The National Lampoon’s Vacation series is a beloved comedy franchise, but it has been up and down in terms of quality. The series kicked off in 1983 with National Lampoon’s Vacation, starring Chevy Chase and Beverly D’Angelo as Clark and Ellen Griswold taking their kids Rusty and Audrey on a road trip to Walley World. Chase and D’Angelo reprised their roles in three direct sequels – European Vacation, Christmas Vacation, and Vegas Vacation – before Randy Quaid took the lead role of a made-for-TV spin-off, Christmas Vacation 2, and Ed Helms played an older Rusty taking his own family to Walley World in 2015’s nostalgic legacy sequel, simply titled Vacation.
Like many comedies of their era, the Vacation films haven’t aged well. For example, Clark is constantly flirting with other women despite the fact his wife is never anything less than loving and supportive. But, for the most part, the Vacation films are timeless gems whose satirical take on the frustrations of family travel is still relatable today. These movies haven’t all become as beloved as the ‘80s classic that launched the franchise though. Some Vacation sequels have managed to outdo the wit and charm of the original, while others didn’t come close to matching its greatness.
National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation 2
National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation 2, also known as Cousin Eddie’s Island Adventure, is a made-for-TV sequel that aired on NBC in 2003. Produced purely to capitalize on the popularity of the original movie, the Christmas-ruining Christmas Vacation 2 coasts on the goodwill of the brand name alone. This is the only Vacation movie that doesn’t revolve around the Griswolds; instead, it focuses on Cousin Eddie’s family. Dana Barron returns as Audrey Griswold, who tags along after a breakup, but the movie greatly suffers from Clark and Ellen’s absence. Randy Quaid’s oblivious loudmouth character works much better as a comic sideshow to Clark’s begrudging voice of reason than as the main attraction.
Vegas Vacation
With an approval score of just 16% on Rotten Tomatoes, Vegas Vacation is the lowest-rated entry in the mainline franchise. Its tired gags squander the promising Vegas setting and some great guest stars, like Wallace Shawn as a snooty blackjack dealer and Toby Huss as a Frank Sinatra impersonator. On paper, “the Griswolds go to Sin City” sounds like a hilarious premise but in its execution, Vegas Vacation has a dearth of good ideas. Clark springs a leak in the Hoover Dam and Ellen gets an indecent proposal from Wayne Newton meaningVegas Vacation plays it too big to realize the potential of the Griswolds vacationing in the world’s gambling capital.
National Lampoon’s European Vacation
With a lackluster Rotten Tomatoes approval rating of 34%, the second Vacation movie, National Lampoon’s European Vacation, was nowhere near as acclaimed as its predecessor. The movie has long stretches that rely on cartoonish slapstick. The Griswolds’ journey across Europe has some hilarious isolated gags – there’s a great running joke with a cyclist that the Griswolds keep bumping into on their way across the continent, played by Monty Python’s Eric Idle – but the bits that work are few and far between. The script for European Vacation might not be as consistently funny as the first one, but director Amy Heckerling does recapture its spirit.
Vacation
The 2015 Vacation reboot, starring an eternally upbeat Ed Helms as an all-grown-up Rusty and a deadpan Christina Applegate as his wife Debbie, is an underrated gem that modernizes the franchise’s formula. The reboot is full of scene-stealing supporting players like Chris Hemsworth as Audrey’s strapping, ridiculously masculine husband and Charlie Day as a heartbroken river rafting instructor who steers the Griswolds into deadly rapids in a deranged bid to kill them. Like its predecessors, 2015’s Vacation is an episodic comedy made up of comic vignettes, and these vignettes rarely miss.
The 2015 Vacation isn’t just a straightforward rehash of the original. It makes a bunch of meta references to itself without being heavy-handed and it has plenty of new twists on the formula. This time, the family actually makes it to Walley World – but more disaster and misfortune await them beyond its shiny gates. Bickering brothers are nothing new, but 2015’s Vacation flips the usual dynamic on its head to hysterical effect: the older son is the sensitive one and the younger son is the foul-mouthed bully who terrorizes his brother. 2015’s Vacation is likely to be reappraised as an underappreciated cult classic one day.
National Lampoon’s Vacation
The endearing classic that launched the franchise, National Lampoon’s Vacation, is the definitive family road trip comedy. From falling asleep at the wheel to breaking down in the middle of the desert, many gags from Vacation have gone on to become familiar clichés of road movies. Every subsequent road trip film took inspiration from Vacation. Chase’s early-career starring role in Vacation sees the actor on his A-game, and D’Angelo is perfectly matched as the voice of reason. With a near-perfect Rotten Tomatoes rating of 93%, the original Vacation is one of the most highly acclaimed comedies of the ‘80s.
Some of the R-rated elements that were included in Vacation to accommodate a post-Animal House market, like F-bombs and gratuitous nudity, make viewings with the whole family a little uncomfortable at times. But, for the most part, it accurately reflects the relatable frustrations of traveling with the family, albeit with absurd embellishments like crashing in a ravine, carrying a dead body, and holding a theme park mogul hostage just to have some wholesome fun. Clark Griswold feels like a relatable dad; he often resorts to extremes, but he means well.
National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation
The third Vacation movie, National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, broke from the series’ established formula and did away with the road trip element. The holiday special is mostly confined to the Griswold household as the grandparents come to visit and Clark tries to give his family a great Christmas with money he doesn’t have. In spite of its memorable moments, Christmas Vacation received mixed reviews on its initial release – as its Rotten Tomatoes score of 70% would indicate, it got more positive reviews than negative, but the praise wasn’t universal – but it’s now considered to be a beloved seasonal classic.
Just as the first Vacation movie captured the frustrations of a long-haul family road trip, Christmas Vacation captured the frustrations of spending the holidays with distant relatives. Cousin Eddie moves his RV onto the Griswolds’ property, a squirrel invades the Christmas tree, the turkey is more desecrated than the dinner in Eraserhead, and Clark desperately tries to keep it all together. From the high-velocity sledding to the anticlimactic lighting of the decorations, Christmas Vacation is full of unforgettable sequences that walk a fine line between reflecting real-life holiday celebrations and playing like a live-action cartoon.
