Triple Feature: Planes, Trains, And Automobiles / National Lampoon's Vacation / National Lampoon's European Vacation [Blu-ray]

What a bargain!! Two comedies that defined the 80's genre with one 'should have been nominated for an Oscar' performance by John Candy, undoubtedly the best of his too short career, and one with Chevy Chase being contained and directed by Harold Ramis to a peerless comedic performance himself.First up John Hughes' Planes, Trains And Automobiles the ultimate trip home holiday movie that features Steve Martin trying to get home from New York to Chicago for a Thanksgiving dinner while encountering Del Griffith (John Candy) who becomes an unwanted albatross about his neck as things go from bad to worse to unbelievably rotten on the road trip from hell. A simple premise of diminishing returns based on Murphy's Law which in any other director's hands would have been trite and dull as dirt, but with a script that sparkles and the unerring direction of Hughes our two protagonists take us on an eye opening examination of ourselves that still finds hilarity at every turn. This is the performance of a lifetime for John Candy and in anyone else's hands Del Griffith would have been just too darn annoying to keep an audience from hating him quickly, but with that big open face and deft reactions that run the gamut, he keeps the humanity of Del right on his sleeve for us all to see and appreciate even if an increasingly impatient and frustrated Martin doesn't. There is an unforeseen twist at the end that you won't see coming and brings a fitting end to this paean to modern life. Just goes to prove that when we lost Hughes we lost one of the giants of movie making who saw we fellow humans as we are and was able to transfer that insight into remarkable comedies that will stand the test of time. This movie alone is worth the price of the collection. Trust Me.But! There's more gold in them thar hills!!Next up and preceeding Planes & Trains by four years was the surprise hit of 1983 National Lampoon's Vacation starring Chevy Chase and directed by Harold Ramis. National Lampoon has certainly had it's checkered history but starting with Animal House in 1978 and picking back up the torch here in 1983 with Vacation they have given us some of the funniest films around. With the perfect supporting cast including the two kids (Anthony Michael Hall for one) and comedy legend Imogene Coca as the grandmother, not to mention Randy Quaid before he went all X-Files on us, you'll have a grand old time getting to Walley World (no not Walmart). The Griswald's vacation sucks you in like a tornado and deposits you atop a heap of laughs. I still remember Christie Brinkley in this and you won't soon forget her either. Easily worth the price of the collection too!!!But let's not stop there!How about a sequel that generates about 85% of the fun of the original. Falling 15% short makes it good on its own merits and National Lampoon's European Vacation featuring the Griswald clan in Europe is almost as funny as the original with the cast back for more mayhem. The price of the collection is about the most I'd pay for this one in Blu-Ray alone and I'd still be checking the bargain bin to see if I could save a couple of extra bucks, but I wouldn't throw it away!To sum up here. Three funny films with two of them making the purchase price a real bargain. You can't go wrong. Planes & Trains has a 5.1 sound track...the other two are mono but pure on Blu-ray...the picture quality is well worth the upgrade to Blu as well. So grab yourself some fun here at an outrageously low price!!

All three of these comedy classics have always been re-watchable, but have jumped a few notches by finally being available in blu-ray. The writing, directing and acting in Planes and of Vacation still hold their own. European Vacation still feels like a rushed out sequel, sort of like Vegas Vacation.

Two of my favorite films... and IDOlive in Europe, so, I'll suffer through the third.Oh! Speaking of EUROPE, my wife was VERY pleased to find that there is aGERMANsound-track for both "NAT'L LAMPOON'S VACATION" and, " ' EUROPEAN VACATION.Speaking of soundtracks, the first film is the only one [of the three] thatdoes NOT have a flat-mono soundtrack.Worth your time, and, bucks!

I thought something was wrong with the 2 vacation movies - they are actually in MONO. Who on earth made a blu ray with mono? Might as well have put them in black and white. Planes is in 5.1 stereo but what a mistake.

Wonderful Bluray for the price. All of these movies are in my top 20 list. There is adequate bonus material and the video quality is not some cheap telecine ripp off. These are remastered for Blu-ray, so you're getting top notch video quality. Perfect for any of you who are fans of the National Lampoons franchise, SCTV and of course, 80's Canadian actors !!

Great pack with 3 great movies from the 80s.The package has the same size as a normal Bluray, containing 3 disc, each contains the same as the individual release of each movie, including the anniversary edition of National Lampoon's Vacation.The languages and extras are the same as individual release.Great for anyone who wants to have these classics from the 80s.

Funny older movies, worth the money.

for three movies in one package

I have to say this a very good John Hughes Triple Feature (He wrote all three films). The Picture quality on all 3 films is amazingly sharp (with very little or noticeable grain, with some older titles rereleased on BluRay you can still see grain but not so much here) Also Planes Trains & Automobiles comes with 5.1 Surround soundtrack while the two National Lampoon Vacation movies come in Mono but still. The Extras for the films are the same as their DVD counterparts with New HD exclusive John Hughes: Life moves pretty fast and National Lampoons Vacation comes in 30th Anniversary Edition (Exclusive on Bluray with the edition of new 94 min documentary on the film). The Breakdown as follows.Planes Trains & AutomobilesAs mentioned as with all 3 films in this set, this is a really good transfer of the film, with very little or no noticeable grain, and nice 5.1 Soundtrack. The Extras are the same as the Region 1 DVD "Those aren't pillows edition" presented in SD Getting there is half the fun: The Story of Planes Trains and Automobiles (17 mins), John Hughes for Adults (4 mins), A Tribute to John Candy (3 Mins) & Deleted Scene: Airplane Food (3 mins). While these are largely forgettable extras it is really the new HD Exclusive John Hughes: Life Moves Pretty Fast (54 mins) which stands out. Broken down into 2 sections John Hughes: Voice of a Generation & Heartbreak & Triumph The Legacy Of John Hughes it features retrospective interviews aswell as new ones with Matty Simmons, Alan Ruck, Lea Thompson & Matthew Broderick. Being a Paramount release this doc solely focuses on his Paramount titles, though there is a brief mention of the first vacation title.National Lampoon's Vacation 30th AnniversaryThis title although in Mono soundtrack is still very good, picture is nicely cleaned up and as before very little in way of grain. This has the same extras found on the individual US Bluray release. There is the Griswold Commentary track (taken from the 20th Anniversary DVD) Aswell as Trailer & Introduction by Chevy Chase, Randy Quaid and Matty Simmons (also from 20th Anniversary) but instead of the Family Truckster featurette from that release there is a new 94 minute Documentary Inside Vacation which features new interviews with the stars aswell as supporting players including Christine Brinkley who played Girl in Red Ferrari.National Lampoons European VacationThis title is also nicely scrubbed up and also with Mono soundtrack. While the weakest of the 3 still very enjoyable and is the only one to feature no new extras just the solo Chevy Chase Commentary from 2003 release.All in all a very good triple feature.