Movie Review – National Lampoon’s European Vacation (1985)
The success of 1983′s National Lampoon’s Vacation movie meant one thing — where else could the Griswold family go on vacation?
Where could Clark Griswold visit and really make a fool of himself?
Those questions were answered with 1985′s comedy, National Lampoon’s European Vacation. This time around the Griswold family travels overseas on a European vacation (western Europe, mind you), visiting England, France, West Germany and Italy. Clark Griswold tries to follow a basic itinerary, but of course things go wrong along the way and we can’t help but laugh at their misfortune.
Chevy Chase and Beverly D’Angelo are back playing their characters of Clark and Ellen Griswold. Their kids have been recast and now Dana Hill and Jason Lively play the roles of Audrey and Rusty Griswold. National Lampoon’s European Vacation also features cameos from William Zabka, Eric Idle and Moon Unit Zappa.
NOTE – This movie spells the family’s last name as “Griswald,” whereas the other Vacation movies spell it as “Griswold.” This review will continue to use the “O” version of Griswold.
National Lampoon’s European Vacation (1985) – (c) Warner Bros.
National Lampoon’s European Vacation begins with the Griswold family playing on the Pig in a Poke televised game show. By this point in the show the Griswolds have already won a collection of prizes. The host of Pig in a Poke, Kent Winkdale (John Astin), asks Clark (Chevy Chase) if he’s happy with keeping their prices, of if he wants to “risk everything a be a pig.” Against the wishes of his family, Clark risks everything for a shot at the grand prize. His family is challenged in trivia by the current champions, a bunch of nerdy people. Ellen (Beverly D’Angelo) says the correct answer accidentally when answering a question, and the Griswolds are the winners of the game show. Their grand prize is an all-expenses-paid trip through Europe.
National Lampoon’s European Vacation (1985) – (c) Warner Bros.
The Griswolds return home and discuss their trip to Europe. Neither Rusty (Jason Lively) or Audrey (Dana Hill) are really interested in going. Audrey’s boyfriend, Jack (William Zabka), also wants Audrey to stay at home. Clark lets the family vote for leader of the vacation, and Clark wins the popular vote. As president of the family he declares that the Griswolds are going to Europe as a family, and Jack will have to wait behind back home in Chicago.
Before leaving for Europe, Clark is walking around the house with their video camera. He surprises Ellen in the show and records her performing a song and dance she used to do in college. He then sets down the camera and “gets busy” with Ellen, forgetting that the camera is still recording their actions.
National Lampoon’s European Vacation (1985) – (c) Warner Bros.
The Griswolds are on a Pan Am Boeing 747 and flying out to London, England for the first leg of their adventure. Everybody falls asleep on the airplane, and each person has a dream of a fantasy (or nightmare) vision of Europe. Ellen fantasizes about herself and Clark visiting the Royal Family and attending a ball. Rusty sees himself as a rock star making a European tour. Audrey has a nightmare about being stuffed with so much European food that she swells in size. Clark pictures himself and their family in the Austrian mountains, singing about how “the hills are alive with the sound of Griswolds.”
National Lampoon’s European Vacation (1985) – (c) Warner Bros.
They arrive in London and a taxi takes the family to their hotel. As they quickly discover, the hotel looks nowhere near as nice as it does in the travel brochure. The hotel’s clerk (Mel Smith) reluctantly does his job and checks the Griswolds into their hotel room. As the Griswolds discover, their European culture shock begins right there in the cramped hotel rooms. The televisions barely work, the rooms don’t have numbers, and the only bathroom is a community one at the end of the hallway. Clark gets lost and ends up in another woman’s room, and Ellen has mistaken identity when another man takes Clark’s place in the bathroom.
The next day is rainy, and Rusty and Audrey are stuck in their hotel room with nothing to do. Audrey’s wall is covered with pictures of Jack. She’s upset about not being with him, so Rusty convinces her to give him a quick phone call to say hello. She does so and stays on the line while he has dinner with his family. Audrey racks up such a large phone bill that Clark threatens to rip off Jack’s balls.
National Lampoon’s European Vacation (1985) – (c) Warner Bros.
Driving in London is quite a challenge for Clark Griswold. He manages to hit two cars within the first couple of blocks away from the hotel. Both of the other drivers are quite forgiving, along with the bicyclist (Eric Idle) that Clark nearly kills. The bicyclist hobbles away and Clark gets the hang of driving until he enters Lambeth Bridge Roundabout. He’s stuck in the circular interchange for hours and cannot cut his way through traffic.
National Lampoon’s European Vacation (1985) – (c) Warner Bros.
The Griswolds leave London and make a visit to Stonehenge. The family poses for pictures before Clark accidentally backs his car into one of the giant stone slabs. This is knocked into another slab, and before we know it there’s a domino effect as the entire structure comes crashing down. The Griswolds drive to the airport unknowing of the destruction behind them.
National Lampoon’s European Vacation (1985) – (c) Warner Bros.
The family arrives in Paris, France, and Clark tries to get some video of them in front of a water fountain. Ellen complains that Clark is always filming and not in any of the shots, so Clark finds a person to videotape all of the family. A man agrees to and then suggests that they take off their shoes and stand in the fountain. It’s a crazy idea but sounds like fun. They do so and then the man runs away with Clark’s video camera. Ellen’s concerned that the peep show that Clark recorded may still be on the camera, but Clark assures her that it was erased.
National Lampoon’s European Vacation (1985) – (c) Warner Bros.
Losing the video camera is a setback, but the Griswold family continues with their vacation. After checking into a hotel (and being made fun of by the French workers), Clark gives everybody a beret with their name printed on it. After that it’s off to a restaurant where Clark’s bad French results in the waiter insulting them as well. Then we see just how “touristy” of a restaurant that they’re visiting.
National Lampoon’s European Vacation (1985) – (c) Warner Bros.
That night Ellen wants to stay in the room and have a romantic evening with her husband. Clark has a different idea and insists on spending the evening at a club. It turns out that the club is an “adult” club much to Ellen’s discomfort. While leaving they find Rusty sitting in the back of the club with a hooker. He’s drunk and claims that the doorman let him into the club.
The family spends another day in Paris where they tour through a large art museum. Audry also receives a letter from her boyfriend, Jack, only to discover that he’s now seeing one of her friends (make that a former friend).
National Lampoon’s European Vacation (1985) – (c) Warner Bros.
The Griswolds are off to West Germany (remember that we’re back in 1985 here) to visit some of Clark’s relatives, Fritz and Helga. They accidentally go to the wrong address and invite themselves into an elderly couple’s home. Neither of them speak the other’s language, so the older couple just let them visit. The Griswolds have dinner with the people and then spend the night in their home. All seems well as the Griswolds say goodbye the next morning.
National Lampoon’s European Vacation (1985) – (c) Warner Bros.
They’re in the southern part of West Germany and stop at a town hosting a festival. Clark gets into the spirit by dressing in lederhosen, and Rusty makes out with a local girl. Some German dancers see Clark’s outfit and invite him on stage to perform with them. Clark is a bit clumsy bit follows the routine until somebody strikes him. Clark fights back and soon a massive brawl erupts. The Griswolds jump in their car and race through the streets of the small town as a mob chases them. They run to the train station and barely make a train bound for Rome, Italy.
National Lampoon’s European Vacation (1985) – (c) Warner Bros.
The Griswolds arrive in Rome and head for a travel agency. All of their luggage was lost in West Germany along with most of their money. They arrive at the travel agency and meet with a suspiciously friendly worker (Victor Lanoux). He gives them a bunch of money in cash along with keys to a rental car. The Griswolds head off to buy new clothes, not knowing that the friendly worker was actually a thief, and there’s a hostage locked in their car’s trunk.
At their hotel in Rome, Clark runs into the bicyclist he nearly ran over back in London. He’s wearing a large cast on his leg and explains that he’s on a small holiday in Italy.
National Lampoon’s European Vacation (1985) – (c) Warner Bros.
The family is touring Rome when Ellen sees herself being advertised on a billboard. It turns out that Clark forgot to erase the peep show video he recorded of her before they left for Europe. She’s now an adult film star in Italy. Furious at her husband, Ellen storms back to their hotel. Rusty and Audrey also leave their father and tour Italy by themselves. Clark doesn’t understand why they’re all upset, so he also tours the city alone.
National Lampoon’s European Vacation (1985) – (c) Warner Bros.
Rusty meets a girl (Moon Unit Zappa) who’s from California. She recognizes Rusty from his appearance on the Pig in a Poke game show. Meanwhile, the robbers find the hotel where the Griswolds are staying and try to get their car with the man in the trunk. The leader follows Ellen into the hotel and shares some drinks with her. She gets drunk and the man follows her to her hotel room. He tries to have his way with her but she refuses, so he pulls out a gun. Just as he’s about to get the car’s keys the police arrive. The man takes Ellen hostage and they escape in his vehicle.
National Lampoon’s European Vacation (1985) – (c) Warner Bros.
Audrey’s on the phone with her ex-friend when she sees her mom being taken hostage. She runs out and has her dad get into their car, and they take off after the kidnapper. The two cars race through the streets of Rome and cause a bunch of chaos. At one point they find Rusty, so he and his new girlfriend jump into the car and they all chase after their mom. Clark crashes the car again and he’s forced to take somebody’s bicycle. He catches the kidnapper (he’s driving a slow car), and that car eventually crashes into a fountain. Clark punches out the kidnapper and rescues his wife. Coincidentally, the bicyclist from London is mixed up the bunch of them and is also in the water fountain.
National Lampoon’s European Vacation ends with the Griswolds flying back home to Chicago. They see the Statue of Liberty out the window. Clark needs to use the restroom but accidentally opens the cockpit’s door instead. The pilot gets pinned against the control column, forcing the airliner into a nose dive. The aircraft recovers after hitting the Statue of Liberty’s torch, knocking it out of her hand. Rusty then tells us that the Griswolds are back home.
So is National Lampoon’s European Vacation any good?
As a whole, this sequel is decent. This doesn’t feel nearly as fresh as the first Vacation movie, but European Vacation still has plenty of laughs and misfortune for the Griswold family.
The start of the movie was pretty cheesy with the Griswolds winning the grand prize in the Pig in a Poke game show. It would have been better if Clark won a prize at his work, or something simple like that. They could have still been on an all-expenses-paid trip to Europe without the stupid game show.
The laughs are at their highest when Clark can’t drive a left-side-drive car in London, when the people keep insulting him in France, and when the family visits with the wrong family members in West Germany. The laugh tank hits the empty meter by the time they arrive in Rome, and that ending with the airliner hitting the Statue of Liberty was just terrible. It’s not a 9/11 thing, but the torch would have ripped open the airliner’s fuselage and they would have crashed in the water. The skin on an aircraft isn’t that tough unless you’re flying something similar to an A-10 Warthog.
National Lampoon’s European Vacation (1985) – movie trailer
Regardless, European Vacation is a decent comedy and a worthy part of the Vacation series of movies. It’s too bad that this film doesn’t receive as much attention as the other Griswold Vacation movies.
Stewardess on flight to London – [to Clark and Ellen] “Would you like something to drink?”
Clark Griswold – [to Ellen] – “Ellen, want something?”
Ellen Griswold – “No, thank you.”
Clark Griswold – “Uh, I’ll have a Coke.”
Stewardess – “Do you want that in the can?”
Clark Griswold – [looks at the bathroom and then turns back to the stewardess] – “No, I’ll have it right here.”