Post by Rob W. Case on Aug 15, 2023 20:16:39 GMT -6
Its development was very organic. Its ability to resonate, entertain, and become a memorable film, what with all of its spontaneous situations, make it a classic. At the end of July in 1983, the film National Lampoon’s Vacation was released in theaters across the country, and recently this film celebrated its 40th anniversary with a special Fathom Events theatrical release and a freshly restored 4K-UHD release as well.
How the Story Came to Be:
Iconic comedy writer John Hughes’s family moved to the Chicago suburb of Northbrook in 1963. John Hughes loved Chicago and incorporated it in many of his projects. It was in Chicago, he developed a fondness for movies, met a girl in high school who he would eventually marry, and became a copywriter for an ad agency which would launch his career. In 1974, Hughes would even land a big advertising gig with Leo Burnett Worldwide, a reputable, Chicago based advertising agency, which would open big doors for him. One of his accounts, which was Virginia Slims for the Phillip Morris Cigarette company, took Hughes to New York City, where he would visit the headquarters of National Lampoon Magazine. National Lampoon Magazine was a popular satire magazine (especially among young people) which contained articles, short stories, and a host of pop culture jokes that didn’t shy away of having fun while making fun. To put it another way, National Lampoon Magazine was similar in some ways to Mad Magazine. Hughes contributed freelance stories to National Lampoon Magazine in the mid- 70’s and the editor was amused by them. One of Hughes’s first stories for National Lampoon Magazine was a short story called “Vacation 58”.
“Vacation 58” is a story that was inspired by one of Hughes’s family vacations as a child. This vacation was a cross country vacation with scenarios that many people encounter when they take a trip across the country. What’s interesting about this story is that it was written when John Hughes was snowed in for a few days, on account of the infamous (to Chicagoans) Chicago blizzard of 1979. As John Hughes wrote stories, he began to write screenplays as well. Years later, as John Hughes gained more and more attention and fame for his works, Warner Bros. Pictures asked him if he would write a screenplay for “Vacation 58”, but make it more “today”. Hughes wrote a screenplay for it, and Harold Ramis, who worked for The Second City, a popular Chicago comedy outlet, directed it.
The Story:
The film begins in Chicago Illinois, where Clark W. Griswold (Chevy Chase), His wife Ellen (Beverly D’ Angelo), and their two kids, Rusty (Anthony Michael Hall) and Audrey (Dana Barron) are about to embark on a cross country trip to Wally World, a large amusement park complex that is much like Disneyworld (which was actually where the family was headed to in the “Vacation 58” story). The trip is preceded by a mishap at the car dealership, where the car Clark ordered did not show up, and his wife’s car, which he came to trade in, was crushed before he could back out of the deal. So, in the interest of staying on schedule and making this trip happen, Clark is now stuck with a metallic pea colored Wagon Queen Family Truckster with wood panels on the sides. When the trip takes off, a number of bizarre situations and challenges face the Griswolds.
The Griswolds take a wrong turn and end up in a bad neighborhood, in East St. Louis. Clark falls asleep behind the wheel, completely oblivious to how dangerous he is to everyone in his path. Along the way, on a few occasions, Clark is distracted by a tantalizing young woman (Christie Brinkley) driving a red Ferrari. On top of that, the Griswold’s stop and visit Ellen’s hillbilly relatives, Cousin Eddie (Randy Quaid) and Cousin Catherine (Miriam Flynn) and their several kids. Cousin Eddie asks Clark if they can drop off their aunt Edna (Imogene Coca) and her mean dog Dinky to Phoenix Arizona on their way to Walley World. After a series of accidents, predicaments, and mishaps, the Griswolds encounter a couple of deaths, one of which involves strapping the corpse to the roof of the car until they have to leave it on the patio. And if things couldn’t get any worse, after they reach their destination to Walley World, the Griswold’s encounter more disappointments that would enable anyone to punch in a rubber moose’s nose.
My Take:
The first time I saw this movie was on WGN-TV in Chicago in the 80’s with my parents. They used to air a lot of good movies in the 80’s and 90’s, and they were edited very minimally. I liked the movie a lot. It was when I got older and bought the movie on VHS that I saw it in its original form. This is a movie that I would call a classic, and one that, by lieu of its many funny situations, predicaments, and disasters, one would call a “comfort movie” to unwind to, relax, and just get ready to laugh. As for the new 4K transfer, the movie looks phenomenal and I must say, never looked any better.
Why the R Rating?:
National Lampoon’s Vacation does not have a lot of material in it that would warrant an R rating (in the very same way John Hughes’s classic film Planes, Trains, and Automobiles doesn’t), except for the language. To be fair, I have a “thick skin”, especially when it comes to humor, and am not easily offended by things that many people today are today. In regards to the language aspect, back in the 80’s and still to this day, the Motion Picture Association of America would determine its rating on many factors, however with language, a rating for a movie would have more restrictions in its distribution based on how many times the “f” bomb is dropped. In other words, the “f” bomb was permitted to be dropped once for a PG-13 rating, and any more than that would warrant an R rating. Although it is used several times in this movie, you tend to forget that the movie is rated R. In lieu of this, John Hughes was adamant about upholding the vision of the scene for the sake of keeping it “real” in his perspective, and for dramatic effect.
The Music:
Two particular songs serve as its “theme”, the main one being “Holiday Road” and the other, “Dancing Across the USA”, both sung by Lindsey Buckingham, a notable singer/songwriter from the supergroup Fleetwood Mac.
Holiday Road:
This song would be used in 3 of the 4 of the Vacation films starring Chevy Chase.
Dancing Across the USA:
These two songs were released in vinyl both as a single by Warner Bros. Pictures, and included in the complete soundtrack for the film.
National Lampoon’s Vacation is a movie that continues to hold up as a classic, especially among younger audiences who discover its third installment (National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation) around the holiday season, and on that merit, seek to discover the other films.
National Lampoon’s Vacation is rated R and runs 1 hour and 38 minutes.
To view a trailer for the film, please click on the “play” button below.
The Newest 4K Trailer:
To read the original article “Vacation 58” in its entirety, written by John Hughes for National Lampoon Magazine, you can access it HERE.
National Lampoon’s Vacation is available on VHS, DVD, Blu-Ray, 4K-UHD, is broadcast on cable/TV on occasion and is available on multiple streaming services. For more information on where this movie is streaming, please click HERE.
How the Story Came to Be:
Iconic comedy writer John Hughes’s family moved to the Chicago suburb of Northbrook in 1963. John Hughes loved Chicago and incorporated it in many of his projects. It was in Chicago, he developed a fondness for movies, met a girl in high school who he would eventually marry, and became a copywriter for an ad agency which would launch his career. In 1974, Hughes would even land a big advertising gig with Leo Burnett Worldwide, a reputable, Chicago based advertising agency, which would open big doors for him. One of his accounts, which was Virginia Slims for the Phillip Morris Cigarette company, took Hughes to New York City, where he would visit the headquarters of National Lampoon Magazine. National Lampoon Magazine was a popular satire magazine (especially among young people) which contained articles, short stories, and a host of pop culture jokes that didn’t shy away of having fun while making fun. To put it another way, National Lampoon Magazine was similar in some ways to Mad Magazine. Hughes contributed freelance stories to National Lampoon Magazine in the mid- 70’s and the editor was amused by them. One of Hughes’s first stories for National Lampoon Magazine was a short story called “Vacation 58”.
“Vacation 58” is a story that was inspired by one of Hughes’s family vacations as a child. This vacation was a cross country vacation with scenarios that many people encounter when they take a trip across the country. What’s interesting about this story is that it was written when John Hughes was snowed in for a few days, on account of the infamous (to Chicagoans) Chicago blizzard of 1979. As John Hughes wrote stories, he began to write screenplays as well. Years later, as John Hughes gained more and more attention and fame for his works, Warner Bros. Pictures asked him if he would write a screenplay for “Vacation 58”, but make it more “today”. Hughes wrote a screenplay for it, and Harold Ramis, who worked for The Second City, a popular Chicago comedy outlet, directed it.
The Story:
The film begins in Chicago Illinois, where Clark W. Griswold (Chevy Chase), His wife Ellen (Beverly D’ Angelo), and their two kids, Rusty (Anthony Michael Hall) and Audrey (Dana Barron) are about to embark on a cross country trip to Wally World, a large amusement park complex that is much like Disneyworld (which was actually where the family was headed to in the “Vacation 58” story). The trip is preceded by a mishap at the car dealership, where the car Clark ordered did not show up, and his wife’s car, which he came to trade in, was crushed before he could back out of the deal. So, in the interest of staying on schedule and making this trip happen, Clark is now stuck with a metallic pea colored Wagon Queen Family Truckster with wood panels on the sides. When the trip takes off, a number of bizarre situations and challenges face the Griswolds.
The Griswolds take a wrong turn and end up in a bad neighborhood, in East St. Louis. Clark falls asleep behind the wheel, completely oblivious to how dangerous he is to everyone in his path. Along the way, on a few occasions, Clark is distracted by a tantalizing young woman (Christie Brinkley) driving a red Ferrari. On top of that, the Griswold’s stop and visit Ellen’s hillbilly relatives, Cousin Eddie (Randy Quaid) and Cousin Catherine (Miriam Flynn) and their several kids. Cousin Eddie asks Clark if they can drop off their aunt Edna (Imogene Coca) and her mean dog Dinky to Phoenix Arizona on their way to Walley World. After a series of accidents, predicaments, and mishaps, the Griswolds encounter a couple of deaths, one of which involves strapping the corpse to the roof of the car until they have to leave it on the patio. And if things couldn’t get any worse, after they reach their destination to Walley World, the Griswold’s encounter more disappointments that would enable anyone to punch in a rubber moose’s nose.
My Take:
The first time I saw this movie was on WGN-TV in Chicago in the 80’s with my parents. They used to air a lot of good movies in the 80’s and 90’s, and they were edited very minimally. I liked the movie a lot. It was when I got older and bought the movie on VHS that I saw it in its original form. This is a movie that I would call a classic, and one that, by lieu of its many funny situations, predicaments, and disasters, one would call a “comfort movie” to unwind to, relax, and just get ready to laugh. As for the new 4K transfer, the movie looks phenomenal and I must say, never looked any better.
Why the R Rating?:
National Lampoon’s Vacation does not have a lot of material in it that would warrant an R rating (in the very same way John Hughes’s classic film Planes, Trains, and Automobiles doesn’t), except for the language. To be fair, I have a “thick skin”, especially when it comes to humor, and am not easily offended by things that many people today are today. In regards to the language aspect, back in the 80’s and still to this day, the Motion Picture Association of America would determine its rating on many factors, however with language, a rating for a movie would have more restrictions in its distribution based on how many times the “f” bomb is dropped. In other words, the “f” bomb was permitted to be dropped once for a PG-13 rating, and any more than that would warrant an R rating. Although it is used several times in this movie, you tend to forget that the movie is rated R. In lieu of this, John Hughes was adamant about upholding the vision of the scene for the sake of keeping it “real” in his perspective, and for dramatic effect.
The Music:
Two particular songs serve as its “theme”, the main one being “Holiday Road” and the other, “Dancing Across the USA”, both sung by Lindsey Buckingham, a notable singer/songwriter from the supergroup Fleetwood Mac.
Holiday Road:
This song would be used in 3 of the 4 of the Vacation films starring Chevy Chase.
Dancing Across the USA:
These two songs were released in vinyl both as a single by Warner Bros. Pictures, and included in the complete soundtrack for the film.
National Lampoon’s Vacation is a movie that continues to hold up as a classic, especially among younger audiences who discover its third installment (National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation) around the holiday season, and on that merit, seek to discover the other films.
National Lampoon’s Vacation is rated R and runs 1 hour and 38 minutes.
To view a trailer for the film, please click on the “play” button below.
The Newest 4K Trailer:
To read the original article “Vacation 58” in its entirety, written by John Hughes for National Lampoon Magazine, you can access it HERE.
National Lampoon’s Vacation is available on VHS, DVD, Blu-Ray, 4K-UHD, is broadcast on cable/TV on occasion and is available on multiple streaming services. For more information on where this movie is streaming, please click HERE.