Christmas is just around the corner. I'll be joining the other member of the Keanu Reeves Fan Club, along with the rest of my family, in Austin, Texas this year for some temperate weather and general merriment. I hope that you are yours will be doing something similar, and we wish you all the best.
As a gift to you, our readers, I give you the top five best Holiday Action Films of all time.
1. Die Hard (1988)/Die Hard 2 (1990): You'll recall that Hans Christian Gruber and his cronies crashed Holly's holiday party in the Nakatomi Tower penthouse. You may also remember the closing scene in Die HArd 2, where Captain Lorenzo throws McClane's shredded parking ticket into the air, like so much confetti, while crying out "It's Christmas!" Ah, how I do love the holidays.
2. Lethal Weapon (1987): I almost forgot about this one. But how could you forget the final fight between Gibson and Busey (previously featured on Action Direct), framed by Christmas lights and mistletoe. It's true, the original Lethal Weapon, with Gibson's underlying mental instability (highlighted throughout by lonely saxophone riffs), and Glover's not so subtle self-doubt, is a Christmas movie, and a damned epic one at that. I'll be revisiting this one come Christmas Even with the fam...
3. First Blood (1982): The good folks over at Cinematical pointed out that First Blood is in fact a Christmas movie, albeit subtly so (they also put Reindeer Games in their top five... what?). And they're right. Think back to the cheesy lights adorning the streets of the once sleepy town. Christmas can be hard for folks that don't have anyone. I would say that John Rambo exemplifies this statement in First Blood.
4. Ghostbusters 2 (1989): All right, so this is more of a New Year's pic than a Christmas pic, but come on, don't bullshit me. I love this movie, as much or more than the first, if you can believe it. I think that the first one might also have Christmas overtones to it, but I could be wrong.
5. Gremlins (1984): Yeah, you might have thought that number 5 would be Batman Returns, or something will a little more substance. But for me, it's Gremlins. I love Gremlins. I even like Gremlins 2. I think that more than anything, it has to do with the fact that I watched them both many many times as a child. I will always have a place in my heart for Gremlins, and it's as Christmas as they come.
6. Batman Returns (1992): All right, Batman Returns deserves a spot. Michelle Pfeiffer will always be Catwoman in my eyes. And, Phillip Seymour Hoffman or no, Danny Devito was an amazing Penguin. This is a great movie. And the super nintendo game is also worth checking out...
So there you have it. Update your Netflix and have yourself some Happy Holidays!
