National Lampoon's Vacation

National Lampoon's Vacation (1983)

Runtime: 98 minutes

Directed by: Harold Ramis

Starring: Chevy Chase, Beverly D'Angelo, Imogene Coca, Anthony Michael Hall, Dana Barron

From: Warner Brothers

I was not expecting to review this tonight. However, there's a good reason why; I explain it below in a long Letterboxd review. I'll return tomorrow night.

It was not my original plan to watch this film again today, something I have seen a good number of times in my life.

Then, the red band trailer for the 2015 Vacation movie came out...

Of course for a long while I've known that series was returning, and I wasn't sure what to think about it. I still haven't seen Vegas Vacation in full but the first three I saw often so I have high opinions of them. When I heard the trailer was red band I was quite puzzled, but as I heard no one (people I know or otherwise) say anything about it so I never watched it, and plus I was out and about for a good chunk of the day. Then, late in the night I saw some stills of Chris Hemsworth's character and considering what was highlighted... I was shocked... too shocked to see what in the hell went wrong there. Finally, when I saw someone I know on a messageboard rail against the trailer did I watch it. “NO, just no” is my reaction.

If you haven't watched that trailer, in no way does it come across as a Vacation movie. Instead, just based off of what I saw it's a bunch of vulgarity, gross moments, and scenes where they try to be “cool” by badly representing various trends and themes that are popular today. I thought it was awful and a real garbage attempt at bringing back a beloved property. I think this whole nostalgia thing has gotten WAY out of control as of late but that's another rant for another time. When I see crap like this... it makes me glad I have many thousands of movies from the past I can watch for the first time or see again, and I can be happy to ignore a lot of what passes for entertainment these days.

If nothing else I was inspired to watch this original OG film again, for my entertainment and so I can do a review of it for this site. Now this is what I like. Sure, it's R-rated and there are such things as bare breasts, cursing, and various adult moments. But, nowhere were there such things as Thor sporting a giant... ahem, “hammer”, talk of gross sexual acts, dips in raw sewage, the laziest possible reference to the original property or callbacks to a previous film but done in a “shocking” way as allegedly that is funny. If I sound like an old curmudgeon about this, then I guess I am an old curmudgeon.

Onto this movie; I was glad to watch it again, as it's naturally funny, with many great moments. It's a simple tale of an average family with two teenaged kids driving from Chicago to Los Angeles to visit “Walley World” (a take-off on Disneyland) and all the wacky adventures that happen, from getting lost in the worst parts of St. Louis to meeting up with crazy relatives, running into early 80's Christie Brinkley (a great thing in my eyes) to all the calamities they run into, including spending part of the trip with the loud and blunt Aunt Edna.

I had forgotten how funny this was, directed well by the late Harold Ramis. Besides all the humorous bits (whether it be dialogue or visual puns; their vehicle ) there are also nice moments and you could see that even though there's arguing and fighting, it's a family that does love each other and being around each other; that's something I did not get from seeing that new trailer. I think it was Chevy Chase at his best and the rest of the cast does a swell job, especially veteran of stage and screen Imogene Coca as Aunt Edna.

If there's anything good to come out of what I saw yesterday, it inspired me to watch this (I know of others who did the same thing) and it does remind me of my past. You see, my family literally drove all over the United States as a kid on vacations and while we didn't experience the sorts of calamities that happened here (well, besides my dad sometimes yelling) it does bring back nostalgic feelings of long journeys and getting to see many of the great sites the United States has to offer. That may be part of why I dig the film so much but I am glad to have those nostalgic feelings.