Having it all planned down to the last detail, Clark Griswold and his supportive wife Ellen take their two teenagers, Rusty and Audrey, on a cross-country trip from the suburbs of Chicago to sunny California's Walley World amusement Park. Clark must, and will, do everything he can to find the promised land. However, anything that could possibly go wrong does, and before long Ellen's cousin, Catherine and her husband Eddie enter the picture and Clark is on the verge of blowing a gasket. Their intervention results in the Griswold family giving cantankerous Aunt Edna a lift to Phoenix making Roy Walley's wonderful park seem farther and farther away. How hard can it be to have the perfect vacation? National Lampoon has brought us so many incredible comedic films and none are more hilarious than the Vacation movies. National Lampoon's Vacation is the first instalment in the series and is a magnificent starting point. Clark Griswold (Chevy Chase) has to be the funniest character in the whole film and even in the later movies. His witty comments, over-the-top expressions and moments of complete madness where he completely breaks out, going to the extreme make him such an enjoyable protagonist with countless brilliant scenes to laugh at. He is easily my favourite member of the Griswold family who only gets better with each movie. I also love Ellen (Beverly D'Angelo) who always puts up with Clark despite his constant mishaps, which shows how much she truly loves him, especially after considering how much they all go through thanks to Clark's actions, it's incredible she sticks with him even through the later films too. However, she doesn't put up with him all the time, freaking out over his stupidity which is very frequent but leads to some fantastic moments of the two having an equal outburst of craziness. One aspect I find so strange yet amusing in each of the Vacation movies is that Rusty and Audrey keep changing actors/actresses for every new instalment. Not only that but they even change in age difference, which is just so random and quite funny to me as once you get used to one duo the next film brings completely different people. One of the coolest things that I absolutely love about this flick is the poster because it both exaggerates and perfectly describes the movie. It displays this adventure as something like out of a fantasy film with the muscular man wielding his sword (or in this case tennis racket) overhead with the overall dramatised appearance. There are far too many great scenes to count but I shall name a few of the highlights with the first being, Clark and Rusty racing one another to the Wally World amusement park to the song from Chariots of Fire (1981). Clark looks so overcome with joy at the fact that they have finally made it there after all the detours and issues. What makes the scene just pure gold is that when they finally get to the gate we find out it's closed for repairs for 2 weeks. Honestly, such a beautiful sequence that I'll never forget. They take it to a whole other level when Clark proceeds to get a gun and hold the security man hostage, making him take them on all the rides. Having their hostage partake in the amusements was very entertaining, seeing him forced to enjoy himself to the point where he really was. I think this is one of those perfect films to connect with because not every holiday goes to plan with some problems on the way and this film just explores that to the max which is why I find it to be so timeless. The music in this movie is very energetic, especially in the case of the theme song of the film: 'Holiday Road' by Lindsey Buckingham, which is such a feel-good song for those long rides that this film displays. Overall, this is a great summertime feel movie filled with those great 80s vibes we all love with superb comedy, stupendous acting and great musical numbers. This is one vacation you cannot miss out on, so hop in for the ride of a lifetime in National Lampoon's Vacation. If you loved this phenomenal 80s classic then you have got to check out the equally amazing sequel:
National Lampoon's European Vacation (1985) which sees our favourite family take their antics to other countries.
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