First and foremost I must just say that there is something timeless about this comedy, and even when watched today the movie stands on its own and holds its ground.It is a mixture of many different things that come together and make "National Lampoon's Vacation" work out so nicely, such as the directing by Harold Ramis, the acting by the entire cast, and the entire storyline of course.The storyline is loaded with hilarious scenes and comedy, and it works out so nicely especially because the cast are so perfectly cast for the roles, and they each bring something very unique to the story. Chevy Chase and Beverly D'Angelo truly immortalized Clark and Ellen Griswold with their performances here in what was the start of a franchise of funny movies. It was also nice to have Randy Quaid as cousin Eddie here, especially knowing what a glorious return he will make in the "National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation" later on.There is a good amount of laughs to be had throughout the course of the movie, both from the blunt and in-your-face comedy, but definitely also from the more subtle jokes there is."National Lampoon's Vacation" is the type of comedy that you can watch again and again.

I try to watch this movie every couple of years and it always cheers me up and takes me back to times gone by.

A little camp and very dated granted, but National Lampoons Vacation is still a proper cheer me up and let go of life family film. Clark Griswold personifies the every man American, we've all got a little Clark Griswold in us regardless of how much you try and deny it. This guy is a family man through and through, a guy that only wants the best for his wife and two kids, but one day it suddenly hits him, that his kids are growing up and getting older, and he feels he's missed out on a large proportion of their childhood putting in the hours at work.Never fear, good old Clark has a trick up his sleeves, he's hired a station wagon and plans to take the whole family on a road trip across America, their final destination, Wally World of course!Now, as you can expect, the trip of a lifetime doesn't go all to plan and there's enough hiccups along the way to keep you laughing throughout the duration of the film.One such hiccup is the diversion they take to visit Cousin Eddie and his family, the kids, all of whom have a screw loose, and the ditsy wife who has very little in the way of brain power; but that's just the start, they pick up a piece of luggage in the way of Aunt Edna, and the legendary Imogene Coca provides some comedy gold.Not withstanding, yes the family (minus one casualty) do make it to Wally World in the end, tired, beat up and an absolute mess that is, but the film is based around the journey, not the destination. Chevy Chase, during the early eighties around the time the film was released, was one of the most sought after comedy players in Hollywood, he demonstrates why perfectly with his performance in Vacation. I felt that the film revolved around Clark (Chevy Chase), and the rest of the cast was there to back him up and have something for him to interact with. One example was the famous girl in the red Ferrari scene, with just tacky music playing in the background, and no dialogue exchanged in the scene at all, this scene perfectly demonstrates Chevy's comedy prowess, his facial expressions say it all, an attractive young lady in an attractive car lures him on and Clark (as expected) bites, speeding up the car to keep up with the girl until Ellen, his wife, stops him. Very eighties, very-very eighties, a film like this couldn't have been made this successfully in any other era, as demonstrated by the recent rehash of Vacation, starring Ed Helms; that new film changed it's style to fit with the modern era, whilst staying true to the original Vacation, yet in my humble opinion, the new film had absolutely nothing on the original, dated yet timeless, a film that no matter how much you've watched, it's still good to watch again and again. Top marks I really couldn't mark it any lower I'm afraid.

This is one of my favorite comedies! I have to admit that I was surprised by how watchable the remake was, but it can't top the original. It's weird, because I'm not a Chevy Chase fan, but he's so good in this movie. I always laugh watching him do stupid things. There are so many classic moments in this movie that I don't know where to begin. I'll just start by how good the cast is. As I said, Chevy Chase is fantastic. Beverly D'Angelo is cute as a button here. I thought she was really good. Anthony Michael Hall & Dana Barron are both great as the kids, especially Michael Hall. Randy Quaid is a show stealer. I can't forget Imogene Coca's performance as Aunt Edna. I felt bad for her. You can't be a true fan of comedies if you haven't seen this movie. If you're looking for a lot of belly laughs, you'll get plenty of them by watching this movie. It's a classic!P.SI'll never forget Christine Brinkley in the Ferrari. She's one of the most gorgeous women you'll ever see!8.5/10