National Lampoon's European Vacation

National Lampoon's European Vacation (1985)

9 corrected entries

(1 vote)

Corrected entry: In the "Pig in the poke" show, the final question - regarding the Lewis and Clark expedition - is: "What Lieutenant led that expedition?" However Lewis led the expedition, and he was a Captain. Clark was a Lieutenant. (00:06:30)

Jacob La Cour

Correction: Lewis and Clark were co-captains, both leaders. Clark was technically still a lieutenant until he was officially promoted after returning.

Correction: He saw his leg was about to be caught in the revolving door, and tried shouting at Clark to get his attention. Not really a mistake.

Corrected entry: When Clark is taking a Polaroid of the family, the photograph just 'flies' out of the camera. Polaroids don't do that, they come out slowly and partly stay secured to the exit rollers until they are pulled out.

Andy Benham

Correction: That's the point: He has bought a defective camera. Just like everything he buys/does: It goes wrong.

Soylent Purple

Corrected entry: The dog falls from the Eiffel tower into water. There is no water around the Eiffel tower.

luke f

Correction: From the angle of the shot it is hard to tell which side the dog fell off. There is a river, the Seine, directly to the northwest of the tower. It can be seen in the shot where the hat is thrown. It is possible the dog landed in the river.

manthabeat

Correction: The Seine River is over 500 feet away from the base of the tower, so it's unlikely the dog fell there. However, there are two ponds on the sides of the tower, in the park area.

Bishop73

Corrected entry: When Clark goes into the bathroom to film, nothing is wet, even Ellen's hair is dry. Also, how did she get the slippers on her feet? She starts the scene from the shower, so she doesn't have them on from the beginning. (00:10:10)

Correction: While Ellen was in the shower, the shower itself was not on. She could have either not started showering (and thus not be wet) or finished and had time to dry off (she had a shower cap on as well so her hair wouldn't be wet). And while she's dancing she sits on the toilet and slides her feet into the slippers.

Bishop73

Corrected entry: In the scene where Clark is on the bicycle chasing the car Ellen has been kidnapped in, Clark is just about to catch up to the car and jump off the bicycle into the car. As he's about to do this, there is a small car parked on the side of the road so that as soon as he jumps off the bike it will hit this small car. Right before he attempts to jump off the bike, in the next scene where the shot goes from behind Clark to in front of Clark, he is about to hit the car and in the next shot the car is gone and he keeps pedaling.

Correction: This entry is wrong. There are no cars parked on the road that the kidnapper (red car) and Clark are riding on (though there are some cars back off to the side of the road but these are not in question). The small car we see is in fact moving and continues to be moving and is in front of the red car the whole time.

Bishop73

Corrected entry: During the car chase in Rome, they pass a wedding photo shoot. The camera that would be taking the wedding photo disappears after one shot.

manthabeat

Correction: No. It doesn't. You can see when the first car drives towards the crowd that the photographer grabs the camera so it doesn't get damaged (something a normal person would do in the situation). And in wide shots you can see he's still holding the camera.

Bishop73

Corrected entry: In the scene where Ellen is doing the erotic dance in the bathroom she squirts shaving foam onto her hand, then blows some at Chevy. At the end she comes out of the bathroom and lies on the carpet. Chevy gets on top of her and when she puts her arm round him you see the hand is completely clean. (00:11:05)

Correction: When she put her hand on the carpet, the foam rubs off her hand. In fact, you can see the foam on the carpet itself.

Bishop73

Corrected entry: When Clark discovers the bound man in the trunk, he slams it back shut but there is a hole cut out in the trunk-lid, presumably for the camera.

Correction: Most cars have cutouts in the trunk lid. They are for bolt holes, part of the trunk's frame, braces so the trunk doesn't bend when you slam it shut, etc.

National Lampoon's European Vacation mistake picture

Revealing mistake: During the scene when Audrey is having a nightmare about eating too much while on vacation, the nightmare ends with her inflating like a balloon from all the food. Her blouse splits open and down the middle, where the buttons have broken, the dark balloon used for the effect is visible. (00:16:35)

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Question: When there's a fight with the German dancers Clark dances with and the Griswolds run away and drive away as fast as they can, why do those German dancers chase after them with ropes? What were they going to do to them?

Answer: They're a lynch mob. Remember what Rusty's date said: Girl: They haven't rang those bells in years! Rusty: What do they mean? Girl: They're going to hang someone! (pause) Rusty: Dad.

Brian Katcher

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