The film opened at #4 at the box office and grossed over $36.4 million domestically.[1]Vegas Vacation is the first theatrical Vacation film not to carry the National Lampoon label or a screenwriting credit from John Hughes. Also, this is the final film released before National Lampoon magazine folded. This was also the last Vacation movie to be released until New Line Cinema, a production company of Warner Bros., produced a reboot that was released 18 years later in 2015.
Plot
After the food preservative that keeps perishable items fresh for years which he helped make has been approved, Clark Griswold earns the bonus promised to him in the previous film from Frank Shirley. He announces to his family that he is taking them on vacation to celebrate and renew wedding vows with his wife Ellen. Excitement wanes, however, when Clark says they are headed to Las Vegas. Ellen and teenage daughter, Audrey, have their doubts, as Las Vegas is not known for its family-friendly atmosphere, while teenage son Rusty appears to be more enthusiastic.
Upon arriving in Vegas, the Griswolds attend a Siegfried & Roy show, and they also visit Cousin Eddie, the husband of Ellen's cousin Catherine. Eddie and his family now live in the desert north of Las Vegas, on what used to be a hydrogen-bomb test site. While on a group tour of the Hoover Dam led by guide Arty, Clark becomes separated from the group after accidentally creating a leak in the dam's interior walkways and is forced to climb the scaffolding to the top of the dam to get out. The next night, they are surprised to find that tickets to a Wayne Newton concert have been delivered to their hotel room, along with a dress for Ellen. They go to the concert, only to realize that Newton sent the dress. While singing, he brings Ellen on stage to sing with him and visits their table.
The next day, the family agrees to an "alone day" and are left to their own devices. Clark goes to a casino and becomes addicted to gambling. Rusty buys a fake ID from a Frank Sinatra look-alike and becomes a winning high roller. Audrey starts hanging out with Eddie's free-spirited exotic dancer daughter Vicki and her friends. Ellen spends time with Wayne Newton, who has feelings for her.
Clark gambles away the family's $22,600 bank account, leading a furious Ellen and the kids to desert him. Rusty wins four cars from four separate slot machines, while Audrey goes to a strip club with Vicki and gets a job as a go-go dancer. Eddie — who has money buried in his front yard — tries to come to Clark's rescue in return for everything the Griswolds have done for him and his family. Clark and Eddie go to a casino to get their money back, but Clark gambles away Eddie's money too. He then realizes he no longer cares about getting his money back but needs to get his family back.
Clark gathers his family from around Vegas, and they gamble their last two dollars on a game of keno. They sit next to an elderly man who compliments Clark on his family and hints that he has been lonely all of his life. Out of sympathy, Clark tells the man to consider himself part of the Griswold family for the night. The man happily accepts Clark's offer, and both parties begin the game. At first, the Griswolds are optimistic, but as they realize they have lost, they sit together in silence. Suddenly, the man next to them named Mr. Ellis declares that he has won the game. In his burst of joy, he slips in and out of consciousness while Ellen sends Rusty for help. Mr. Ellis revives long enough to whisper a message to Clark. Confused, Clark tells Ellen that the man said "take the ticket" as Mr. Ellis winks to him. When the casino security guards and paramedics arrive, they declare Mr. Ellis dead. They tell the Griswolds that his name was Mr. Ellis and he would have given anything for a friend.
With their newfound winnings, Clark and Ellen renew their wedding vows in the presence of Eddie's family. Clark then gives Eddie $5,000 to repay his kindness. The Griswolds drive home in the four cars Rusty won on the slot machines: a red Dodge Viper, a maroon Ford Mustang, a black Hummer H1, and a white Ford Aspire.
Shae D'lyn as Vicki Johnson, the daughter of Catherine and Eddie who now works as a go-go dancer. She was previously portrayed by Jane Krakowski in the first film.
Juliette Brewer as Ruby Sue Johnson. She was portrayed by Ellen Hamilton Latzen in the previous film.
Zack Moyes as Denny Johnson, the son of Catherine and Eddie who has face piercings enough that his mouth has been closed by some of them
Vegas Vacation is the fourth film in the Vacation series. John Hughes wrote the first and third films, and received credit for the second, but had no involvement with Vegas Vacation. He had shown dissatisfaction with how the series had essentially turned into a star vehicle for Chevy Chase, and noted that Warner Bros. never told him about Vegas Vacation, only hearing about it by reading a trade magazine. When approached by disappointed fans, Hughes insisted that he "had nothing to do with it!"[2]Vegas Vacation was written by television film writer Elisa Bell and directed by Stephen Kessler, marking their feature film debuts.[3]
Before Las Vegas was chosen as a setting, Chase thought of an idea in which the Griswolds become stranded on an island, similar to the Swiss Family Robinson story.[4] A few months before filming started, it was reported that Vegas Vacation would involve the Griswolds staying at a fictional Wally World megaresort, named after the theme park in the original film.[5]Matty Simmons produced earlier films in the series, and was also attached to Vegas Vacation as a producer early on, before resigning: "I was at an impasse with one of the executives on the movie and we just couldn't agree on anything. I sat there for months and finally I said 'Here, go make the movie.'"[6] Chase had starred in several poorly received films in the years leading up to Vegas Vacation.[7] Kessler said of the film, "I really wanted to make it a return to the old Chevy Chase that I loved, but for various reasons, it didn't work," stating further that "there was too much studio involvement."[8]
Ethan Embry and Marisol Nichols became the fourth different set of actors to play the Griswold children, Audrey and Rusty. This fact is referenced early in the film when Clark Griswold comments that he hardly recognizes his children anymore.[9]Brittany Murphy was originally cast to play Audrey, but turned down the role. Nichols did not think she would be cast due to her Latina heritage and the fact that she had never acted in a film before. She auditioned repeatedly for three months before receiving the part.[10][11]
Filming
The film was primarily shot on location in Las Vegas,[12] where filming began on June 4, 1996.[13] Production was expected to last two and a half months there, with approximately 10 days of filming also planned for studios in southern California.[14]
Filming at Hoover Dam took place during the first month of shooting. One scene involved Chase's stunt double, John Robotham, swinging from a rope and slamming into the dam face. Film crews did several takes of the scene, which involved Robotham being attached to a series of ropes and bolts 637 feet above the dam's power plant.[15] Later that month, filming took place at Las Vegas' Chapel of the Bells, where the film's producer Jerry Weintraub and his wife Jane Morgan were married in the mid-1960s.[16] Weintraub also appears in the film as "Jilly from Philly".
Wayne Newton, who plays a fictionalized version of himself, requested a change to the script to help preserve his public image. Originally, Newton was to tell Ellen that he wants her to become a "Newton broad," to which she asks for clarification. According to Newton, "my answer to that was written in the script 'A nose job, a boob job and a butt job.' And then I was to walk over to a wall and pull a string and a curtain opens up and there are 200 women who have had those particular things done. And so I went to the director and said, 'Listen, this won't work. It's pushing the envelope'".[22]
Vegas Vacation was released to cinemas in the United States on February 14, 1997.[27] The film was later released on home video and to television.[28][29][30][31]
Critical response
Vegas Vacation received negative reviews. It has garnered a rating of 15% on Rotten Tomatoes based on 33 reviews. The critic consensus states, “The Vacation franchise hits rock-bottom in this corny and tepid trip to sinfully laugh-free city.”[32] According to review aggregation website Metacritic, which it was assigned a 20 out of 100 based on 10 reviews, the film received “generally unfavorable reviews.”[33] The film was nominated for The Sequel Nobody Was Clamoring For at the 1997 Stinkers Bad Movie Awards but lost to Free Willy 3: The Rescue.[34] Although Embry is well known for his role in the film, he said in 2015 "let's face it, it's a horrible movie. It's not anywhere as good as the first one or the Christmas one. Those were home runs!"[35]
