Last Updated on 22 September 2023

I searched the Internet for lists of the best or greatest Christmas movies of all time. Criteria included the movies being ranked, not just listed, and generally created by groups, whether teams or committees or based on general public voting (like Ranker.com).

I was able to find 38 lists. I took the 38 lists and added all their content into a spreadsheet, noting the rank of every film. The total number was almost 1,300 including all the repeats. I experimented with different formulas, trying to balance the value of being ranked high on any list and being included on the most lists. I ended up averaging the rankings each movie got (there were 211 that were on at least 2 lists) and dividing that average by a factor of the number of lists that movie was on. The lowest score meant a high ranking average on many lists.

The movies that were on the most lists (out of 38) were:

  • It’s a Wonderful Life (1946) – 37
  • Home Alone (1990) – 37
  • Elf (2003) – 36
  • National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation (1989) – 34
  • Love Actually (2003) – 34
  • Die Hard (1988) – 32
  • The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992) – 32
  • Miracle on 34th Street (1947) – 31
  • The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993) – 31
  • A Christmas Story (1983) – 30
  • Scrooged (1988) – 30
  • White Christmas (1954) – 30
  • The Santa Clause (1994) – 30

Here are links to the lists I used along with dates the lists were created:

Loading