| | | This time the Griswolds are on a roll.
Features: DVD, Widescreen
When Clark Griswold puts his mind to something, we soon realize he hasn't got one. Still, nothing stops him when the vacation bug hits. This time he's chosen Las Vegas, the family entertainment capital of America!Chevy Chase returns as bubbly, bumbling Clark in Vegas Vacation, a jokers-are-wild laughfest including two other stars from past Vacations. Beverly D'Angelo is back as wife Ellen, doting on the guy she calls "Sparky," and Randy Quaid again delights as grubby goofball Cousin Eddie. Ethan Embry (That Thing You Do!) and screen-debuting Marisol Nichols are Griswold teens who love the round-the-clock nightlife -- as long as they don't share it with mom and dad! From Siegfried and Roy's extravaganza to a Hoover dam tour, from cruising to losing (Wallace Shawn as a shifty blackjack dealer) to amorous crooning (Wayne Newton falls for Ellen), watch Clark try to keep family and wallet together!
"A winner. This fourth Vacation is clearly the best!" Boston Herald
"...a non-stop, belly-laughing comedy...Vegas Vacation is pure entertainment fun from beginning to end." Britt Gillette, The DVD Report
"Come for Griswolds, but stay for the appearance by the pre-mauling Siegfried and Roy!" Larry Phillips, DVD In My Pants
"A winner. This fourth Vacation is clearly the best." Paul Sherman, Boston Herald
Editor's Note
This time out, the Griswolds test their oft-ill-fated vacation luck in America's newest family playground, fabulous Las Vegas, Nevada! Slapstick hilarity ensues.
Plot Summary
This time out, the Griswolds test their oft-ill-fated vacation luck in America's newest family playground, fabulous Las Vegas, Nevada! Slapstick hilarity ensues.
| Features | Audio: English, French Dolby 5.1 Surround | | Subtitles: English, French, Spanish | | Widescreen Version | | Interactive Menus | | Scene Selection |
| Technical Info
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Release Information
| | Studio: Warner |
| Release Date: 5/6/2008 |
| Running Time: 98 minutes |
| Original Release Date: 1997 | | Catalog ID: 28857 | | UPC: 00085392885725 | | Number of Discs: 1 |
Audio & Video
| | Original Language: English | | Available Audio Tracks: English [CC], English, French Dubbed | | Available Subtitles: English, French, Spanish | | Video: Color |
Aspect Ratio | | Anamorphic Widescreen 1.85:1 |
| Cast & Crew
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| | Professional Reviews | James Berardinelli's ReelViews 3 of 10
Vegas Vacation is at its most energetic when Chase isn't on screen. The young actors playing the Griswold children, Marisol Nichols and Ethan Embry, are likable, and, from time-to- time, they manage to enliven this otherwise lame comedy. Wayne Newton's smarmy self-parody might have been amusing if we hadn't seen it already (he was funnier in Licence to Kill), and Sid Ceasar's cameo, which is supposed to be a comic highlight, is dreadfully unfunny. What we really needed from this film was more humor and less filler. It's not too much of a gamble to bet that Vegas Vacation is on the fast track to the video store. Hopefully, this is the last trip we'll have to take with the Griswolds. - James Berardinelli
ReelViews 5 of 10
If I stretch my memory back far enough, I think I can recall a time when Chevy Chase was funny. Those days are long gone, however...The original National Lampoon's Vacation, although sporadically funny, was hardly a pinnacle of comic excellence. For some reason, however, it was popular enough to spawn three sequels. Nevertheless, nearly fifteen years later, we have been subjected to European Vacation, Christmas Vacation, and now Vegas Vacation. At best, the three previous entries into the series have been of video or cable quality. Vegas Vacation, certainly the most tired of the lot, deserves interment alongside them...Let's face it -- no one expects a masterpiece from Vegas Vacation, but it's not unreasonable to hope for more than the few, feeble laughs it produces. Aside from a couple of great one-liners delivered by Wallace Shawn (playing a cranky blackjack dealer) and a throwaway gag featuring Christy Brinkley that recalls the first film, Vegas Vacation is full of jokes that fall flat. Is it really supposed to be funny when Chase tries to plug holes in a wall using chewing gum?...Vegas Vacation is at its most energetic when Chase isn't on screen. The young actors playing the Griswold children, Marisol Nichols and Ethan Embry, are likable, and, from time-to- time, they manage to enliven this otherwise lame comedy. Wayne Newton's smarmy self-parody might have been amusing if we hadn't seen it already (he was funnier in Licence to Kill), and Sid Ceasar's cameo, which is supposed to be a comic highlight, is dreadfully unfunny. What we really needed from this film was more humor and less filler. It's not too much of a gamble to bet that Vegas Vacation is on the fast track to the video store. Hopefully, this is the last trip we'll have to take with the Griswolds. - James Berardinelli
Variety 5 of 10
Eight years after their last family outing, the Griswolds are back, but National Lampoon isn't, in "Vegas Vacation," a tepid fourth entry in the popular 1980s series that is decidedly showing its age...Series regulars Chevy Chase, Beverly D'Angelo and Randy Quaid (who joined for "Christmas Vacation") are all back for more, and thank God for Quaid, who injects a few bracing shots of mangy humor into what is otherwise a lukewarm brew...Having earned a bonus for developing a new food preservative, Chase's Clark Griswold packs wife Ellen (D'Angelo) and teenage kids Rusty and Audrey (played this time by Ethan Embry and Marisol Nichols) off to the neon oasis. At first, they make the usual rounds, with Clark being paged to join Siegfried & Roy onstage and Ellen turning to jelly when she is invited to sing a duet with Wayne Newton during a show...The family also pays an obligatory visit to Cousin Eddie (Quaid), a boorish good ol' boy who lives with his large brood in a trailer on a former nuclear test site in the desert. One of his daughters is a budding showgirl who spirits Audrey off to buy vulgar clothes and begins turning the Midwestern girl into a disco dancer, while Rusty is taken under the wing of a high-rolling wiseguy (producer Jerry Weintraub) and instantly turned into an apprentice goodfella...Quaid is enjoyably grungy whenever he's on, but Chase and D'Angelo are just going through the motions at this point. Back from the first pic is Christie Brinkley in a red Ferrari, albeit one with an occupied child's seat, and in place of the late Imogene Coca, Sid Caesar makes a brief appearance in a climactic scene...Shot largely at the Mirage, pic could plausibly have been co-produced by the Vegas tourist office, such is the quantity of plugs for local hotels, attractions and products. - Todd McCarthy
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