National Lampoon's Vacation

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National Lampoon's Vacation

R

1983

1h 38m

Comedy

Adventure

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

94%

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50 Reviews

85%

Popcornmeter

100,000+ Ratings

Accompanied by their children, Clark Griswold and his wife, Ellen, are driving from Illinois to a California amusement park. As Clark increasingly fixates on a beautiful woman driving a sports car, the Griswolds deal with car problems and the death of a family member. They reach Los Angeles, but, when Clark worries that the trip is being derailed again, he acts impulsively to get his family to the park.

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Critics Consensus

Blessed by a brilliantly befuddled star turn from Chevy Chase, National Lampoon's Vacation is one of the more consistent -- and thoroughly quotable -- screwball comedies of the 1980s.

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Gary Arnold

Washington Post

06/24/2015

Half-baked but occasionally hilarious, National Lampoon's Vacation gets a reasonable amount of mileage out of depicting the disaster-prone journey of a "typical" family of four, the Griswolds of suburban Chicago.

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Duane Byrge

The Hollywood Reporter

10/07/2009

This is one Vacation trip not to be missed.

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Variety Staff

Variety

05/07/2008

National Lampoon's Vacation is an enjoyable trip through familiar comedy landscapes.

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Mark Jackson

Epoch Times

08/01/2023

3.5/5

"Vacation," and especially cousin Eddie have long become oft-referenced parts of the American pop culture lexicon. While not from this episode, we all know the two-word response for when your bathroom's not working. Isn't that national treasure territory?

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Felix Vasquez Jr.

Cinema Crazed

07/16/2023

Sets the standard for the sub-genre of road trip films, and it’s still the best of its ilk...

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Nick Rogers

Midwest Film Journal

07/14/2023

3.5/5

Some jokes feel a rewrite away from leaning into the right sort of stereotyping rather than the more offensive ones. Still, the comedy's vision of ugly Americanism in America and the scourge of suburbanite selfishness helps it scoot past its problems.

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Vikki E

@RT78111898 2d

Born in 79 so grew up watching these films, absolutely love it even now in 2026! Cant beat the older films

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Rio P

@Ericraymond111 Jan 23

Funniest movie ever

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Charlie T

@KIDCRITIC Dec 26

Watched National Lampoon’s Vacation this year. This is a funny but very dark movie from the 80s. It is about a man named Clark Griswold and his family go on a roadtrip to a roller coaster theme park from Chicago to southern California and go through shenanigans the whole time. The movie has good quality. The storytelling is good but kinda disturbing and the acting was good from Chevy chase. Overall I would rate this movie a 4.0 stars out 5 stars. The only gripe was I wish it was not dark and disturbing. My favorite scene was when they crush the car at the beginning. I would not recommend this movie.

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Alex A.

@TheKriticKid Dec 20

REALLY GOOD MOVIE this movie is one of the funniest movies of all time.

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M G

@RT46851707 Dec 18

Vacation is a fun ride through and through. The Griswolds are just an average American family trying to go on a cross country adventure. They traverse the land suffering one hilarious mishap after another. Chevy Chase is at his best as Clark Griswold, especially in this first film. If there were Oscar awards for facial expressions, he'd be a winner for sure. The rest of the family is charming and relatable...fighting teens, a dorky son who really tries to admire his father, a loving wife who is losing her patience, and a dad who tries way too hard to force fun down his family's throat. Some backwoods cousins, a rotten dog, and dear old Aunt Edna add to the fun. I've got to revisit this one every so many years. A fantastic 80s nutty comedy.

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Cory F

@RT48300669 Nov 5

Just watch it it is super funny love cousin eddy

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Harold Ramis

Director

Chevy Chase

Clark Wilhelm Griswold, Jr.

Beverly D'Angelo

Ellen Griswold

Christie Brinkley

The Girl in the Ferrari

Anthony Michael Hall

Russell "Rusty" Griswold

Imogene Coca

Aunt Edna

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Synopsis

Accompanied by their children, Clark Griswold and his wife, Ellen, are driving from Illinois to a California amusement park. As Clark increasingly fixates on a beautiful woman driving a sports car, the Griswolds deal with car problems and the death of a family member. They reach Los Angeles, but, when Clark worries that the trip is being derailed again, he acts impulsively to get his family to the park.

Director: Harold Ramis
Producer: Matty Simmons
Screenwriter: John Hughes
Distributor: Warner Bros.
Production Co: Warner Brothers
Rating: R
Genre: Comedy, Adventure
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Jul 29, 1983, Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Sep 1, 2008
Runtime: 1h 38m
Sound Mix: Mono
Aspect Ratio: Flat (1.37:1)