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13 comments
7 comments
Rank This Matchup or Comment/Reply Below
on 9/17/2009
Insane matchup
on 11/10/2009
Tough decision. Probably the two best Christmas movies.
on 12/24/2009
So easy, really like one, loathe the other.
Unless you're 90 years old, its gotta be A Christmas Story!
Definitely a Christmas Story, but then I'm one of the few people who doesn't like the Capra film.
on 1/23/2010
A Christmas Story is very funny and both strangely sentimental and unsentimental at the same time. Its a Wonderful Life is sweet, funny, warm, romantic, toughing, poignant and yes very, very sappy. But seriously, if you can watch this without your hay-fever acting up you are probably a robot.
on 4/1/2010
Two great Christmas movies, but nowhere near the Christmasy good feeling as Die Hard!
on 9/6/2010
A Christmas Story is cute, and it does hold up pretty well even though it gets shown for 36 hours straight every year, but It's A Wonderful Life is a classic and wins this match up by a significant margin.
on 9/23/2010
It's A Wonderful life EASY. A Christmas Story isn't even in my top ten Christmas films. (PS- and no, I'm not 90 years old)
on 12/7/2011
I'm 21, and I go for It's a Wonderful Life, which is sooo much more than just a Christmas movie. (Sorry dancingbaby, your hypothesis is slowly being proved wrong....)
on 12/24/2011
I'm not going to argue that It's a Wonderful Life isn't a better movie than Christmas Story, but if I'm making a list of my favorite movies, I'm putting A Christmas Story above It's a Wonderful Life. For me, my list isn't the best movies, but rather my personal favorites. I literally watch A Christmas Story probably 10 times every year.
Christmas Story wins an extremely tough battle. I'm 34, and saw It's a Wonderful Life for the first time a month ago. It was so damn good...worth the hype. Christmas Story gets the victory, purely for sentimental reasons. I grew up with it...can't pick against it.
on 12/28/2011
Early exposure does play a big role in forming preferences, especially when it comes to these kind of movies. I didn't see A Christmas Story until well into my teens (it was verboten due to the profanity during my childhood), and at first I thought it was dumb, although I've warmed to it since then. On the other hand, I've been watching It's a Wonderful Life ever since I can remember. It's a personal favorite as well as a really really great film in its own right, and so my reasons for choosing it aren't purely snobbish.
on 12/29/2011
It's a Wonderful Life without another thought.
on 5/29/2012
It's a Wonderful Life is not only my favorite Christmas movie, but my favorite movie in general. I've tried to get through A Christmas Story three times and couldn't. All my friends call me crazy for not liking it. I tell them it's not from a lack of trying.
on 5/31/2012
Its a Wonderful Life gets the win!!! One of my favs.
on 8/31/2012
Christmas Story is one of my favorites of all time and i watch it atleast twice when its on during Christmas.
Right now, these are easily my two favorite Christmas movies ever. It's a Wonderful Life is touching, profound and thoroughly entertaining...but it still loses to A Christmas Story.
on 11/26/2012
They are both wonderfully imaginative and sentimental. In addition, each offers a narrative perspective framed in historical contexts: one through two world wars layered between the Great Depression and the other set in World War II small town America. Still, while I adore Jean Shepherd's narrative colloquialisms (probably misspelled his name), Capra's classic is the definite champions with its exploration of the complexity and depth of human emotion.
on 12/12/2012
It's a wonderful Life easy, A Christmas Story has it's charm but as a movie in general it isn't good, it's not terrible but it's rather mediocre
on 11/22/2014
I love both of these so much and am excited to revisit them this Christmas.
on 9/18/2015
It's a Wonderful Life for me. A Christmas Story is fun, but It's a Wonderful Life is on another level.
on 12/25/2015
Unless you're 1 year old, it's gotta be It's a Wonderful Life.