DVD Review HTF REVIEW: National Lampoon's Vacation - 20th Anniversary SE. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED. (1 Viewer)

[TonyD]

vegas vacation was not national lampoon, i don't know why.


dana often has to force her way in on the commentary track. she gets cut off alot.

chevy says he has a tape of the moviue with the origional ending. i would have loved to see that as a sup.

the funniest part of the commentary for me was hearing them talk about riding the coasters over and over for the retakes and angles.

 

[oscar_merkx]

thanks for the review and waiting for my copy to arrive

 

[Rob-B]

Sadly, I have a copy of both the fullscreen and "widescreen" version, and the "widescreen" is merely a cropped fullscreen version. Comparing them side by side on computer and television, there was no more information L/R and a loss of top and bottom on the new 20th Anniversary Edition. Buyer beware.

 

[Carlo_M]

Rob, this is what is called an open-matte transfer. The original negative is 1.33 and is matted for theatrical release at 1.85 (WB probably transfers it at 1.78). But this doesn't mean you are missing information on the top and bottom, you are simply not seeing what was not seen in a theater.

Pan and scan is one method of making a 1.85 film display on a 1.33 screen. Open matting (assuming it was shot with the appropriate camera) is another.

Either way, this new edition should be the OAR, and that is what we are after.

 

[Carlo_M]

Here's a much better place to explain aspect ratios .

Scroll down to the very bottom of the page where they explain Open Matte (you may want to read the Super35 section right above it because they reference Super35 in the explanation of open matte).

Edit: Another place that explains mattes.

And one more edit for good measure: Taken from our very own HTF primer thread!
In case it doesn't automatically pop you down to the appropriate post, it's towards the bottom of the page, just do a "find" in your web browser and type the words "open matte" or scroll down to the bottom of the page until you see the Air Force one screen cap with Harrison Ford and Gary Oldman.

 

[jonathan_govols]

Well I can tell you I was floored by this new transfer. Sometimes it looked every bit as good as any transfer I've seen. Now I wasn't looking for grain or scratches so they might be there but the color and clearness really wow'ed me. So yes "Buyer Beware" make sure you are not getting the full frame, crappy looking transfer. I swear I didn't care if there were many Special Features or not (there aren't many) after seeing the transfer. I'm just hoping Christmas Vacation and the new Scarface DVD's look this good.

 

[Rob-B]

I guess I'm so used to the old video version that I didn't realize the original was shot in 1.33 and matted for the theater. I understand open-matting and Super35 (an example DVD would be "The Opposite of Sex"), but thought that was a newer thing. Sadly, I realized there was something different during Beverly D'Angelo's nude scene, where I was thinking, hey, she used to be more, um, nude, and then checked the 1.33 version.

 

[Carlo_M]

Rob, not that I would KNOW about such things...

But the widescreen DVD version of An American Werewolf in Paris has less...um...Julie Delpy than the VHS version. :frowning:

Sadly, there are sometimes losses that make me wish on very, very rare occasions, that the 1.33 version were on the other side of an OAR disc...just for comparison's sake of course...

 

[ArmandV]

I first saw National Lampoon's Vacation the day after I returned from several days of "road-tripping" around Arizona (Grand Canyon, Monument Valley), Colorado (Durango) and Utah (Zion National Park). I was definitely up for that movie. It's hard to believe it's been 20 years! Yeesh!

 

[Bryan X]

I went to pick up the Vacation disc this morning at Wal-Mart and they haven't even received it!

 

[Sven Lorenz]

I wonder how this transfer compares to the R2 one (which is anamorphic widescreen too), which was/is almost reference quality. Hopefully DVDBeaver can make a comparison.

The R1 is a bit sharper and has better colours.
The R2 was really good but it looked a little bit dull - especially compared to the great colours on the new R1.

 

[streeter]

I just watched it with the commentary. At the end, they talk alot about the original ending and Chevy mentions that he still has the tape with the original ending. Such a shame that they didn't include it.
Otherwise, it's a good disc, although the way in which the interviews were presented looked like a hack job. Instead of the interactive truckster, they should have just done a 10-minute featurette, or broken it up into parts and just listed them. The clips from the movie that were found in the truckster were pointless. I've noticed sloppily put together featurettes on Artisan (Reservoir Dogs) and MGM (Valley Girl) discs, but I think this is a first for Warner Brothers. With that said, WB, let me know if you're hiring...

 

[Bryan X]

Damn. Where the hell is this disc. I've gone to two different Wal-Marts and a Meijer and none of them have received it!

Unfortunately there's no Best Buy or such near me.

 

[Ron Reda]

Bryan X,

According to the Best Buy I visited today, it's been pushed back until next week (8/26) although on-line retailers such as DVD Empire have it in stock. I'm just as disappointed as you are.

 

[DanC]

Guys,

I had a little trouble picking up a copy this morning as well. Went to Circuit City first only to be told they didn't any copies in yet. So I headed over to Best Buy to once again find zero copies on the new release shelf. I was finally able to find an employee who went in the back where they had 50 copies.

So I think they're in some stores but the whole situation gets a little wierder now that I'm hearing other horror stories. Oh well, just glad I was able to get a copy...I know that doesn't help you though!

 

[jonathan_govols]

Well I preordered it from Deep Discount DVD and I got mine Monday (Aug 18). So I wonder what's happened?

 

[WillG]

I got it a circuit city, but they didn't stock them on the new release rack. I had to go to the comedy section to find it

 

[ChrisBEA]

My local BB has a lot of them, I was thinking about picking it up, but I may just wait for the Vacation box coming in October....

 

[Xenia Stathakopoulou]

As far as the transfer goes, ive never seen this movie look better , 10x better looking picture and color than the old barebones dvd. Also the audio , hard to believe its mono ! At times i swore it was 5.1 sound,best mono ever in my opinion. I havent watched the commentary yet, but the featurette was way too short, or whatever it was called.

 

[Ryan Wishton]

I really want this movie... But, I think I am going to hold off awhile longer... I have every intention on getting the box set anyways...