During the holiday season many of us enjoy sitting down and watching our favourite Christmas films like It’s a Wonderful Life or modern classics like Home Alone. While there has been much debate online as to whether the 80s action classic Die Hard is a Christmas film simply because it takes place during the holiday season, there are lots of other films that also happen to be set during this period.
This week, we take a look at five other “Christmas” films.
Gremlins (1984)
Starring Zach Galligan, Phoebe Cates, and Hoyt Axton. Directed by Joe Dante.
A boy receives a strange pet for Christmas. He is instructed to follow three strict rules — to not let the creature get wet, not to feed it after midnight, and to avoid bright light. That falls apart quickly and soon the entire town is overrun with nasty, malevolent creatures.
The film takes place during the holidays, but there is not much Christmas spirit present. Of note, we find out that Kate hates Christmas because when she was nine her father died when he tried to come down the chimney dressed as Santa Claus. He slipped and broke his neck. Oh, and the family dog gets hung up by Christmas lights. Merry Christmas!
It’s surprisingly violent, given the Spielberg connection (he produced it) and the cute, cuddly, and marketing-friendly nature of Gizmo, but it is technically a Christmas film. Sort of.
Edward Scissorhands (1990)
Starring Johnny Depp, Winona Ryder, Dianne Wiest, and Anthony Michael Hall. Directed by Tim Burton.
A young man with scissors for hands is created by a scientist. The scientists later dies, however, and his creation is left alone in a large, empty house. He is later discovered by a local Avon representative who takes him into her home. Eventually, Edward becomes a part of the family, although the rest of the neighbourhood soon turns on him.
While not technically a Christmas film, the final act of the film takes place during the holiday season and involves a Christmas party. There is also the memorable scene where Edward carves an ice sculpture, creating falling “snow” for Kim to enjoy. Overall, the film is about family and acceptance, which seems apropos of any good Christmas flick (e.g. Will Ferrell’s Elf).
Batman Returns (1992)
Starring Michael Keaton, Danny DeVito, Michelle Pfeiffer, and Christopher Walken. Directed by Tim Burton.
Burton shows up again on this list with the sequel to his 1989 Batman film. This time, the Caped Crusader (Keaton) has to deal with The Penguin (DeVito), Catwoman (Pfeiffer), and evil businessman Max Shreck (Christopher Walken). Because this is yet another comic book film bogged down by too many villains — which later plagued Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man 3 — it is easy to forget that the entire movie is set against the backdrop of Christmas. In fact, there is a scene about lighting of Gotham’s Christmas tree, another where a gang of bad guys burst out of a giant gift box, and one involving Batman, Catwoman, and mistletoe. It’s more subversive or satirical rather than a straight Christmas film though.
Of course, being a Burton film, there is a sense of…weirdness. That is, of course, unless you find large rubber ducky boats, a rogue circus gang, and penguins armed with missile-launching backpacks to be perfectly normal. I haven’t even mentioned the orphaned child who was dumped in the sewer and then returns years later with a scheme that involves a mayoral election.
Personally, I will always prefer Adam West’s Batman.
Just Friends (2005)
Starring Ryan Reynolds, Amy Smart, Anna Faris, and Chris Klein. Directed by Roger Kumble.
Chris Brander (Reynolds) visits his hometown for Christmas, only to run into his high school crush (Smart), who was only interested in him as a friend years ago.
What makes this film notable for us is that parts of it were filmed in Moose Jaw. It maybe doesn’t hold up as well as you would like, but there are some genuine laughs here, thanks to the comedic timing of Reynolds and supporting stars like Faris. It is also a lot of fun pointing out Moose Jaw landmarks as you watch.
Iron Man 3 (2013)
Starring Robert Downey Jr., Guy Pearce, Gwyneth Paltrow, Don Cheadle, Rebecca Hall, and Ben Kingsley. Directed by Shane Black.
The Marvel Cinematic Universe has played around with a lot of film genres (Ant-Man is a heist film, Spider-Man: Homecoming is a high school flick, Thor: The Dark World is a garbage movie, etc.), so it seems only fitting to stuff a Christmas film into the usual superhero fare.
While most people tend to remember this film for how the MCU badly mishandled the portrayal of one of Iron Man’s most notorious villains, The Mandarin, it does indeed take place during Christmas.
Tony Stark gets a little too careless and things end up blowing up in his face. Eventually, he rights the ship and has to save the day once again. This time, however, it ends with Tony decided that there is more to life than being Iron Man, and he opts to drop the super suit all together so he can be with his true love, Pepper Potts. Naturally, that whole “I won’t be Iron Man anymore” thing doesn’t last, but his relationship with Pepper does.
Paltrow probably doesn’t remember filming it, but she’s probably too busy shilling expensive junk anyway.
The film was written and directed by Shane Black, who also wrote two of the films listed below.
Others:
- The Apartment (1960). Starring Jack Lemmon, Shirley MacLaine, and Fred MacMurray. Directed by Billy Wilder.
- Trading Places (1983). Starring Eddie Murphy and Dan Akroyd. Directed by John Landis.
- Rocky IV (1985). Starring Sylvester Stallone, Dolph Lundgren, Carl Weathers, and Talia Shire. Directed by Sylvester Stallone.
- Lethal Weapon (1987). Starring Mel Gibson, Danny Glover, and Gary Busey. Directed by Richard Donner.
- L.A. Confidential (1997). Starring Kevin Spacey, Russell Crowe, Guy Pearce, and Kim Bassinger. Directed by Curtis Hanson.
- You’ve Got Mail (1998). Starring Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan. Directed by Nora Ephron.
- Eyes Wide Shut (1999). Starring Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman. Directed by Stanley Kubrick.
- Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang (2005). Starring Robert Downey Jr., Val Kilmer, and Michelle Monaghan. Directed by Shane Black.
The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the position of this publication.
