Rotten Tomatoes
Cancel Movies Tv shows RT App News Showtimes

National Lampoon's Vacation

Play trailer Poster for National Lampoon's Vacation R 1983 1h 38m Comedy Adventure Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist Tomatometer Popcornmeter
94% Tomatometer 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.
Watch on Fandango at Home Stream Now

Where to Watch

National Lampoon's Vacation

National Lampoon's Vacation

What to Know

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.

Read Critics Reviews

Critics Reviews

View More
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. Go to Full Review Duane Byrge The Hollywood Reporter 10/07/2009
This is one Vacation trip not to be missed. Go to Full Review Variety Staff Variety 05/07/2008
National Lampoon's Vacation is an enjoyable trip through familiar comedy landscapes. Go to Full Review 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? Go to Full Review 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... Go to Full Review 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. Go to Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

View More
Alex A. @TheKriticKid 7h REALLY GOOD MOVIE this movie is one of the funniest movies of all time. See more M G 1d 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. See more Cory F Nov 5 Just watch it it is super funny love cousin eddy See more Jeff B Oct 27 This movie is the 80's. Chevy Chase isn't in many good movies, but he reigns King in Vacation. The best part - it keeps getting better every 10 years. The whole cast is perfect, from Rusty to John Candy, hell, even the "Wagon Queen Family Truckster" is famous. High praise for director Harold Ramis as this is a comedy classic that has stayed the test of time. See more Marc C @MMC1970 Aug 31 If you haven't seen it, what the hell is wrong with you? See more Jason H Jul 19 This was my first R-rated movie. I was 12 when my older sister rented the VHS. Many of the jokes in it are wildly inappropriate - and undeniably funny. See more Read all reviews
National Lampoon's Vacation

My Rating

Read More Read Less POST RATING WRITE A REVIEW EDIT REVIEW

Cast & Crew

View All

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

More Like This

View All
National Lampoon's Senior Trip 0% 55% National Lampoon's Senior Trip Watchlist The Lost Boys 75% 85% The Lost Boys Watchlist Burglar 27% 39% Burglar Watchlist A Clockwork Orange 86% 93% A Clockwork Orange Watchlist Creepshow 66% 69% Creepshow Watchlist Discover more movies and TV shows. View More
View All

National Lampoon's Vacation

(L-R) John Candy as Lasky, Guard at Walleyworld, Chevy Chase as Clark Griswold, Beverly D'Angelo as Ellen Griswold, Dana Barron as Audrey Griswold and Anthony Michael Hall as Rusty Griswold in "National Lampoon's Vacation." National Lampoon's Vacation (1983) National Lampoon's Vacation (1983) View more photos

Movie Info

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)
Most Popular at Home Now