National Lampoon's Vacation

"Every summer Chevy Chase takes his family on a little trip. This year he went too far."

1983 1h 39m EN

👍

7.1

SOLID

🔥

94%

CERTIFIED FRESH

😬

METACRITIC

⭐

7.3

IMDB

★7.1TMDB · 1,820🍅94%Rotten Tomatoes●55Metacritic★7.3IMDB · 127,093

ComedyAdventure

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

Clark Griswold is on a quest to take his family to the Walley World theme park for a vacation, but things don't go exactly as planned.

“Every summer Chevy Chase takes his family on a little trip. This year he went too far.”

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Cast

Chevy Chase
Clark Griswold
Beverly D'Angelo
Ellen Griswold
Anthony Michael Hall
Rusty Griswold
Imogene Coca
Aunt Edna
Randy Quaid
Cousin Eddie
Dana Barron
Audrey Griswold
Eddie Bracken
Roy Walley
Brian Doyle-Murray
Kamp Komfort Clerk

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Harold Ramis
Writers: John Hughes
Languages: English
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Made its money back 4.1× over at the box office.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

ERA

Did you know

43 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

CINEMA

Did you know

Part of the "National Lampoon's Vacation Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Directed by Harold Ramis, shot by Victor J. Kemper. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Ralph Burns. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Pembroke J. Herring shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Chevy Chase and Beverly D'Angelo and Anthony Michael Hall carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "Every summer Chevy Chase takes his family on a little trip. This year he went too far.".

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Harold Ramis directs. Victor J. Kemper behind the camera. Ralph Burns scores. Pembroke J. Herring cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Made its budget back several times over at the box office. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Made its money back 4.1× over at the box office.
243 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.
3Part of the "National Lampoon's Vacation Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.
4Directed by Harold Ramis, shot by Victor J. Kemper. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
5Original score by Ralph Burns. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
6Editor Pembroke J. Herring shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
7Chevy Chase and Beverly D'Angelo and Anthony Michael Hall carry the top of the cast.
8Marketing tagline: "Every summer Chevy Chase takes his family on a little trip. This year he went too far.".
9IMDB entry: tt0085995 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
10Classified under 11 themes, including "holiday", "vacation", "relatives", "road trip".

The technical file

Cinematography: Victor J. Kemper
Original score: Ralph Burns
Editing: Pembroke J. Herring
Production design: Jack T. Collis
Makeup / hair: Frank Griffin
Stunt coordinator: Dick Ziker
Runtime: 99 min · 1h 39m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $15,000,000
Box office: $61,418,063
Return: 409% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): R
IMDB: National Lampoon's Vacation (1983)
Rotten Tomatoes: 94% 🍅 Fresh
Metacritic: 55/100
IMDB rating: 7.3/10 · 127,093 votes
MPAA: R

Part of

National Lampoon's Vacation Collection

This collection of movies features everyone's favorite family, the Griswolds! It includes National Lampoon's Vacation (1983), National Lampoon's European Vacation (1985), National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation (1989), and Vegas Vacation (1997).

Also by

Harold Ramis

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Community reviews

What people are saying

r96sk2025-02-04
★ 7/10
<em>'National Lampoon’s Vacation'</em> is a little underwhelming, I thought it was going to be more amusing than it is, though I think there's enough to it that's worth watching. The fun ending with John Candy is what probably nudges this into the rating that I've given. Chevy Chase is at the forefront of the humour, as anticipated. I would've liked him to a bit more of a bumbling mess than he is, a more dumbed down deadpan delivery would've been more funny. He is shown as an idiot, but not as much as one as the character actually is. Beverly D'Angelo is good alongside Chase. The kid actors, which notably includes Anthony Michael Hall, are fairly solid in this movie too. The earlier mentioned Candy is alright, he has obviously done far better, and there is also an appearance from Eugene Levy, albeit a fairly tiny one.

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