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Vacation Blu-ray Review

30th Anniversary Edition

Score: 47

from 2 reviewers

Review Date:

While 'National Lampoon's Vacation' remains a comedy classic with good audio/video quality, the lack of substantial supplements makes it tough to recommend over older editions.

Vacation Blu-ray Front Cover

Disc Release Date

DTS-HD MA

Video: 49

The 30th Anniversary Blu-ray edition of 'Vacation' features the same 1080p/VC-1 encode as the 2010 release, providing decent sharpness, accurate color reproduction, and natural grain texture. However, advancements in transfer and mastering techniques since then make the picture quality feel dated, particularly in low-lit scenes.

Audio: 44

The film’s original DTS-HD MA 1.0 mono mix delivers clear dialogue, wide dynamic range, and deep bass that enhance scenes like the opening dealership and desert crash. Despite missing original songs, its audio is surprisingly active and well-preserved for an 80s comedy classic.

Extra: 36

The Blu-ray extras of 'Vacation' provide a mixed bag: a perfunctory intro, a fragmented yet informative commentary dominated by Harold Ramis, and a feature-length A&E documentary filled with comprehensive insights from the cast and crew, despite frequent recaps. The original trailer is functional but unremarkable.

Movie: 71

Warner's 30th Anniversary Blu-ray of 'National Lampoon's Vacation' unfortunately recycles previous transfers and extras, offering little new except an excellent feature-length documentary, while the film itself remains a beloved 80s comedy classic with standout performances and hilarious road-trip mishaps.

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