Not only do I consider National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation to be the best Vacation movie, but this is also my favorite Christmas movie of all time! If there was just one Christmas movie that I could watch in the run up to Christmas each year, it would be this one. It is the perfect Christmas movie and it makes me smile and laugh today just as much as it did back when it was first released.
How to Download National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation
You can download or stream the film from a digital platform. Click on the Download button at the end of this review and make your choice. If you like Christmas films, check out also more recent ones Scrooge: A Christmas Carol and Violent Night as well as the all-time classic Home Alone.
The Movie Review
This is a 1989 movie from the great mind that is John Hughes who is responsible for some of the all-time classic 80s movies that many of us watch today. While National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation is a sequel to the two Vacation movies that came before it, it stands on its own and you can watch them in any order.
The family dynamic in this movie is awesome as the main characters are Clark Griswold who is played by Chevy Chase, his wife Ellen who is played by Beverly D’Angelo, and the two kids, Rusty and Audrey. One of the interesting things about the three original Vacation movies is that in each movie, Rusty and Audrey are played by different actors, here it is Juliet Lewis and Johnny Galecki.
The story being told here is all about the run-up to Christmas. Clark Griswold is the ultimate family man and wants to give his family the perfect old-fashioned family style Christmas that he grew up with. A huge part of this is inviting the extended family of his parents along with Ellen’s parents as well, all staying in the same house together!
Things get kicked up a notch when the awesome Cousin Eddie shows up with his family in their RV. I have to say is there a more iconic line from a Christmas movie than, “Merry Christmas, shitter was full”? Pretty much straight from the start Clark’s dreams of this amazing Christmas start to go down the drain as the reality of having all these people under one roof starts to take effect!
Plus, Clark is having some real trouble at work, he is waiting for his big Christmas bonus, but the company he works for is run by a real jerk and things do not go smoothly. What I love about National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation is that it perfectly sums up how hard it can be dealing with family during the holidays.
You have all the best intentions in the world of spending time together and having fun, but sooner or later, you want to go nuts! I love all of the interactions with the characters here, especially Clark and Eddie, this stuff never gets old and I am smiling about it as I think about the two of them together at the eggnog bowl.
Despite the movie showing just how challenging dealing with family can be. I also think that National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation shows what it means to be a loving family as well. Ultimately, love comes out on top and everyone is happy and Christmas is a time when you should be happy. Once those credits start to roll, there is no way you will not have a smile on your face and feel good.
National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation is a perfect Christmas movie and no one can tell me different. I have probably watched this every year for the past 25 plus years and I will continue to do so until the day I die! My only complaint is that this year (2022) I purchased the “new” 4K release and I have to say, the picture quality is not really any better than the Blu-Ray version!
