"Vacation," and especially cousin Eddie have long become oft-referenced parts of the American pop culture lexicon. While not from this episode, we all know the two-word response for when your bathroom's not working. Isn't that national treasure territory?

| Original Score: 3.5/5 | Aug 1, 2023

Sets the standard for the sub-genre of road trip films, and it’s still the best of its ilk...

| Jul 16, 2023

Some jokes feel a rewrite away from leaning into the right sort of stereotyping rather than the more offensive ones. Still, the comedy's vision of ugly Americanism in America and the scourge of suburbanite selfishness helps it scoot past its problems.

| Original Score: 3.5/5 | Jul 14, 2023

It’s a pleasant diversion, but true comic invention is hard to locate in the meandering screenplay by John Hughes.

| Original Score: 2.5/4 | Jul 5, 2023

National Lampoon's Vacation is consistently funny with no shortage of gags during the road trip.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Jun 27, 2023

The Griswold family is a national treasure, and their adventures are well worth the cost of a special edition 4K combo pack.

| Original Score: 4.5/5 | Jun 26, 2023

...Hughes and Ramis make a decent fist of finding humour in everyday situations...

| Original Score: 3/5 | Aug 27, 2021

Half-baked but occasionally hilarious, National Lampoon's Vacation gets a reasonable amount of mileage out of depicting the disaster-prone journey of a "typical" family of four, the Griswolds of suburban Chicago.

| Jun 24, 2015

Director Harold Ramis, who went on to make Groundhog Day, keeps the silliness coming at a fast and furious pace.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Aug 24, 2014

Thanks largely to Chevy Chase's zaniness and comic timing this is a very funny movie.

| Aug 2, 2013

The humor in Vacation also taps into something beyond the trials and travails of a road trip gone wrong.

| Original Score: B+ | Jul 31, 2013

National Lampoon's Vacation is a comedic cross-country adventure like no other, thanks to Chevy Chase and the rest of the Griswold family.

| Original Score: 3/5 | May 31, 2013

The Griswolds are a national treasure.

| Original Score: 9 out of 10 | May 25, 2013

A timeless comedy. Hysterical.

| Original Score: 4/4 | May 21, 2013

A perfect marriage of collaborators on both sides of the camera.

| Original Score: 8/10 | Sep 16, 2011

Funny family comedy, but dated and risque.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Jan 1, 2011

Though lacking in narrative and comic sophistication, National Lampoon's Vacation has something arguably more important: built-in, instant audience identification. [Blu-ray]

| Original Score: 3/4 | Aug 9, 2010

...a zany, lighthearted look at numbskull American tourism at its most chaotic.

| Original Score: 7/10 | Aug 8, 2010

This is one Vacation trip not to be missed.

| Oct 7, 2009

Full Review | Original Score: 2/5 | May 2, 2009