Overview
A family's cross-country road trip turns into a hilarious disaster filled with misadventures and unexpected detours.
Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Brisk
- Intensity
- Moderate
- Complexity
- Simple
- Violence
- Mild
- witty
- irreverent
- breezy
- lazy sunday
- road trip movie night
What critics said
Critics broadly regard it as a quotable and consistently funny screwball comedy powered by Chevy Chase's befuddled performance, though some found its pacing and construction uneven.
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
Clark's carefully planned drive from suburban Chicago to Walley World repeatedly deteriorates through accidents, detours, relatives, and social embarrassment.
Clark treats the promised family vacation and Walley World destination as an ideal that must be reached despite mounting evidence that the trip is failing.
The film repeatedly places Clark and his family in embarrassing encounters, culminating in his increasingly desperate behavior around the amusement park.
The Griswolds pursue a packaged American family holiday from the Chicago suburbs to a commercial California theme park.
Films like National Lampoon's Vacation, and why
Planes, Trains & Automobiles
Shares screwball comedy, road movie misadventures, escalating family chaos, and an overconfident but well-meaning patriarch.
The Great Outdoors
Shares irreverent domestic comedy, dysfunctional relatives, broad slapstick, and a suburban family adventure gone wrong.
Little Miss Sunshine
Shares American road-trip comedy, humiliating setbacks, abrasive family dynamics, and a relentlessly escalating comic journey.
Movie Details
- Director
- Harold Ramis
- Release Date
- 1983-07-29
- Runtime
- 99 min
- Rating
- 7.1 / 10 (1817)
Cast
- Chevy Chase
- Beverly D'Angelo
- Anthony Michael Hall
- Imogene Coca
- Randy Quaid
- Dana Barron
- Eddie Bracken
- Brian Doyle-Murray
- Miriam Flynn
- James Keach
Where to watch in United States
- Rent
- Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home, Spectrum On Demand
- Buy
- Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home
Streaming options come from TMDB and change over time.
Common questions
- What is National Lampoon's Vacation about?
- A well-meaning suburban father drives his family across America toward a dream amusement-park vacation while every carefully planned promise of perfection collapses into comic chaos.
- What is National Lampoon's Vacation like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of National Lampoon's Vacation as brisk, its intensity as moderate and its storytelling as simple.
- Is National Lampoon's Vacation violent?
- Only mildly. Ember rates the violence in National Lampoon's Vacation as mild.
- What did critics think of National Lampoon's Vacation?
- Critics broadly regard it as a quotable and consistently funny screwball comedy powered by Chevy Chase's befuddled performance, though some found its pacing and construction uneven.
- Which films are like National Lampoon's Vacation?
- Films with a similar feel include Planes, Trains & Automobiles, The Great Outdoors, and Little Miss Sunshine.
- How long is National Lampoon's Vacation?
- National Lampoon's Vacation runs 99 minutes.
- Where can I watch National Lampoon's Vacation?
- In United States, National Lampoon's Vacation is available to rent or buy from Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home, Spectrum On Demand.
