Best Christmas Movie of All Time? | We Ask Riders and Industry Folk

By Billy Rainford

Photos by Bigwave (except where noted)

I’m starting to worry because if I ask myself this question I may answer Bad Santa or Krampus. I’ll just say Elf so people don’t send the authorities over to check on me. With that in mind, we fired the question out to a bunch of riders and industry folk to see what everyone thinks is the Best Christmas Movie of All Time.

For comparison, here’s what Rotten Tomatoes has listed as the Top 10:

1. It’s a Wonderful Life 1946

2. Miracle of 34th Street 1947

3. Holiday Inn 1942

4. The Shop Around the Corner 1940

5. How the Grinch Stole Christmas 1967

6. The Nightmare before Christmas 1993

7. Little Women 2019

8. Meet Me in St. Louis 1940

9. Carol 2015

10. Tangerine 2015

I’m guessing there aren’t a lot of titles on that list that are going to appear on ours. For interest’s sake, here’s where some of the more popular ones from our list fell on the “official” Rotten Tomatoes list:

11. A Charlie Brown Christmas 1967

12. Die Hard 1988

14. Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer 1964

32. Elf 2003

37. Bad Santa 2003 (my personal tie for tops)

52. Home Alone 1990

56. National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation 1989

57. Krampus 2015 (my personal tie for tops)

I guess there’s just no accounting for taste!

We’ll list them by their 2021 race numbers so we can start getting used to them. Here’s what they said:

#1 Shelby Turner – Oh that’s a tough one, but it’s probably Elf. I think it’s a really funny movie. It wouldn’t be Christmas without watching that show at least one time.

#1 Eve Brodeur – Well, I’m not a big Christmas movie fan to begin with, but I’ll go with the Home Alone movies since I remember watching them a bunch of times growing up and I’ve always found them so funny. And I mean, who doesn’t?

#3 Shawn Maffenbeier – National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation.

#5 Domonique Petruska – How the Grinch stole Christmas – the OG cartoon and the Jim Carrey version.. why? Because it just is!!

#5 Tyler Medaglia – Dr. Seuss How the Grinch Stole Christmas. The original cartoon hands down is the best. I wait to watch it as close to Christmas as possible. The art, the voices, the story, it has always been my favourite! 🍻

#6 Luke Renzland – The Grinch (Jim Carrey version). The character he created was just hilarious and some of the one-liners from that movie are unforgettable.

#9 Dylan Wright – Mine is Christmas Vacation. It’s just been a family tradition to watch it on Christmas Eve with the whole family and honestly it’s just a classic, I mean it’s hilarious!

#11 Davey Fraser – That’s a tough one. Might have to watch a few again first. Does Home Alone 2 count? Well, that’s my pick. Great classic and probably the only Christmas movie I can say I’ve watched every year.

#12 Cade Clason – Home Alone because back in the day kids were hard core and could handle stuff like that. That kid was a savage.

#13 Jeremy McKie – I like The Christmas Chronicle on Netflix a lot. I just really like this movie for the spirit of Christmas and because this movie makes me believe that Santa actually exists. Lol. I wish he was real like in this movie.

#14 Ryan Dowd – Man, Elf has gotta be the greatest holiday movie of all time. Will Ferrell is the funniest dude, I love stupid humor that makes no sense and he nails it every time.

#16 Cole Thompson – Christmas Vacation is the only movie that comes to mind.

#19 Quinn Amyotte – My favourite holiday movie is National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation. My family watches that every year together and it’s also my dad’s favourite one. So of course we got to watch what he wants ahah. And it reminds me of my family being a big crazy family and always having a ton of people here for the holidays.

#20 Logan Leitzel – Home Alone or Home Alone 2 because when I was a kid that was the movie that was always on at Christmas time and it just brings back memories of my childhood.

#21 Liam O’Farrell – Elf is my pick because of Will Ferrell. Pam and I watch it every year for about 10 years now.

#22 Tyler Gibbs – Home Alone 2. I just like how he pranks Harry and Marv when they go to the abandoned house. It’s probably the best part of the whole movie. And when he spends so much money at the hotel getting all the ice cream and chocolate he wants.

#27 Bobby Piazza – The Grinch.

#28 Sam Gaynor – The original Die Hard, cause people get upset when I say that it is a Christmas movie. Haha Or Why Him, just because it’s dumb but also very funny!

#29 Hayden Halstead – Are we all going to answer Christmas Vacation or Die Hard?

#31 Megan Brodeur – I’d say the Grinch! Cause somehow it’s possible to make anybody happy during holidays! This movie shows hope and love. I love it. Haha

#32 Casey Keast – Home Alone, for sure. Who doesn’t love that movie?!

#36 William Crete – My favourite Christmas movie since I was a kid is for sure Home Alone! It’s funny, surprisingly, and it’s filled with all sorts of adorable small-town holiday cheer that we’re looking for this time of year. (Except for the part of been home alone… haha)

#38 Yanick Boucher – I gotta go with Home Alone! An old one but a funny one. Pretty funny and cool to watch the kid protect the family home while his family left him behind for the holidays.

#46 Marco Cannella – Definitely gonna be Elf, because Will Farrell is the greatest actor, some may say even the songbird of our generation.

#51 Josh Cartwright – The Santa Clause 2 with Tim Allen. Tim Allen cracks me up and when the fake Santa takes over his factory and job, he does his Tim Allen stuff and wins it back. He’s a BA.

Or Elf. It’s a classic movie with Will Ferrell. And I like when he thought the real Santa was in the mall and he freaked out and ran over and said he wasn’t Santa and exposed him.

#62 Duncan MacLeod – Our favourite Christmas movie would probably be Christmas Chronicles 1 and 2.

#68 Jared Petruska – That’s tough, I’m not much of a movie guy. I guess I would have to say Christmas Vacation because that’s the only one that I can think of that doesn’t drive me nuts. Lol

#76 Wyatt Waddell – It’s tough not to choose Elf but I’ll say Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. The stop motion from 1964 is quite appealing to the eye and some of the dialogue would certainly not fly in today’s society! Which definitely adds a little shock value and laughs to a seemingly harmful film.

#79 Thomas Rendall – I would have to say Home Alone, because I think it’s a very funny idea to leave someone behind, since we travel all over the country and have heard stories around the track of people leaving their kids at gas stations. lol. Also, I think it’s funny that the little kid can beat up the men trying to break into his house with some inventive and funny traps.

#84 Tanner Ward – Easy!!! ELF!

#392 Michael Fowler – I have seen about every movie there is about Christmas because my mom is addicted to them, but I personally like Elf. Can’t go wrong with that as a Christmas movie.

#777 Tim Tremblay – I don’t really like Christmas movies. Lol

Daryl Murphy (MRC Safety Marshall)

1) Home Alone 2: Lost In New York. Simply because Kevin used resources to survive in a big city. Favourite part would be in the renovated house where Harry & Marv get schooled by a young kid. Made for some good laughs.

2) The Santa Clause – Trilogy with Tim Allen. Because who doesn’t like Tim Allen and the possibilities of becoming Santa?!

Brendan Goldstein (KDEAM Optics) – Last year I played the movie Friday on Christmas morning. Maybe I should’ve waited since this year Christmas is actually on Friday… I don’t think it’ll become a tradition in the house, but it was a nice change. On the flip side, I’ve got to go with National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation. I can’t remember a year that we haven’t watched and laughed to that one.

Chris Vandelaar AKA ‘Adventure Guy’ – Elf with Will Farrell because of the, “Did you hear that?” belch and the “Watch out, yellow ones don’t stop” bits.

Brad Nauditt (Honorary Canadian) – One of my favorite Christmas / Holliday Movies is Home Alone. I love comedy movies and to mix it with the Holliday season and snow storms that we all can relate to made it for me.

Jared Stock (DMX Off-Road Test Rider) – I don’t know the title to any of them, but how about those daytime Christmas movies?? There’s usually an initial heartbreak, guy meets girl/girl meets guy, guy charms girl, girl leaves guy, guy and girl get back together Christmas Eve. And assume they stay together forever! Now those suck me in every time. 😭

Brock Leitner – The movie Miracle. Not only does it have an amazing story to it and based on a true story I believe but watching that motivates you to push yourself that little bit more than you usually do and proves that hard work pays off.

Bobby Kiniry (The Bobby Kiniry) – Well, to me it is not Christmas until I see the old Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer movie with the clay figures. The reason being is that it brings me back to my youth where Christmas was the most exciting time of year, outside of racing, and all I wanted from Santa were presents that were associated with my dirt bike. Haha

Kaven Benoit – For me it’s Home Alone, for sure. Watched that movie so many times as a kid.

Westen Wrozyna (2020 FXR Pre-Mix Champ) – Best Christmas movie is definitely Elf. Don’t really have a good reason why other than it’s funny.

Team Viney MX (Ulf, Cheryl, Bjorn, and Noah) – Obviously, National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation.

Kade Walker (Canadian in Europe) – Holidate. It’s a funny movie and I like the story behind it… it’s not a typical holiday movie.

Jack Wright – I’d have to go with Home Alone 1… just a classic for me.

Greg Poisson (DMX contributor) – Favourite Christmas movie is by far Die Hard because it’s a controversial debate, and what’s Christmas without some controversy?! Everyone has that crazy uncle who starts fights at dinner.

Cheyenne Harmon – It’s between Griswold’s Christmas and Jingle All the Way. Hard to beat OG Griswold movie, though.

Chad Goodwin – (Monster Energy Piller’s Kawasaki Pro Circuit) – The original Die Hard movie with Bruce Willis.

Derek Schuster (Honda GDR Fox racing) – Doesn’t feel like Christmas til I’ve watched Bad Santa. Haha. I was actually considering saying Die Hard but Billy Bob Thornton just cracks me up.

Matt Goerke (3-time Canadian champ) – The best one I can think of off the top of my head is Elf.

Reece Rendall (Nihilo) – Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer is my all-time favourite. But my second is a bit more of a surprise. We had a Christmas tradition of going to the movis. One of the most anticipated movies released at Christmas was Die Hard which is still one of my favourites.

Nathan Bles (2019 FXR Pre-Mix champ) – Home alone #1. It’s a classic. It’s funny mixed with some awesome contraptions/weapons. The kid was smart and I loved what he came up with to mess with the two fools.

Ryan Lockhart (Matrix Concepts Canada) – I’m not a huge movie guy but my wife loves Christmas and Christmas movies. We have watched Christmas Vacation like 3 times so far this year. It’s a classic. Who doesn’t like a little mind-numbing entertainment? Especially these days.

Kyle Springman – I’m gonna go with The Grinch, since I’m not a huge Christmas guy.

Kevin Tyler (MX101 FXR Yamaha) – Gotta go Elf for $100 please, Alex.

Kourtney Lloyd (Cycle North/Former Team Canada MXON Manager) – That’s a tough one. I love Christmas and all the movies that come with this time of year but I think my all-time favourite would have to be National Lampoon’s Christmas vacation. It is a twisted spin on a Holiday movie which I just find hilarious. I think the memories it brings of watching it with my brother and hearing him belly laugh to himself (even though he’s watched it 110 times) makes me love it even more. When that turkey deflates I can’t even contain myself.

Kassie Boone – Honestly, I don’t watch movies or TV enough to say. I am on quarantine…suggest me something? [Of course, I told her to go watch Bad Santa and Krampus!]

Jacqueline Ross (Former Canadian champ from Florida and ‘Off the Cuff’ contributor here at DMX) – Hands down, A Charlie Brown Christmas is the best Christmas movie, ever! It demonstrates the true meaning of Christmas- gifts of gratitude, joy, and compassion.

Dakota Alix (Team PRMX Supercross) – I’m going to go with the movie Elf… mostly because that’s the first movie that came to mind after reading your question. Buddy the happy elf provided my childhood with some good laughs.