Featured Image Credit: 1492 Pictures/Fox Family Films
Topics: Christmas, Arnold Schwarzenegger
Gerrard Kaonga
Topics: Christmas, Arnold Schwarzenegger
While chowing down on your turkey and mulling over your Christmas wine, why not consider sticking on one of the most underrated festive flicks that stars action star Arnold Schwarzeneggar.
When you think of Arnold Schwarzeneggar characters, your mind probably jumps from the 1987 action classic Predator or the T800 from the Terminator franchise - maybe even detective John Kimble from Kindergarten Cop.
But what if I say Turbo Man?
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Does that ring any Christmas bells? If not, you are missing out on one of the most underrated Christmas movies.
And if we are being honest, one of Arnold’s most underrated films in general.
Alongside Home Alone and Die Hard, why not consider adding Schwarzeneggar’s Jingle All the Way to your Christmas viewing.
The premise, like all good Christmas films, is pretty simple.
Schwarzenegger plays a workaholic father, Howard Langston, who consistently breaks his promises to his family due to his work commitments.
To break out of this pattern, he promises to buy his son, played by Jake Lloyd (who is better known as a young Anakin Skywalker in the first prequel Star Wars film) his favorite action figure doll, a Turbo Man.
Things then truly get interesting when in classic bad-dad fashion as he was already meant to have bought the present.
Langston then spends Christmas Eve in searching for the doll in hopes that he can make it to a city street parade and proceeds to have a day from hell, filled with mini triumphs and gargantuan failures in a bid to get the hottest Christmas toy for his son.
And the friend he makes along the way only makes the adventure more hilarious. Mailman Myron Larabee (played by comedian Sinbad) hampers Langston’s attempt to fulfil his Christmas promise in a comedy duo that is so good it is scary.
Their chemistry is off the charts - with Sinbad throwing out iconic lines as Schwarzenegger’s thick Austrian accent comes out in full force for side-splitting line delivery.
Admittedly, the 1996 film was not well-received by critics and maintains a low IMDB and Rotten Tomatoes score of 20 percent.
The critic's consensus on Rotten Tomatoes reads: "Arnold Schwarzenegger tries his best, but Jingle All the Way suffers from an uneven tone, shifting wildly from a would-be satire on materialism to an antic, slapstick yuk-fest."
But why not give it a view for yourself and see if it can’t join your long list of Christmas films?