Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		0.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		2.0
Overall		3.0

Vacation 4K Blu-ray Movie Review

Don't ask and ye shall receive.

Reviewed by Randy Miller III October 24, 2024

WB continues their renewed commitment to catalog MOD 4K releases with 2015's Vacation, a sequel/reboot to the 1983 original that's co-directed by John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein, who would improve in later years with Game Night (another recent 4K title) and Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves. It's a watchable enough comedy whose only real flaw is literally and figuratively sticking to a familiar destination rather than trying something new.

For a synopsis of the main feature, please see Michael Reuben's 2015 review of WB's Blu-ray edition; if we're going by star ratings and nothing more, it's a disc that only stood out for its technical merits. And while I'll certainly agree that WB's newly-revitalized 2160p/HDR10 (Dolby Vision capable) transfer is still the best thing about this package, from my rating above it's obvious that I enjoyed Vacation at least a little more than Michael did. I'll admit that this is hardly a bulletproof comedy for several reasons: it has a particularly weak setup, whiffs several jokes, and sleepwalks through a few of the exact same narrative beats because it can, not necessarily because it should. However, I still think there's some enjoyment here; partly because I'm not exactly married to the 1983 original but, well, mostly because Vacation did indeed force a few audible guffaws out of yours truly. What can I say? Outside of horror, comedy might be the most subjective of genres... so if a movie makes me laugh on purpose, it's at least doing something right.

Vacation 4K Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

NOTE: These screenshots have been sourced from the 4K disc and down-converted to 1080p/SDR, which means that they should not be considered a 100% accurate depiction of the picture quality during playback.

Michael Reuben's review of the 2015 Blu-ray, linked above, gave Warner Bros.' transfer of Vacation very good marks in regards to fine detail, color, and bit rate, which hovered right around 30Mbps on that dual-layered disc. In contrast, the much newer 2160p/HDR10 (Dolby Vision capable) transfer on this dual-layered UHD disc, which presumably uses the exact same master, typically more than doubles the Blu-ray's average bit rate and is encoded with the more efficient HEVC codec; this means that it represents a natural progression as far as image quality goes and will obviously beat the Blu-ray in a side-by-side comparison. (Those not thrilled by my comparatively "identical" 4/5 video rating should remember that I typically grade discs on a proportional scale. of course.) Obvious improvements can be seen in its overall tighter amount of fine detail, more robust and precise color representation, and of course the increased level of depth stemming from both of these factors. It's of course worth noting that Vacation was originally finished at a 2K digital intermediate which means that this is an upscale rather than a true 4K presentation, but history has taught us that more juice can be squeezed out of almost any source material regardless of its native resolution. In all honesty, there's almost zero room for improvement here and, despite the argument that Vacation is "just a comedy", it does indeed look quite impressive in 4K and I'd imagine that die-hard fans will appreciate the upgrade.

Vacation 4K Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Warner Bros. again presents Vacation with the same DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio mix found on the Blu-ray; I'm not convinced that an Atmos remix would've added all that much, so it stands as a suitably crisp and active presentation that gets the job done. Please note that WB has not carried over the Blu-ray's French, Spanish, and Portuguese dubs and subtitles, equipping this 4K disc with only a lone optional set of English (SDH) subtitles during the film only. I know this is probably a cost-cutting measure, but it seems counter-intuitive considering that this format is region-free.

Vacation 4K Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

This one-disc MOD (pressed, not burnt) release ships in a standard keepcase with recycled cover artwork and no slipcover or Digital Copy are included. Fittingly, the lightweight but enjoyable assortment of Blu-ray bonus features described by Michael Reuben in his review of the 2015 Blu-ray have been carried over and are listed below.

• Return to Walley World (9:54)

• The Griswold Odyssey (18:23)

• Gag Reel (1:32)

• Deleted Scenes (12:13)

• Georgia (2:02)

Vacation 4K Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

John Francis Daley & Jonathan Goldstein's sequel/reboot of Vacation has a lot to live up to: it stands in the shadow of the 1983 original but doesn't consistently make the case for itself as a worthwhile branch of the Griswold family tree. That said, it's mostly well-cast and does indeed bring some funny ideas, exchanges, and situations to the table, not so much to make it an essential comedy but still one that works in the right mood. Warner Bros.' new 4K edition naturally advances upon their own 2015 Blu-ray in the video department, but all other aspects of this release are the same as before (save for the foreign audio and subtitle options). For this reason, it's only recommended to die-hard fans.