National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation is the best Christmas movie of all time.
There is no arguing it, there is no convincing me, there is no persuasion, nobody will ever convince me that I’m wrong. There is no Christmas movie better than Christmas Vacation.
While there are many good competitors and classics like Elf and A Christmas Story, nothing compares. The dramatic situations that the Griswold family finds themselves in, followed by the comedic relief sprinkled throughout the movie, is a breath of fresh air every time I see it.
Christmas Vacation is set in Chicago, IL in the late eighties. Clark Griswold (played by Chevy Chase) is hosting the family Christmas at his house and wants everything to be perfect. Unfortunately for Clark, fate had other plans, and the loving family Christmas he was hoping for transformed into a holiday from Hell.
The movie was released in 1989 and received a 7.5/10 on IMDb, with 91% of Google users saying they liked it. This statistic is much higher than Elf’s 7.1/10 rating on IMDb and 85% of Google users enjoying the movie. While A Christmas Story has a higher IMDb rating of 7.9/10, only 85% of Google users liked the movie.
Additionally, Christmas Vacation’s box office nearly quadrupled that of A Christmas Story’s.
Christmas Vacation is considered a family/comedy movie. Still, I would argue that it could also be drama, considering all of the situations in which Clark, his wife Ellen (played by Beverly D’Angelo), and his children tend to find themselves. Examples are when Cousin Eddie (played by Randy Quaid) kidnaps Clark’s boss for not giving him a Christmas bonus or when the squirrel terrorizes their household.
Watching Christmas Vacation is a tradition in my household. Every year, I watch the movie or play it in the background when Christmas comes around.
I remember the first time my Dad turned the movie on for me. At first, I thought the film would be lame because it was old, but I gave it a chance, and to this day, it is one of my favorite movies. It’s not my favorite Christmas movie, but my favorite movie.
I’ve seen it enough times to hear the dialogue and match it with the correct scene in my head.
Christmas Vacation is available for streaming on large platforms like YouTube, Hulu, Max, Amazon Prime, and Apple TV. Many of these require a subscription, but a few are available for $3.99.
In conclusion, I would say that Christmas Vacation is 100% worth the money to watch it. I’ve never met anyone who didn’t like the movie. It is one of my all-time favorites and will forever be a Christmas classic.
