Arnold Schwarzenegger’s 1996 Christmas Movie Becomes a Streaming Hit on Prime Video

After spending the ’80s and early ’90s becoming the most prominent action star of his generation and battling Sylvester Stallone for the title, Arnold Schwarzenegger spent the second half of the ’90s trying to prove that he could pull off a charming and familiar. And if you didn’t know it, he could. Of course, a man who came from a small Austrian town and conquered bodybuilding, married a Kennedy, became a movie star and launched a successful career in American politics was never going to have a problem with something as trivial as a change. brand in his career. So ’90s kids enjoyed all kinds of surprisingly decent family comedies, from “Kindergarten Cop” to the holiday favorite “Jingle All the Way.”

Don’t let that 20% score on Rotten Tomatoes The score fools you: “Jingle All the Way” not only captivated children of my generation, but it also had something for adults, tapping into the rampant commercialism that had turned Christmas from a time of peace and togetherness into a frantic struggle. for the last one. toy. In my day it was Power Rangers and Pokémon, not to mention Tickle Me Elmo. For Schwarzenegger’s Howard Langston, it was Turbo Man, the ultimate action figure his son, Jamie (Jake Lloyd), simply must have for Christmas. To compensate for being a somewhat negligent father and husband, Howard makes it his mission to track down the in-demand action figure and ensure hilarity and hijinks.

In addition to Schwarzenegger’s surprisingly deft comedic performance, “Jingle All the Way” also featured the late, great Phil Hartman as Howard’s brilliant, smarmy neighbor, Ted Maltin. In short, this 90s Christmas classic is one more reason not to take Rotten Tomatoes so seriously. Now, Prime Video subscribers are attesting to that fact, sending “Jingle All the Way” to the holiday season’s most-watched charts and reminding us all that it remains one of the best Christmas movies of all time.

As Arnold Schwarzenegger and “Reacher” star Alan Ritchson film their upcoming holiday comedy, “Jingle All the Way” has climbed Prime Video’s most-watched rankings to remind us all that the Austrian star is more than capable of handling so familiar Christmas movies.

According FlixPatrola site that tracks and aggregates viewership data on streaming services, “Jingle All the Way” hit the charts at number seven on December 14, 2024, which is actually a little later than I expected. Of course, in an age where streaming has ensured a constant cavalcade of mediocre Christmas movies, it’s understandable that audiences’ attention is a little more divided than it used to be.

However, Schwarzenegger’s classic Christmas outing has not only hit the charts, but has climbed the rankings since its debut. On December 15, it reached number six, before jumping to third position on December 16. Since then, the film has hovered around that spot, dropping to number four on December 18 before rising as Turbo Man himself, or indeed Iron Age Turbo Man Jesus Christ, once again on December 19 to pick up the number three.

Christmas is a pretty competitive time when it comes to movies. Not only do you have your classic Christmas fare competing for attention, from the movie IMDb claims is the best Christmas movie of all time, “It’s a Wonderful Life,” to modern classics like “Elf,” but now you have things like “Red One,” Dwayne Johnson’s holiday outing that was something of a box office flop (but not really). That movie has remained atop Prime Video’s charts since it arrived on the service following its anticlimactic theatrical run, and it seems like nothing can dethrone it right now.

Queen Latifah tried it with her forgotten Christmas rom-com “Last Holiday,” and John Candy is currently trying it with the great “Uncle Buck” hitting the Prime Video charts. So far, however, Arnie is the only one who might have a chance to dethrone “Red One.” “Jingle All the Way” may be in a tenuous position at number three, but it has been steadily climbing the ranks since December 14, 2024 and could well take that top spot by the end of the week.

Although “Jingle All the Way” remains a classic Christmas movie that didn’t need a sequel, we ended up getting a direct-to-video sequel starring Larry the Cable Guy in 2014. Until now, that forgotten sequel is Nowhere to See, But If there’s some way to orchestrate some kind of mass viewing so that Larry is the one to finally dethrone The Rock, I think we have a duty to do it.