National Lampoon's Vacation 4K UHD Review (Patreon)

Video

Beautifully restored, Warner's encode handles the grain structure cleanly, allowing the detail, sharpness, and resolution to shine. In close, the texture flourishes. Facial definition bests the Blu-ray. Precision is natural and crisp. Vacation isn't the greatest looker on the format, but it's organic.

Gains made to color enhance flesh tones, especially warm, but never egregiously so. The best material happens during the wide angle establishing shots, where the brilliant earth tones and rich greenery shimmer. As a pictorial road trip (as intended), Vacation's scenery is worth the upgrade alone.

Standard HDR adds pop, whether that's sun leaping from the "beautiful" pea green station wagon, or many of the monuments the Griswold's pass. At night, car lights shine, and black levels drop to their deepest points, occasionally crushing.

Audio

A rather typical DTS-HD mono track isn't anything in terms of spectacle, but it functions well enough. The classic opening theme sports enough range to give it depth. Dialog varies in fidelity, but generally sustains the same clarity throughout.