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Quotes

Cousin Vicki: I'm going steady, and I French kiss.

Audrey Griswold: So? Everybody does that.

Cousin Vicki: Yeah, but Daddy says I'm the best at it.

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Mistakes

When Christy Brinkley appears in the Ferrari and Beverly D'Angelo is asleep in the car, Beverly's head is facing towards Chevy Chase. When they go to a shot of Chevy, Beverly's head is facing the other way. This continues back and forth throughout the entire scene, although she moves some. See more...

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The script was based on writer John Hughes short story called "Vacation 58" which was based on a real life trip he took as a child with his parents in 1958. See more...

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National Lampoon's Vacation (1983) - 17 corrections

Directed by Harold Ramis, starring Anthony Michael Hall, Beverly D'Angelo, Chevy Chase, Christie Brinkley, Eddie Bracken, Eugene Levy, Jane Krakowski, John Candy, Randy Quaid (add more)

Genres: Adventure, Comedy

Comments made in brackets are corrections from other visitors. To submit your own corrections for mistakes, just click "edit" under an entry, then choose "correct entry". You can also submit corrections for corrections, if you think a mistake has been unfairly removed.

Mistakes
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In the postcards opening, just after Christie Brinkley's name fades offscreen, the postcard for the "Mystery Spot" lists its location as "St. Ignance, Michigan." The Mystery Spot is located in St. Ignace, not St. Ignance. [This is a printing error by the postcard makers, not a film mistake per se.]
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When Christie Brinkley first appears, she is supposed to be driving a convertible at over 80 mph, yet her hair is blowing only slightly, as if in a light breeze. [That's due to the aerodynamics of the car. Some models will blow your hair all over at 20 mph, others, like the Ferrari, some Mercedes, Lotuses, even the Dodge Viper are designed so the slipstream of the air blows right over the top of the windshield, instead of creating a huge vortex behind the glass.]
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The family Grizwald car has wobbly wheels when they leave the gas station where the two attendants take all their money but a scene after that they are back to normal again. [There is a time lapse during which they could have had the bent wheels replaced. When we see them leave the station, they are discussing how much money they have if they pool their money, and it is revealed Audrey has $40. When they arrive at the hotel, some time has passed, and Clark tells the desk manager he only has $6.23 in cash to his name. Therefore we may reasonably assume that they pooled their money and repaired the wheels. They were planning to cash a cheque at the hotel for more cash already, and may have had to fix the wheels to make the car driveable again.]
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When the Griswolds get lost in the back streets of Missouri, they ask for directions from a local while his gang quietly steals their hubcaps. Firstly, why didn't they just take their luggage which would have been worth more. Secondly, why do they try and hide what they are doing?. Its not like the Griswolds could do anything about it anyway. Yes I know it only a comedy...but come on. [They could have driven away if needed. It would have been dangerous but it was still doable. The gang steals the hubcaps because they don't know what's in the luggage so the hubcaps may be worth more. Also the luggage was tried down so the hubcaps could be removed quicker and easier than the luggage.]
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When Clark falls asleep and drives off the exit, take a look at the top of the exit ramp. You can see police lights flashing which probably tells us the ramp and road was closed so they could film the scene. You can't see the actual lights, but you can see the flashing red and blue. Check it out. [There are many reasons there could be flashing lights, not just that they closed the ramp for filming. There could be an accident near the ramp, there could be a speeder pulled over, there could be an arrest happening near the ramp. since we can't see the actual lights, it's too much of an assumption to make that they were there specifically for closing the ramp and filming. There are hundreds of police cars patrolling on any given night going about their duties.]
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When Chevy Chase enters the hotel bar, the sounds of a full band can be heard, with bass and drums. But the only musician in the room is the piano player. You can tell because they cut to different shots of him and he is most definitely alone. Also, the audio track is a very complicated piano riff in the right hand but when the pianist's hand is shown he's playing a much slower song than the one heard. [Lots of pianists in hotel bars use a stereo (nowadays they often use MP3 stereos) for background tracks and sometimes vocals.]
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When driving in Arizona, in the storm, you can see that 3 of the 8 headlights are on, 2 on the left, and 1 on the right. But, the next scene, only 2 are on, 1 on the left, 1 on the right. [Due to the rough condition of the car, it's not inconceivable that another headlight burned out.]
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Whenever the airbag deploys in the car, the material used seems to be thin plastic and looks remarkably like a bin liner. Airbag material appears much thicker with a woven texture. [This was deliberate, to show what a P.O.S the car was.]
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In the scene in Kansas, where the Griswolds are first meeting Cousin Eddie's family, he introduces them to Daisy Mabel, who was born without a tongue. Only thing is, right before he introduces her, you can see her looking at Clark and sticking her tongue out at him and rolling it around her mouth. [When Eddie says she was "born without a tongue," he means she can't speak, not that she literally doesn't have a tongue. (It's like using the word "dumb" as an un-PC way to say "can't speak." It's not meant to imply that the person is unintelligent.)]
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When the Griswolds are only ten hours away from Wally World, Ellen, Audrey and Rusty all vote that the Holiday has been a disaster and they should turn around and go home. But since they have virtually no money, how would they pay for gas and accommodation on the return trip? [Ellen later says something like,"We can wire my parents for the money and forget this vacation ever happened." ]
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When Clark tied the dog to the bumper and forgot about it, the leash was on the right side, but when he got picked up by the officer for killing it, the leash was on the left side. [The leash IS tied to the left (driver's side) bumper. The dog does make a break for it under the right side of the rear bumper though, only to be stopped short by the leash.]
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When the car crashes in Monument Valley after going off the cliff, all the luggage that was on the roof is now on the ground. The impact should have thrown it all forward, yet there are suitcases beside and to the rear of the car. [Depending on the luggage restraint's strength and elasticity (and the timing of the restraint failure), the luggage could be thrown everywhere. Unrestrained, you could expect all the luggage to be thrown forward.]
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In the beginning when they are about to leave for their vacation, they show the car from inside the garage with no suitcases. The next time they show the car there are suitcases on the top of the car. [At least on the DVD, there is no view of the car inside the garage without the suitcases loaded on the roof rack.]
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In the "edited for television" version, during the visit to Cousin Eddie's, all references to pot smoking, which Audrey recently had discovered, were omitted.   This makes for some curious unexplained occurrences later on, like when the kids are getting in the car as the family leaves, Audrey has sunglasses on and is clearly coming off a serious bake, or later on, when pulled over by the cops (when Clark tied the dog to the bumper), Audrey asks aunt Edna to hold her purse.  This is clearly because she thinks she may be busted for the pot in her purse, so she plays sick and gives aunt Edna the purse.  None of this makes sense in the TV version because we never learn of Audrey's earlier reefer discoveries. [This isn't a movie mistake. Just lousy editing by TV censors.]
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In the scene where the Grizwolds get lost, then crash the car, the location where they get lost is in Monument Valley. I have been to Monument Valley many times. There is only 1 road going in, and 1 road going out. impossible for anyone to get lost there. [I believe the gag is that Clark made a wrong turn onto the road that he crashes on. It doesn't matter if it is the only road in or out of the area he is in if he thinks he's on a different road than what he is actually on.]
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When Clark and his wife are standing in front of what is supposed to be the Grand Canyon, you can tell that it is just a matte painting. Not only are none of the scenery or clouds moving, but their shadows are cast on the entire painting when they walk away from it. [This is not true, In the 20 anniversary DVD "special features", the actors tell us this is shot on location at the North Rim of the Grand Canyon.]
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The whole point of the film is to get to Wally World and enjoy the rides. When they get on the roller coaster, John Candy and Rusty are in the first car, and Chevy Chase is in the second car. Look at Chevy's facial expression during the ride-he is not happy. [Of course he isn't happy...he's getting sick from the ride. Obviously he hadn't expected the Roller Coaster to be so nauseating.]
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