(2020 Summer Blockbuster Series)

The perfect family vacation movie ... that you wished was a little less raunchy when you actually pop it in for the whole family to enjoy!

"I think you're all fucked in the head. We're ten hours from the fucking fun park and you want to bail out. Well I'll tell you something. This is no longer a vacation. It's a quest. It's a quest for fun. You're gonna have fun, and I'm gonna have fun... We're all gonna have so much fucking fun we're gonna need plastic surgery to remove our goddamn smiles! You'll be whistling 'Zip-A-Dee Doo-Dah' out of your assholes!"

In Clark W. Griswold we trust ... the flawed but relatable everyman American…

Vater Clark beschließt, dass die Familie Griswold inklusive Ellen, Rusty und Audrey dieses Jahr nach Walley World, einem Freizeitpark in Kalifornien, fahren soll. Die Reise führt sie mit dem Auto quer durch die USA. Doch die lange Fahrt entwickelt sich zu einem Fiasko...

Harold Ramis' "Die Schrillen Vier auf Achse" gehört nach wie vor zu meinen absoluten Lieblingskomödien aus den 80ern. Obwohl ich ehrlich gesagt, recht selten laut loslachen musste, sondern ein ständiges Dauergrinsen im Gesicht hatte. Der Roadtrip bietet derweil viele schöne Locations. Chevy Chase etablierte hiermit eine seiner witzigsten Figuren, fern ab von seinem Mr. Cool-Image. So spielt er hier einen wirklich liebenswürdigen, hektischen und tollpatschigen Vater, der seine Kinder so selten sieht, dass er langsam den Zugang…

Driven by a top-of-his-game Chevy Chase, "National Lampoon's Vacation" is a memorably enjoyable beginning to a franchise that would peak two films later. Creating the iconic Clark Griswold, Chase delivers a dad whose place in cinema is defined by a predilection for invoking Murphy's Law and an awe-shucks, regular-guy nature that translates into solid, sometimes giddy comedy.

Loading a four-person brood into the family station wagon, Harold Ramis's film follows the cross-country adventures of Clark and company as they head to the theme park, Walley World, for a much-needed vacation. Beset by issues including backwoods cousins, deceased canines, and attractive blondes, everything that can go wrong does on the way to potential domestic rest and relaxation.

The story works as…

That’s right. There’s no 0-100% score at the top. I’m glad to have moved on, even though I doubt anyone cares that I’m now giving letter grades. Anyways, I was hoping to like National Lampoon’s Vacation much more than I actually did. It got 3.5 stars, which is a positive review, but given how much I enjoy Christmas Vacation, I was expecting a bit more. I still liked it, but I just don’t think it’s all that special. 

Like I said, I think National Lampoon’s Vacation is a tad bit overrated. I get why so many people like it, it’s got some hilarious dialogue and Chevy Chase’s outbursts are probably the best parts. The finale is complete insanity and I…

There was something beautiful and loathsome of a long cross country car trip; the cramped space, the numbing pain on your bottom and legs, the constant bickering with your sibling, the endless view of empty nature, the frequent rest stops, the nightly rest at a motel, the simple and tasty sandwiches, the iconic jams of your parents’ pastime tunes, the exhilaration of closely reaching the ultimate destination, exploring and experiencing something new, the awkwardly forced but warmly nostalgic photographs, the cherished mementos that are picked up along the way, the unprepared spending of emergency materials, the timely gas stops, the breeze that enters into the backseat window, the disagreement in the course of the vacation, and the uneven relationship with…

"Do you know what the penalty for animal cruelty is in this state?"
"No, sir, I don't."
"Well... it's probably pretty stiff."

A fun road trip comedy starring Chevy Chase as head of the Griswold family, heading west from Chicago to California for some adventure. A little weird coming to this after seeing European Vacation and Christmas Vacation, but really they're all fairly interchangeable.

While the pacing can be a little up and down, and actually most of the "stops" on the roadtrip are varying degrees of uninteresting (the visit to Ellen's country bumpkin cousins could've pretty much been excised completely in my opinion, save for the jokes about Audry smoking weed), it's Chase's energy and quick-fire rate that makes…

I don't even know at this point how many times I've seen National Lampoon's Vacation. It's very likely in the double figures, and there are significant portions of the movie where I not only know what joke is coming, but can basically quote along with the dialogue.

But in spite of that - or perhaps because of it - it's tough to imagine a more feel good Friday night comedy movie. Driven by great location work by director Harold Ramis, a heartfelt script from John Hughes, and a committed performance from an increasingly unhinged Chevy Chase, who absolutely rules in this playing the character he was born for.

Add to that the perfectly cast Beverly D'Angelo, Christie Brinkley in a…

Vater Clark beschließt, dass die Familie Griswold inklusive Ellen, Rusty und Audrey dieses Jahr nach Walley World, einem Freizeitpark in Kalifornien, fahren soll. Die Reise führt sie mit dem Auto quer durch die USA. Doch die lange Fahrt entwickelt sich zu einem Fiasko...

Harold Ramis' "Die Schrillen Vier auf Achse" gehört nach wie vor zu meinen absoluten Lieblingskomödien aus den 80ern. Obwohl ich ehrlich gesagt, recht selten laut loslachen musste, sondern ein ständiges Dauergrinsen im Gesicht hatte. Der Roadtrip bietet derweil viele schöne Locations. Chevy Chase etablierte hiermit eine seiner witzigsten Figuren, fern ab von seinem Mr. Cool-Image. So spielt er hier einen wirklich liebenswürdigen, hektischen und tollpatschigen Vater, der seine Kinder so selten sieht, dass er langsam den Zugang…

Basically its just the road trip from hell movie. It starts off fine, as to get more family time, Chase loads his family into a car to drive from Chicago to California to hit up Walley World, a massive amusement park.

On the way they get into basic antics like getting lost, blowing tires, running out of money of course...but they also visit their family led by Quaid's Cousin Eddie and pick up a few extra passengers on the way.

Brinkley is here to be the sexy woman in a hot car, who Chase flirts with here and there during the trip.

Having mostly seen Christmas Vacation of these films, I always forget the first two were rated R, so…