{"id":10559,"date":"2015-11-04T15:17:00","date_gmt":"2015-11-04T23:17:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/moviemansguide.com\/main\/?p=10559"},"modified":"2015-11-04T15:17:30","modified_gmt":"2015-11-04T23:17:30","slug":"review-vacation2015-bd","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/moviemansguide.com\/main\/2015\/11\/review-vacation2015-bd\/","title":{"rendered":"Review: Vacation (2015) BD + Screen Caps"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Vacation<\/em><\/strong> might turn some off and the certainly the humor is off-color but for myself, it managed to surpass my exceptionally low expectations where I did manage to laugh more than a few times and tolerated characters who might annoy others. That said, this isn\u2019t a good<\/em> movie per se but a passable one that I probably would put on the same level as European Vacation<\/em> and Vegas Vacation<\/em>.<\/p>\n

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Vacation<\/span>
\n(2015)<\/strong><\/p>\n


\nREVIEW NAVIGATION<\/strong><\/span>
\nThe Movie<\/a> | Special Features<\/a> | Video Quality<\/a> | Audio Quality<\/a> | Overall<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Genre(s): <\/strong>Comedy, Adventure
\nWarner Bros. | R \u2013 99 min. \u2013 $44.95 | November 3, 2015<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/td>\n <\/b>MOVIE INFO:
\n<\/u>Directed by: <\/strong>Jonathan Goldstein & John Francis Daley
\nWriter(s): <\/strong>Jonathan Goldstein & John Francis Daley (written by)
\nCast: <\/strong>Ed Helms, Christina Applegate, Skyler Gisondo, Steele Stebbins, Leslie Mann, Beverly D\u2019Angelo, Chris Hemsworth, Chevy Chase, Catherine Missal, Charlie Day, Ron Livingston, Keegan-Michael Key, Regina Hall<\/p>\n

DISC INFO:
\n<\/u>Features: <\/strong>Featurettes, Deleted Scenes, Gag Reel, DVD Copy
\nDigital Copy: <\/strong>Yes
\nNumber of Discs: <\/strong>2<\/p>\n

Audio: <\/strong>English (DTS-HD MA 5.1), French (Dolby Digital 5.1), Spanish (Dolby Digital 5.1)
\nVideo: <\/strong>1080p\/Widescreen 2.40)
\nSubtitles: <\/strong>English SDH, French, Spanish
\nDisc Size: <\/strong>31.4 GB
\nCodec: <\/strong>MPEG-4 AVC
\nRegion(s): <\/strong>A, B, C<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n


\n** Click Here to Purchase Vacation<\/em> on Blu-ray from Amazon.com<\/a><\/strong> **<\/p>\n

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THE MOVIE<\/strong> \u2013 3.0\/5<\/strong><\/h2>\n

And the trend of remakes continues tackling what might be a sacred cow (or steer) of a franchise though I\u2019d argue that line was already crossed with Christmas Vacation 2<\/em> and to some extent Vegas Vacation<\/em> which was vastly watered down courtesy of its PG rating. As such, and speaking as someone who didn\u2019t even think European Vacation<\/em> was awful (so take that for what you will), I didn\u2019t think this latest incarnation of Vacation<\/em><\/strong> was that bad. That being said, this isn\u2019t a classic-in-waiting but it was an OK time-waster and I did manage to laugh a few times.<\/p>\n

The story this go around basically matches the original: Rusty Griswold (ED HELMS) is all grown up, a pilot for a bargain airline and has a family of his own with a gorgeous wife, Debbie (CHRISTINA APPLEGATE) and two sons, James (SKYLER GISONDO) and Kevin (STEELE STEBBINS), and is just as a family man as his father.<\/p>\n

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Every summer the Griswolds would visit a cabin much to the chagrin of his wife so he decides to change things up and revisit his own childhood trip, taking a car (Tartan Prancer) \u2014 from Albania \u2014 to California and Walley World. Along their journey they cross paths with a variety of characters from a seemingly vengeful trucker (NORMAN REEDUS of \u201cThe Walking Dead\u201d fame) their young son accused of being a rapist (over a CB equipped in their car), a heartbroken river guide (CHARLIE DAY), Rusty\u2019s sister, Audrey (LESLIE MANN) and her hunk of a husband, Stone Crandall (CHRIS HEMSWORTH), who has attributes Debbie admires. They also make a pit stop at Debbie\u2019s old college and sorority in order to get the obligatory hot chicks and cleavage.<\/p>\n

Vacation<\/em><\/strong> is no doubt not a great film. The humor tends to be low-brow and even borderline offensive but as I recall, albeit it\u2019s been a few years since I last saw the original in full, it too had its offensive scenes. I think in spirit this reboot, or whatever you want to call it, is akin to the series just updated to today\u2019s style of humor, and in this case it is over stylized and way over-the-top, which will turn off many people. For myself, I actually laughed more than a few times and even when the humor was off, I never felt bored; it\u2019s a time waster of a film but I can\u2019t say I hated it.<\/p>\n

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The characters were mostly well cast even Ed Helms, whom I\u2019ve never been a big fan of and could only take in small doses even on \u201cThe Office\u201d but his Rusty is perfectly fine though inconsistent as he\u2019s a bigger bumbler, and idiot, compared with what we\u2019ve seen before but that\u2019s more on the writing than with Helms\u2019 performance. The rest were fine, Christina Applegate had some good scenes and is in top form in so many ways and the kids were at least tolerable though the younger one can get on ones nerves.<\/p>\n

Vacation <\/em>(2015)<\/strong> was helmed by the duo of Jonathan Goldstein & John Francis Daley who had worked on a variety of projects, at some level, like Horrible Bosses 2<\/em> (story writers), The Incredible Burt Wonderstone<\/em> and have the Spider-Man<\/em> reboot in the works (as writers). I know Daley from the series \u201cBones\u201d but his, and Goldstein\u2019s, writing credits aren\u2019t terribly impressive though I enjoyed portions of Wonderstone<\/em> and some of the jokes here, albeit not always landing, attempts to keep the same spirit of the previous movies, especially with the forced heart-felt \u201cmessage\u201d (such as it is) at the core, however I might be alone in that thinking.<\/p>\n

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SPECIAL FEATURES \u2013 2.5\/5<\/strong><\/h2>\n

This release comes with a matted slip cover<\/strong>. Inside contains the DVD Copy<\/u><\/strong> and redemption code for the Digital HD<\/u><\/strong> copy.<\/p>\n

Return to Walley World (9:54; HD)<\/u><\/strong> \u2013 This is a basic overview of the Vacation<\/em> reboot with on-set interviews with the cast (Helms, Applegate, Chase, D\u2019Angelo, etc.) and crew (Goldstein, Daley) set against scenes from the movie and behind-the-scenes footage.<\/p>\n

The Griswold Odyssey (18:23; HD)<\/u><\/strong> breaks down the trip from Illinois to California and a look at the Tartan Prancer.<\/p>\n

Gag Reel (1:32; HD)<\/u><\/strong> contains the usual flubbed lines and on-set antics.<\/p>\n

Deleted Scenes (12:32; HD)<\/u><\/strong> has a few scenes removed for one reason or another, probable due to pacing, though there was one funny line by Keegan-Michael Key about he and his family loving Grown Ups 2<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Georgia (2:02; HD)<\/u><\/strong> is about filming in Georgia for budgetary reasons.<\/p>\n

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VIDEO \u2013 4.5\/5<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Warner Home Video releases Vacation<\/em><\/strong> presented in its original theatrical 2.40 widescreen aspect ratio and a 1080p high-definition transfer. As a comedy the movie shows off brilliantly bright colors throughout and has sharp detail from both close-up and distant shots. It\u2019s a clean transfer with no major instances of aliasing, artifacts and pixilation.
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AUDIO \u2013 4.0\/5<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The movie comes with a standard but effective DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track which provides for clear dialogue levels and a moderate amount of depth though this is strictly comedy so there\u2019s not much to judge outside of the few action-esque scenes though the generic score does make some usage of the rear channels.<\/p>\n

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OVERALL \u2013 3.0\/5<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Overall, Vacation<\/em><\/strong> might turn some off and the certainly the humor is off-color but for myself, it managed to surpass my exceptionally low expectations where I did manage to laugh more than a few times and tolerated characters who might annoy others. That said, this isn\u2019t a good<\/em> movie per se but a passable one that I probably would put on the same level as European Vacation<\/em> and Vegas Vacation<\/em>. Take that for what you will.<\/p>\n

As for the Blu-ray, it\u2019s a rather basic release for Warner Home Video with thin bonus material but good video\/audio transfers.<\/p>\n

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Brian Oliver a.k.a. The Movieman
\n<\/em>Published: <\/strong>11\/04\/2015<\/p>\n

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Check out some more screen caps by going to page 2. Please note, these do contain spoilers<\/strong>.
\nThese are only here to give an idea of the movie\u2019s video quality and may not be truly representative of it.<\/p>\n