National Lampoon's Vacation
Clark Griswold (Chevy Chase) is a well meaning father who really values his family. Unfortunately Clark is a man of big ideas and very little common sense with a dash of bad luck thrown in to the mix. Clark plans a great family adventure vacation, opting to drive and see the country as they make their way to Wallyworld. Unfortunate incidents and blunders land them far behind schedule and in a variety of humorous situations. What starts as a family vacation ends in a hostage situation illustrating good intentions gone bad. A careful of hormonal teens, an aging aunt and a dog tied to the back of the car this adventure is fraught with peril and filled with laughs.

National Lampoon's European Vacation
After winning a tour package in a game show, the bickering Griswald family carve a trail of destruction through England (where they knock over Stonehenge), France, Germany, and Italy. Somehow Ellen (Bevery D'Angelo), the mom, gets kidnapped by gangsters, leading to a car chase that reunites the family, despite their differences. It's hard to believe that National Lampoon's European Vacation is only the second of the Vacation movies; it has the exhausted pallor of the last of a long series of sequels, drained of all zest or original ideas. The charmless smirk of Chevy Chase, mechanical in its idiocy, hangs over European Vacation like a death mask. It's hard to believe that this hack was once the funny and sexy hero of Foul Play. D'Angelo keeps her chin up and gives the movie whatever class it may have; she deserves better