NATIONAL LAMPOON'S CHRISTMAS VACATION - HD DVD review

In answer to the question you're probably asking right now, yes, if we can get something as frivolous as "Caddyshack" on HD-DVD, then why not "National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation." The four "Vacation" comedies with Chevy Chase saw their ups and downs. "Christmas Vacation," from 1989, the third in the sequence, was no exception. It marked an upturn in the series, to be sure, but within the movie things lurch frantically between high points and low.

"Christmas Vacation" follows the same basic pattern as the original "Vacation" movie, only this time the Griswold family isn't on the road anywhere but settled comfortably down to spend a traditional, old-fashioned Christmas at home. Well, at least Clark (Chase), the father, is determined to have an old-fashioned Christmas, and his wife Ellen (Beverly D'Angelo) is her usual reluctant, passive self. The kids (newcomers to the series Juliette Lewis and Johnny Galecki), as always could care less. From there we get everything going wrong that could go wrong, including Clark's typically obsessive behavior and his inevitable breakdown. If it sounds familiar, the script was again written by John Hughes, who, besides writing the first two "Vacation" films, did "Breakfast Club," "Ferris Bueller's Day Off," "Home Alone," and "Planes, Trains, and Automobiles."

The movie is a roller-coaster ride of hilarity, poignancy, vulgarity, dumbness, and tedium. One thing to be said about it, though, is that things are never dull, for good or for bad. If the film had maintained a more consistent level of humor throughout, it might have become a perennial Christmas favorite in everybody's household, something like "A Christmas Story." As it stands, even with its mild PG-13 rating, it contains enough coarse material to warrant it advisable viewing only for adults or late teens, which is an irony, really, considering that most of the content that makes it objectionable seems to be aimed primarily at young teens and adolescents. It's a film full of contradictions, making it hard to review, let alone to recommend.

The story concerns a nice, cozy vacation at the Griswold house. Naturally, they're all lunatics. Sorry, dysfunctional, to be politically correct. OK, you're right, lunatics. Clark insists on inviting his parents and in-laws (John Randolph, Diane Ladd, E.G. Marshall, and Doris Roberts) to Christmas dinner, and then their demented Cousin Eddie (Randy Quaid) shows up unannounced with his brood, and a maniacal squirrel invades the premises, and we get a kidnapping, and then a S.W.A.T team raid, and, as you can see, things get out of hand pretty quickly by the last half of the picture. A shame, really. It starts out so well.

The first half, especially, offers some sidesplitting moments: Clark getting his car stuck under a huge, moving truck. The unfolding of a monster Christmas tree. Clark's flirtations with a pretty department-store clerk. Clark's climbing the roof to put up Christmas lights. The lighting of the house with 25,000 imported Italian twinkle bulbs. And some very funny slapstick sight gags.

In contrast, there are the abuses: The two sets of unfunny parents, supposedly counterpoints for Clark's zaniness but generally just pains in the butt. Clark's hectic, raucous, but ultimately boring sled ride. Cousin Eddie's continual barrage of grossness, culminating in the emptying of his RV's septic tank into the Griswold's gutter. A dog named Snots, for obvious reasons. A pair of snooty, yuppie neighbors. Clark's ultimate collapse, complete with a seemingly endless string of profanities. And the waste of two great performers, the usually reliable William Hickey and the adorable Mae Questel as Uncle Lewis and Aunt Bethany. Questel's role is particularly galling because she was the original voice for both Betty Boop and Olive Oyl, and here she gets virtually nothing to do to show off her famous vocal or comedic talents.

So, we've got a film that could have been funnier and more family-friendly had it been trimmed of its cruder elements. Yet, true to form, it's a film that also has a surprising number of touching scenes amidst the chaos, like Clark's reminiscing in the attic over childhood home movies, or Clark's talk with Eddie's little girl about Santa Claus.

You'll either ignore the uncouth and clumsy parts, relish the funny bits, and think it's the best of the "Vacation" series, or like me you'll be too annoyed by the parts that don't work to fully appreciate the best things the movie has to offer. Well, at least the movie's got some funny parts. That's more than can be said about the "European" and "Vegas Vacation" entries, and maybe anything, no matter how small, is better than nothing. For some folks, I understand "Christmas Vacation" is a holiday institution in itself. For others, like me, one or two times is enough.

Video:
The standard-definition disc of "Christmas Vacation," issued a few years ago, looked pretty good, thanks to a healthy bit rate and an anamorphic picture. Needless to say, the HD-DVD transfer is even better, providing stronger, more vibrant hues, sharper definition, more-natural skin tones, and deeper color depth. The widescreen image continues to fill up a 16x9 television screen, and there is the same slight grittiness to the image that I noticed before, with a bit more grain than I would have expected, especially during the opening titles. Nevertheless, the high-definition picture is easy on the eyes and probably as good as the original print.

Audio:
The sound is carried via Dolby Digital Plus 2.0 stereo, which means you don't get much information from the rear speakers, but you do get a good left-to-right front-channel spread. The DD+ audio is an improvement over regular Dolby Digital in that it is not only well balanced but clear as a bell. I noticed in the earlier edition a small degree of high-end brightness that I didn't observe here, although there still isn't much serious deep bass involved. The main thing is that the front channels open up nicely, providing excellent stereo reproduction.

Extras:
Warner Bros. called their previous, standard-definition disc a "Special Edition" in bold type on the front of the keep case. In fact, there was little that was "special" about it, and this HD-DVD carries the same materials. The disc contains all of one "special" item, an audio commentary with Randy Quaid, Beverly D'Angelo, Johnny Galecki, Miriam Flynn, director Jeremiah Chechik, and producer Matty Simmons. Not even the star, Chevy Chase, participates in it, and for the few minutes I listened, it didn't seem worth spending much time on.

Beyond the commentary, there are twenty-nine scene selections; a widescreen theatrical trailer; English, French, and Spanish spoken languages; and English, French, and Spanish subtitles, with English captions for the hearing impaired. As always, Warner Bros. also provide pop-up menus, bookmarks, an indicator of elapsed time, a zoom-and-pan feature, and an Elite Red HD case.

Parting Shots:
"Christmas Vacation" is almost on a par with the first "Vacation" movie, missing it only in terms of the several pitfalls I've mentioned, yet miles ahead of the "European" and "Vegas Vacation" flicks. Still, for me personally the excesses of "Christmas Vacation" outweigh its blessings, so I did not enjoy it quite as much this time or last as I did my first time around on cable. Writer John Hughes can be a genius one minute and a washout the next, and within the context of "Christmas Vacation" we see both sides of him prominently on display. Well, at least the movie looks and sounds better than ever in high definition.