Top 11 Christmas Movies
- CJ Tiernan
- Dec 18, 2025
- 9 min read
By CJ Tiernan
Christmas is the most wonderful time of the year. If you're in the midwest like me, you experience cold, snowy days imploring you to while away your hours indoors by the fire with a mug of cocoa in hand watching Christmas movies. Nearly every Christmas movie has its foundation built from Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol. One of the main characters has a change of heart at the end and discovers the true meaning of Christmas and basic human decency. My dad likes to just turn to everyone when the change of heart moment happens and say "Dickens." Below is a list of my Top 11 Christmas Movies of all time (with a couple extras thrown in to placate controversy).
1a. Die Hard (1988)
This is my list and I believe that this movie is a Christmas movie. Arguments against this stance are basically constructed with two facts. 1) There is no Dickens-esque turn of a character going from bad to good (Spoiler Alert: the bad guy gets his comeuppance). 2) The movie was released in July as an action movie. That's really it. I feel that Die Hard is a Christmas movie because it takes place ENTIRELY during Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Furthermore, Christmas is essential to the plot, as the only reason the people in the building who are taken hostage are there so late in the evening is due to an office Christmas party. References like "ho ho ho. Now I have a machine gun" are not necessarily damning evidence but still a feather in the cap (if the movie is set during Arbor Day, you don't get that delicious quip). Also, the movie has a happy ending. The separated Holly and John McClane leave in the limo together and she makes note of using his last name again. Finally, a Christmas movie is the only place you can get away with naming a character after a pattern on a sweater (limo driver Argyle).
1b. Elf (2003)
This movie is not only a must-watch every year, it is endlessly quotable. "The best way to spread Christmas cheer is singing loud for all to hear." "Santa! I know him!" "You sit on a throne of lies and smell like beef and cheese." "Bye, Buddy. Hope you find your dad." I could go on and on. Will Ferrell did such a great job of going all-in with this character. James Caan was also great as the miserly character with a change of heart at the end (Dickens). The costume is iconic and the casting is tremendous. I love this one.
2. How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000)
Dr. Seuss churned out some bangers in his day. The Lorax, The Cat in the Hat, Green Eggs and Ham, and Horton Hears a Who, to name a few. None have the staying power in our consciousness like The Grinch. In this version, we get a much more fleshed out story and world. Even though it is shot practically in the real world instead of animated, it maintains the uneven lines and structural integrity concerns of Seuss' original animation. Jim Carrey is fantastic as the title character. This is my favorite Ron Howard movie and is handled with such charm and innocence. Dr. Seuss seems to operate with his own brand of physics in his worlds and I simply can't get enough. The makeup process for Jim Carrey to get into costume was apparently so arduous that he had to work with someone whose job is to train CIA members how to withstand and cope with torture. Seems like he should have won an Oscar for his ability to become nice at the end after enduring all that (Dickens).
3a. The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)
The idea of a mashup between Christmas and Halloween is brilliant. It also makes perfect sense it came from the mind of Tim Burton. Tim Burton has a Midas touch, but instead of turning things into gold, he turns them into Halloween. While the world of the film makes this movie feel a lot more like a Halloween movie than a Christmas movie, it's hard to avoid calling it a Christmas movie. I mean, the word Christmas is right there in the title. It'd be like questioning whether Independence Day is a movie you watch on July 4th. To not have my highest ranked stop-motion animated Christmas movie be a Rankin and Bass production may seem untenable but don't worry, there'll be a couple before the list is over. Also, who doesn't need some of this wonderful music in their lives? You're going to tell me that a musical written by Danny ELFman doesn't belong on Christmas?
3b. Klaus (2019)
The animation in this movie is stunningly beautiful. Klaus is the most recent release on my list. It is a Netflix original movie featuring the vocal talents of Jason Schwartzman, J. K. Simmons, Rashida Jones, Norm Macdonald, and Joan Cusack. The small town of Smeerensburg is divided into two factions that hate each other simply because they've always hated each other. It is a cold, frozen landscape of a city in the middle of nowhere. A lazy, selfish postman is sent there by his father to grow up. The postman befriends a recluse named Klaus that used to be a toy maker. The factions of the small town eventually make up (Dickens), the postman learns to love being there (Dickens), and Klaus is painted as the origin of Santa Claus. I love this movie so much.
4. The Santa Clause (1994)
When this movie came out, Tim Allen had the #1 movie at the box office (The Santa Clause), the #1 show on TV (Home Improvement), and the #1 book in America (Don't Stand to Close to a Naked Man) all in the same week. That's a good week. Interestingly, it was also the same year that Jim Carrey had three of his biggest movies in the same year with The Mask, Dumb & Dumber, and Ace Ventura: Pet Detective. 1994: what a year to be alive! In the Santa Clause (which incidentally led me to misspell Santa Claus for years because I didn't catch the pun in the title), Tim Allen is a corporate man, divorced with a child, who seems a little self-centered. He then accidentally kills Santa by scaring him while on the roof, causing him to fall. He then becomes the new Santa simply by wearing the outfit. He goes along kicking and screaming at first, but has a change of heart (Dickens) and embraces it at the end. It's a great movie and gave us the moment where a sweater-wearing Judge Reinhold wistfully says "a weenie whistle."
5. Trading Places (1983)
Starring Eddie Murphy, Dan Aykroyd, and Jamie Lee Curtis, this is a comedy for all time. Randolph and Mortimer, two brothers with nasty wealth, engage in an equally nasty bet by wagering a dollar on the nature vs. nurture debate between two people with different socio-economic backgrounds. Louis Winthorpe III (Aykroyd) is framed for a crime, fired, and has his assets frozen, while Billy Ray Valentine (Murphy) goes from living on the street and then imprisoned, to essentially being granted Winthorpe's life as he is given his house and old job. Once the two become aware of exactly what was done to them, they come up with their own scheme to get back at the brothers involving the stock market. It is a very satisfying movie ending with the Brothers Duke destitute and on the street just like Valentine was at the beginning, while he and Winthorpe and Jamie Lee Curtis' Ophelia and the butler of the manor live it up with newfound wealth. The story takes place during Christmas and New Years, aiding in its presence as a Christmas movie.
6. Christmas Vacation (1989)
I don't know how many times I've seen this movie but I know it's a lot and I know that I seem to find something new every time. It is a hilarious movie about hosting family for the holidays. Chevy Chase is a physical comedy master and Beverly D'Angelo practically invented the Jim Halpert face in the Vacation movies. It's a series of unfortunate events during Christmas time with only the best of intentions being foiled at every turn. Speaking of turns, the grumpy old boss (played by Bill Murray's brother, Brian Doyle-Murray) that skimps on the Christmas bonuses has a change of heart at the end (Dickens) after being kidnapped by Cousin Eddy.
7. Santa Claus is Coming to Town (1970)
Nothing beats the classic stop-motion animation of these old holiday specials (says the guy with eight movies ranked higher). They have such a sweet, charming soul to them. The movement and aesthetic is incomparable. They're musical and have fun character names like Heat Miser and Burgermeister Meisterburger just feel so timeless. I simply can't get enough. The sequel (The Year Without a Santa Claus) didn't quite make my list but is also fantastic.
8. The Polar Express (2004)
The Polar Express is not the only visually unique book to be adapted into a great movie on my list (see my 2 different entries of How the Grinch Stole Christmas or check the origin story on Rudolph) but it was done in a really unique way. Robert Zemeckis (he of Back to the Future and Forrest Gump fame) did this thing with performance capture. Tom Hanks goes full Nutty Professor and plays a ton of different characters. Kids climb aboard a train in the middle of the night on Christmas Eve and travel to the North Pole aboard the titular train to see Santa and rock out to Steven Tyler. It's a fun story with great music and the conductor challenges various children to resolve their foibles which, over the course of their journey to and experiences at the North Pole, they do (Dickens).
9. How the Grinch Stole Christmas! (1966)
This movie is old. One benefit of that: it's short. This movie is only 26 minutes long. I have found myself sitting in a chair doing and thinking nothing for longer stretches than that (normalize spacing out!). You can practically get in and out during halftime of a college football game. I love the voice work in this one. Boris Karloff plays the titular bad guy (typecasting alert) and the equally sinister named Thurl Ravenscroft provides the singing voice. The animation during the montage where The Grinch steals the toys and he is moving through homes in such unnatural ways is my favorite. He tip toes, he slithers like a snake, he even showcases his pool skills. While I liked the Jim Carrey version better, it's a close call and without this movie, we wouldn't have "You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch" which is a holiday banger with lines like "I wouldn't touch you with a 39-and-a-half foot pole" (hooray for imperial units!) and "You're a three-decker sauerkraut and toadstool sandwich with arsenic sauce." Clearly, they got the O.G., Dr. Seuss to write the lyrics. Good choice. I love the end when it shows the heart grow "three sizes that day" (Dickens) and it breaks the X-ray machine.
10. Home Alone (1990)
As a kid, I was impacted by this movie. All of the sudden, I became aware of the possibility for intruders. Up until then, I was under the impression that everything was fine in the world, people kept to themselves, and no one would attack a child. After watching this movie, well, I tried to make traps. I went through a LOT of yarn back in the day trying to make traps. I never became particularly adept at it but I, thankfully, also never actually needed to use one. The movie (and its sequel and threequel) are great, but this one is my favorite. It is quotable, frenetic, and Macaulay Culkin knocks it out of the park. I love it and it's bumbling villain duo, Marv and Harry.
11. Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (1964)
Ho ho ho! Last but not least we have Rudolph. This misfit is ostracized due to a nasal malfunction. Kids can be so cruel. But, when this guy turns what makes him different into what makes him great, he becomes invaluable. Let that be a lesson to you all. What makes you different, makes you valuable. Embrace that. The movie is another stop-motion animated flick by Rankin/Bass Productions. They're the powerhouse behind Frosty the Snowman, Santa Claus is Coming to Town, and so much more. Christmas specials are a thing largely because of them. A quick hat-tip to those that came before. Thank you!
Final Thoughts
I love Christmas. It's my favorite holiday. I like to bake every year and dish out some cookies. You know what goes great with a cookie? A Christmas movie (and I guess a glass of milk. If you said glass of milk, you're not wrong). This was a list of my very favorite Christmas movies of all time that I've ever seen. I've seen a bunch so I'll leave a list down below of the movies that just missed my list. If you have some I didn't mention, please let me know in the comments section. Sorry to all who were hoping it would have more Hallmark Christmas movies. That's just not... my thing. I'm rooting for you if it's your thing, though. Thank you and, in the immortal words of Tiny Tim, "God bless us, everyone."
Comments