NATIONAL LAMPOON’S CHRISTMAS VACATION (1989)
4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray + Digital
Label: Warner Bros. Home Entertainment
Region Code: Region-Free
Rating: PG-13
Duration: 97 Minutes
Audio: English DTS-HD MA 2.0 and 5.1, French, Spanish Dolby Digital 2.0 with Optional English Subtitles
Video: HDR10 2160p UHD Widescreen (1.85:1), 1080p HD Widescreen (1.78:1)
Director: Jeremiah S. Chechik
Cast: Chevy Chase, Beverly D’Angelo, Randy Quaid, Juliette Lewis, Johnny Galecki, Diane Ladd, E. G. Marshall, Doris Roberts, Miriam Flynn, Randy Quaid, Cody Burger, Ellen Hamilton Latzen, William Hickey, Mae Questel, Sam McMurray, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Nicholas Guest, Brian Doyle-Murray, Natalia Nogulich, Nicolette Scorsese, Alexander Folk
I remember my late father introducing me to National Lampoon's Vacation as a kid, telling me "you gotta see this, you will love it" - and sure enough he was right, I loved it, and thus began my lifelong love of all things Griswold. This entry was my first experience actually catching the Griswold family adventures first-run at the cinemas, at the Pyramid Mall in Ithaca, NY. This time out the ever optimistic, but perpetually stumbling, Clark Griswold (Chevy Chase, Spies Like Us), along with his wife (Beverly D'Angelo, The Sentinel), and children Rusty and Audrey, this time played by Juliette Lewis (Kalifornia), Johnny Galecki (TV's The Big Bang Theory) - host a old fashioned family Christmas get-together. They invite Clark's parents Clark Sr. (John Randolph, King Kong) and Nora (Diane Ladd, Wild At Heart), as well as Ellen's irritable parents Art (E. G. Marshall, Creepshow) and the lushy Frances (Doris Roberts), plus Clark's stogie-smokin' uncle Lewis (William Hickey, Tales from the Darkside: The Movie) and senile wife Bethany (Mae Questel, the original voice of Betty Boop!); who wraps a cat as a gift and puts cat food in her Jell-O mold. Cark sets out to make everything perfect but it's the Griswolds so things go imperfectly, including the unannounced and uninvited arrival of Ellen's white trash cousin Eddy Eddy (Randy Quaid, ID4) and his wife Catherine's (Miriam Flynn, Vegas Vacation) along with his kids Rocky (Cody Burger, Petshop), who has an unidentified lip-fungus, and the sweet but foul-mouthed Ruby Sue (Ellen Hamilton Latzen). The comedy comes fast and loose in this one, with Clark fretting that his tight-ass employer (Brian Doyle-Murray, Caddyshack) might not given him his holiday bonus, and feuding with yuppie neighbors Margo (Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Seinfeld) and Todd (Nicholas Guest, The Longriders), not to mention his dealing with grumpy, senile, tree-burning, and sewer blowing-up family antics, and his own endeavor to get 25,000 Italian twinkling lights to work and coating the bottom of his snow sled in an experimental super-slippery, non-caloric, non-stick spray that he's developing. As a kid I loved the fun family antics, as an adult I just love Clark Griswold's optimistic and idealized, often misguided, vision of family life, I think it's quite heartwarming and super-charming. The new 4K UHD is a huge improvement over the 2018 Blu-ray, the 4K resolution reveals more nuances in the close-ups of textures and facial details, the film grain is naturally resolved, and colors - aside from a teal-push, looks much improved. We also get the film in the original 1.85:1 aspect ratio which is appreciated. Audio comes by way of DTS-HD MA 2.0 and 5.1 with optional English subtitles and sounds great. The surround is not the most active but the uncompressed track delivers dialogue, the Angelo Badalamenti (Twin Peaks) score and soundtrack with a couple of fantastic holiday tunes Bing Crosby and the Andrew Sisters, Ray Charles, The Moonglows, and Mavis Staples, sounds better than ever. The Blu-ray that accompanies this set is a recycle of the 2105 Blu-ray, which is a bummer, but the new HDR10 color-grading and improved visuals on the 4K presentation make this a must-own upgrade IMHO. It was of such high caliber that it felt like I was seeing the movie for the first time. I don't know about you guys but for me the Christmas season doesn't officially start till I've heard Mavis Staples croon "It's that time, Christmas time is here..." at the start of the film with the awesome animated intro. The 2-disc release comes arrives with a single-sided wrap and glossy slipcover, inside there's a Movies Anywhere digital UHD code for the film, including the extras.
Special Features:
- Audio Commentary with actors Randy Quaid, Beverly D'Angelo, Johnny Galecki, Miriam Flynn, director Jeremiah Chechik, and producer Matty Simmons
- Theatrical Trailer (2 min) +
+ Extra on Blu-ray only
