'Christmas Vacation' -- High-Def Digest review

[PeterB]

Woof:

http://hddvd.highdefdigest.com/christmasvacation.html

Santa wasn't kind to the Griswolds this year. Proabably the weakest yet from Warner. The source materials really need an upgrade -- this really offers little ot no value over the standard-def release.

[imdaly]

Aww. That's so disappointing.

I was really looking forward to picking this up. Looks like I'll be saving my money on this one.

Thank you for your reviews!

[DeSade]

Yeah, I love this movie. Shame it's quality is sub par.....

Guess it's another one I'll pick up used eventually.....

[resevilfan86]

the blu-ray version might be better *crosses fingers*

[The Bandit]

^

I'd imagine they come from the same master. There's no reason to think there will be any real-world difference between the 2 versions.

Christmas Vacation is one of those titles stuck in the doldrums; not classic enough to merit a real restoration and preservation effort, not new enough for pristine elements to be kicking around. Plus, given its genre and pedigree, I have to wonder if the movie ever looked good. Sometimes softness and color issues can simply be a result of lazy filmmaking; not a lot you can do to "fix" that in any home video format. I mean, you don't expect Sven Nykvist quality cinematography in a Chevy Chase flick.

[Aodh]

This is one of the examples of 'what not to do' in terms of HD transfers. If the source isn't good enough to justify being on a High Def DVD, then don't. New material easily transfers to HD without too much restorative work, but don't throw old titles on HD for the sake of being on HD.

[mischa316]

How did the scene with the lights look? As long as that looks good I"ll be happy.
Thanks Mischa.

[Tejstar]

Well at least it still improves on the SD-DVD. However, in saying that I certainly won't be picking it up anyway!

[shawnmos]

I just got it. It doesn't look THAT bad. Definitely an improvement over the DVD. There is a lot more detail, however you can tell they made no effort to fix this up at all.

[pjarvi]

Once you get passed the opening (driving out to cut-down a Christmas tree), you start to ignore the terrible transfer and enjoy the movie. Unfortunately, that particular opening scene is atrocious. The physical film seems to be sliding left-to-right constantly, and there's tons of grime. It's like they pulled it off a dusty shelf, loaded it up on the oldest equipment they had, and ran it unattended without checking the condition of it first. (reminds me of a recent theater experience, sadly)

[Patsfan123]

Funny, I watched this tonight as a friend wanted to see it again. I never watched the movie all the way through and I thought it was a fairly good transfer. Sure it didn't blow my socks off but I found it to be very enjoyable with grain kept in check. The best presentation I have ever seen of this movie.

[docmanjay2]

the pq is ok...its just not the remaster this classic deserves!!!!