National Lampoon’s Vacation The Rewatchables
National Lampoon’s Vacation poster
National Lampoon’s Vacation

Most Rewatchable Scene

Cousin Eddie visit; Dodge City shootout

In the discussion (23)
Approx. transcript time · 00:31:41Read transcript
  • Buying the station wagon from Eugene Levy’s salesman is nominated, especially the sales pitch and the promise that driving it will make Clark hate it more.
  • The trip’s beginning is nominated for Mockingbird, the Wally World anthem, family singing, and the recurring complaint about Russ’s feet.
  • Clark falling asleep at the wheel is nominated.
  • The St.Louis scene is nominated despite recognition of overt racial stereotypes; its direction-request joke remained memorable through the era before navigation apps.
  • The St.Louis stereotypes are acknowledged, including the basketball, stolen hubcaps, paid directions, and the family’s comments; Clark’s later theft and hostage-taking complicate the film’s moral contrast.
  • The local man admitting it is not even his neighborhood remains a favorite joke, with another performer apparently breaking into laughter.
  • Ellen’s stuck head, the children peering over the seat, and Clark’s potential sexual distraction make the driving sequence funny and startling.
  • Dodge City is called an underrated and possibly funniest scene: Clark taunts the performer, gets shot with a prop gun, and reassures everyone that he is fine.
  • Meeting Eddie’s family is a favorite stretch, starting with the child who has no tongue but can whistle.
  • The cousins’ French-kissing and masturbation discussions are singled out as outrageous jokes.
  • The pregnancy and multiple-night-jobs line, Hamburger Helper, ketchup, and hand-stirred Kool-Aid make the family visit densely funny.
  • The worm-farm invitation and the daughter’s lasting comic impression are celebrated.
  • The dead-dog traffic stop is nominated, especially the officer not knowing the penalty and imagining the dog keeping up for the first mile.
  • The dead-dog gag still receives strong comic approval despite acknowledged distress from dog lovers and changed attitudes toward pets.
  • Clark and Russ’s beer-sharing talk before the desert walk is nominated as part of their consistently successful father–son exchanges.
  • Discovering Aunt Edna’s death is nominated, including the child’s alarm about a dead person breathing on them.
  • Clark’s furious refusal to abandon the journey is nominated.
  • Clark’s quest-for-fun rant is compared with the Christmas Vacation outburst and judged equally excellent rather than given a clear winner.
  • Kidnapping the John Candy character is nominated, including Ellen warning the children their father may go away and Clark denying proof that he killed Edna.
  • Meeting Cousin Eddie is an explicit final preference, with the dog scene a tempting alternative.
  • Dodge City receives another final choice, praising Chase’s pratfall and polite recovery after being shot.
  • Clark cruising the hotel bar and approaching Brinkley is added, including the claim that he used to work for the CIA.
  • Clark’s improvised funeral prayer is belatedly praised for its confused religious references and admission that he is not a minister.