Vegas Vacation (1997)

Check your brain at the door, because it's time once again for a dim-witted visit to Clark Griswold (Chevy Chase) and his happy-go-lucky family, who hit the Vegas strip for this vacation. (The kids who originally played the Griswold children have been replaced.) The Griswold exploits in the casinos are good for a few embarrassed chuckles, especially when Mrs. Griswold (Beverly D'Angelo) gets onstage with Wayne Newton for a truly mind-altering rendition of Minnie Ripperton's ear-piercing 1970s hit "Loving You." And because he scored so many low-brow points as the lame-brained cousin in the original National Lampoon's Vacation, Randy Quaid is back to cause a lot of trouble, while Chevy Chase is reduced to uninspired slapstick and endless puns involving the word damn. In other words, Vegas Vacation is the kind of comedy that can convince you that civilization is doomed. --Jeff Shannon Amazon.com

Not a jackpot!

Vegas Vacation is the last of the franchise and probably the second worst. Chevy Chase and Beverly D'Angelo look completely bored in this one, glad they didn't make another Vacation after this box-office flop. Randy Quaid reprises his role as the annoying and vile Eddie. The whole Vegas premise seemed like a good idea but to my chagrin this film isn't priceless. June 4, 2008

It's vegas baby!

Awesome movie! Funny, very-well paced, charming. Overall
outstanding, even a nose better than X-mas vacation! "Why don't you just give me half of what you were going to bet, I'll take you outside, kick you in the nuts, and we'll call it a night!" The work they did on the soundtrack/sound editing on this movie is tremendous, it adds so much to the humor and atmosphere, outstanding work! December 13, 2007

About "family pictures"

This is the first Vacation entry without John Hughes and sorely misses his creative spark. Several scenes have the characters remind us, (usually Chevy} "can't we do something nice as a family once more?" Nudity and profanity are controlled. Rocks, paper and scissors are played like kids do on a church youth group bus. Dino DeLorentis once said, "I made a family picture once. My family came to see it and everybody hated it." I am not against good family pictures. Make one because you really want one. But people having an unwanted family picture like this should consider an abortion. September 16, 2007

This is WAY better than European Vacation

I don't understand how fans of the series insist that this is the worst one. For coming out eight years after the last installment, this movie is better than you'd expect. Unlike European Vacation, where without Chevy, the film would be unwatchable, here we have a great looking movie with likable stars that present an irresistable postcard for Las Vegas. Beverly D'Angelo is still quite lovely and the Griswold kids are likable and good looking, unlike the annoying, ugly kids that ruined European Vacation (no disrespect to Jason Lively and Dana Hill, but their characters were written rather shrill and irritating). Randy Quaid and crew aren't entirely necessary, but they don't hurt the film either. The only thing I could critique is Chevy himself. He's obviously aged since Christmas Vacation and seems a little uninterested. The ocassionally spotty screenplay has him doing silly things (like the whole Hoover Dam sequence) but he still assumes the role with comfort and command. It's good that they ended the series with this. They wrapped the series up with dignity intact. August 7, 2007

Love the vacation movies

We have all the Chevy Chase Vacation movies, they will always be a classic for our family. We take Christmas Vacation to our summer cabin and watch it whenever the grandchildren are there. We have now added this to our collection for the lake and I'm sure this will be a tradition also. Wish he'd make some more. May 18, 2007

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