the Griswolds suffer through an endless series of catastrophes, culminating in a run-in with the law.

Product Details

Release Date:	05/21/2013
UPC:	0883929299034
Original Release:	1983
Rating:	R
Source:	Warner Home Video
Presentation:	[Wide Screen]
Sound:	[Dolby Digital Mono]
Language:	English
Time:	1:38:00

Special Features

Feaurette Inside Story: National Lampoon's Vacation; ; Introduction by Chevy Chase, Randy Quaid and Matty Simmons; ; Commentary by Harold Ramis, Chevy Chase, Randy Quaid, Anthony Michael Hall, Dana Barron and Matty Simmons; ; Theatrical Trailer

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Chevy Chase	Clark Griswold
Beverly D'Angelo	Ellen Griswold
Imogene Coca	Aunt Edna
Randy Quaid	Cousin Eddie
Anthony Michael Hall	Rusty Griswold
Dana Barron	Audrey Griswold
Eddie Bracken	Roy Walley
Miriam Flynn	Cousin Catherine
James Keach	Motorcycle Cop
Eugene Levy	Car Salesman
Frank McRae	Grover
John Candy	Lasky
Christie Brinkley	Girl in Red Ferrari
Jane Krakowski	Cousin Vicki
John P. Navin Jr.	Cousin Dale
Nathan Cook	Man Giving Directions
Christopher Jackson	Pimp
Mickey Jones	Mechanic
John Diehl	Assistant Mechanic
Jeannie Dimter Barton	Dodge City Cashier
Randolph Dreyfuss	Wyatt Earp
Virgil Wyaco II	Indian
Gerry Black	Davenport
James Staley	Motel Desk Clerk
Adelaid Wilder	Car Hop
Tessa Richarde	Motel Guest
Fritz Ford	Neighbor
Eric Stacey Jr.	Neighbor
Scott Perry	Swat Leader
Dennis Freeman	Policeman
Michael Talbot	Cowboy
Brian Doyle-Murray	Kamp Komfort Clerk
Victor J. Kemper	Actor
Harold Ramis	Actor
Ralph Burns	Actor,Composer
Rick Alexander	Actor
Rocco Gioffre	Actor
Matty Simmons	Actor
Bub Asman	Actor
Martin Raymond Bolger	Actor
Les Fresholtz	Actor
Robert G. Henderson	Actor
Randy Lowell	Wyatt Earp
Eric Stacey	Neighbor
Henry B. Walthall	Actor
Denny Freeman	Policeman
Michael Talbott	Cowboy

Technical Credits

John Hughes

Harold Ramis	Director
Matty Simmons	Producer
John Hughes	Screenwriter,Producer
Marty Bolger	Sound/Sound Designer
Robert Grand	Producer

Editorial Reviews

Considering the number of talented people involved in this film, it is not surprising that the laughs are constant. Conversely, considering the number of talented people involved in this film, it is surprising it isn't a bit sharper and deeper with its comedy. Harold Ramis showed in subsequent comedies that he was capable of finding an emotional level to match the laughs (Groundhog Day, Stuart Saves His Family, and even, to a lesser extent, Ghostbusters), and screenwriter John Hughes invested the seemingly overworked teen film with some honest feelings in his screenplays for such '80s classics as Sixteen Candles, Breakfast Club, and Some Kind of Wonderful. There are easily two-dozen very funny scenes in this film. Chevy Chase does a fine job of modulating his performance so that he slowly becomes more and more unglued until all his pent-up frustrations are released in a hilarious monologue
ant to his family, and in his threatening of John Candy's park worker. There is no doubt that Vacation is funny, but watching the films mentioned before (as well as Animal House, another National Lampoon film which Ramis co-wrote) reveals that it is possible to make a slob comedy that is populated by characters with some depth. Vacation succeeds as a comedy, but fails to resonate emotionally.

All Movie Guide - Perry Seibert