It’s not quite Thanksgiving but if you’ve been paying attention the Christmas spirit has been creeping in since just around the time Halloween was really taking root. Stores have been getting ready, people have been searching for those elusive decorations to put up, and people have actually begun to start stockpiling for their Christmas feast. One other thing that’s happening is that the Christmas movies are rolling out as always, which means the 80s movies are making their way to the screen as well. The 80s were a fun time for Christmas movies and films that had Christmas themes in them since they tended to be more than a little silly and yet still gave a decidedly warm sense of companionship and the feeling of home that people came to appreciate so much. But mostly, they were just hilarious.
Here are some of the best Christmas movies from the 80s.
5. Trading Places
What do you get when you pair up two of SNL’s most legendary performers? You get Valentine and Winthorpe, two men that are set up for a sociological ‘experiment’ by the Duke Brothers, wealthy brokers that want to see what might happen if they switch the lifestyles of two men for their own interest. While Winthorpe is framed for burglary and put on a fast track to the bottom, common con man Valentine is given a free pass to move in on Winthorpe’s life, home, and job. When it’s observed that the pressure drives Winthorpe to act in a rather impulsive and even dangerous manner while showing that Valentine can become a trusted and reliable employee the two men find out the scheme and decide to flip the tables on the brothers shortly after New Years.
4. Die Hard
It might be an odd choice for a Christmas movie but Die Hard is still set around the holiday and, even better, John gets a little festive when he makes his first kill, deciding to taunt the terrorists just so they have to wonder and worry about who might be running loose trying to ruin their plans. John does give as good as he gets throughout most of the movie but he does manage to get pretty messed up in the process as he has to pick glass shards out of his bare feet at one point and is almost hauled over the edge of a building at another. One cop against a band of terrorists sounds like long odds, but this is John McClane, he can do anything.
3. A Christmas Story
All Ralphie wants for Christmas is a Red Ryder BB gun, that’s it. But trying to convince his mother that he won’t shoot his eye out is like trying to convince a person that ice isn’t cold. Throughout the film he’s seen doing his absolute best to make sure that his mom gets the hint, but time and time again he’s blocked at every turn. Even Santa Claus tells him that it’s too dangerous, which seems like it might be the final straw for any kid. But thankfully, his old man, who seems like a curmudgeon but is in fact kind of a softie, knows very well what Ralphie wants and saves that one last surprise until the very end.
2. Scrooged
The idea of retelling the Christmas Carol story is one that never seems to get old since there are so many different ways to do it that the core concept is capable of adapting to most of them. Frank Cross is perhaps one of the most cynical people alive and believes that Christmas is a crock invented to sell as much crap as possible to unwitting consumers. But when he’s taken through his own past, present, and possible future he begins to realize that what he lost when he began to gain the power and influence he wanted so badly was something that he could no longer afford when he reached the top spot.
1. National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation
You’ve got to respect the sounds of doom that emerge when the in-laws are at the door, as well as the look of dread that everyone but Clark seems to affect as they realize that the moment is upon them when they must open the door and welcome in the people that mean well, but make their lives a living hell with little to no effort. Maybe that’s unkind, but for some reason in-laws are just great at making a person think that they’re not doing something right, that they’re not trying hard enough, or that they should just listen to their parents despite being fully-grown adults and having teenage children of their own. Hey, that’s family, right?
The holidays are a time to kick back and enjoy your family, but maybe from a healthy distance after the celebrations are over.
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