A Christmas Story (1983)

This odd little film has become the parallel-universe "It's A Wonderful Life" of our time. It brings up memories that many people can identify with - wanting - with all your heart - a toy that will "shoot your eye out", facing up to the school bully and then getting punished for being violent rather than being commended for courage, and for those of you up north, sticking your tongue on a frozen pole and getting stuck to it. This actually happened to my brother-in-law as a kid in Wisconsin.

However, Ralphie, the child protagonist in our film, has a completely dysfunctional family. To be specific, he has a completely dysfunctional father. In the narration Ralphie never even calls him "dad" - he's just "the old man". "The old man" cares about nothing more than he cares for the tackiest of lamps that he received as an award that is made out of a mannequin's leg that he displays in a position of prominence in the living room. Ralphie's father is no George Bailey. If he got to see the world as it was if he never existed, no doubt the only noticeable difference would be that the tacky lamp would belong to someone else and Ralphie and his mother would be better off. The narration is wonderful as you see everything from a child's perspective, and if you remember your childhood at all, you can probably remember reasoning things out as Ralphie does. In Ralphie's world adults - including his parents - are the arbitrary givers of reward and punishment who all seem to be in odd and unreasoned alignment. These adults are mazes to be solved, not givers of lessons to be learned. However, as an adult, you'll see the humor in the situations too. Highly recommended.

Fmovies: Bob Clark, the director behind the collegiate slasher flick "Black Christmas" and the naughty sex comedy "Porky's" surprisingly went on to hold the reins of the charming, innocent, nostalgic holiday romp "A Christmas Story" in 1983. The film is seen through the eyes of nine-year-old Ralphie, and is frequently told through the older more knowing voice of Jean Shepherd, who wrote the source material "In God We Trust, All Others Pay Cash" in 1966. The film takes place sometime in the early 1940s (Shepherd has been quoted as saying specifically 1940), although the tone and texture of the film allow for more of the uncertain "period" look. The film follows the struggles of our child protagonist, specifically his longing for a very specific BB gun, which he references nearly thirty times during the course of the film, explaining why the come back "you'll shoot your eye out" is so associated with this movie. "A Christmas Story" is a wonderful, relaxing, little movie that never seems to age.

The 1983 "Terms of Endearment" won the Academy Award for Best Picture. Now it was deserved. The film still remains popular today. What's hard to believe now is that "A Christmas Story" (released the same year) was ignored everywhere. If anything it should of been nominated for best adapted screenplay!

Now when the film was released it was "Critically Acclaimed" but, MGM failed to capitalized on that. The film was poorly handled & failed to capture a large theatrical audience!

Well thanks to the Home Video Market & television this film has now become part of Americana. It also helped that Ted Turner made "24 Hours Of A Christmas Story" an annual event.

It is now 2017, and "A Christmas Story" it is now one of the most popular films of all time. Even "Return of the Jedi" ( The Highest Grossing Film of 1983) "Isn't gaining as many new fans". .

"Return of the Jedi" has always rode the coattails of the earlier "Star Wars" films. "A Christmas Story" has gained fans for just being a great film!

Now my review Set in the 1940's the film makes you identify with Ralphie and you your routing for him in every single way!

Ralphie is in elementary school. His has a little brother and all he wants for Christmas is a BB-Gun. He wants this more than anything. Before Christmas gets there he has many obstacles to overcome. One of them is getting home! He & his friends are always being bullied before they can make it home.

The film is flawless. It is a joy to watch and only improves every time you watch it. It is also true that for some reason the older it gets the better it becomes!

You need to see this. Also there is a fan made documentary called "A Christmas Story Documentary: Road Trip for Ralphie". That is a great fan made documentary.

A Christmas Story fmovies. 12 reasons that A Christmas Story is a modern Classic!

12: "Fa-Ra-Ra-Ra-Ra Ra-Ra-Ra-Ra" 11: "Don't forget to drink your Ovaltine" 10: "Nadafinga!!" 9: Ralphie's pink bunny outfit 8: Scut Farkus' yellow eyes 7: "Fuuuuuuuudddggee" 6: "Randy...how do the little piggies eat?" 5: "Fra-Gi-Le...it must be Italian" 4: "Where's the glue?" "We're out of glue!" "You used up all the glue on purpose!!" 3: "I triple-dog dare ya!" 2: "Alright, I'll get that kid to eat. Where's my screw driver and my plumber's helper? I'll open up his mouth and I'll shove it in" ... and, of course, the #1 reason: "You'll shoot your eye out, kid!"

A Christmas classic and tradition in every sense of the word!

A Christmas story is a classic holiday film that is very funny and entertaining. This is a movie that should be viewed by everyone, and can been seen on television during thanksgiving and Christmas time. In most families, this film is already a tradition to watch every year and that's because it has a wonderful plot, great characters and believable actors.

A Christmas Story is about an average middle class family living in a small town in the 1940's. The film contains an average family of a regular husband and wife relationship and two young boys. The eldest of the boys is named Ralphie (Peter Billingsley) who is the star of the film. All that Ralphie wants is to have a perfect Christmas containing the perfect gift, a Red Ryder carbon action BB gun. This is all that Ralphie can think about day and night. When Ralphie has to write a Theme about what he wants for Christmas, his teacher replies to him `you'll shoot your eye out' which seems to be the only reply to him throughout the whole film.

What makes this film so great is the ability to relate to Ralphie with his problems throughout the movie, such as wanting that one gift that everyone thinks that you're too young to have and are unable to get. The acting is very convincing and makes you think that this could even be you in the movie.

There are some very hilarious parts in this film that also make it very good. This particular scene also contains some very cheesy acting which also makes it funny. Ralphie has a dream about getting his Red Ryder BB gun and saving his family from a bunch of evil villains. In this scene Ralphie is wearing the white sparkly cowboy suit and he shoots down the evil villains and saves the day with his gun in a very unrealistic way.

There really wasn't much music that can be commented on in this movie, just that it was the orchestral type of music that was out in the time period of the 40's. The costumes where great and convincing. I also liked how real they made the 40's look. You actually think it might have been made in that time period which makes the film very authentic.

I would recommend this film to anyone who wants some holiday laughs and some great family time together. I would rate this film a 9 out of ten because it's so memorable.

Ralphie (Peter Billingsley) wants a Red Rider BB Gun for Christmas but his mother is totally against it - the "you'll shoot your eye out" discussion being a major opposition.

This is essentially a story about childhood and is very spot-on in regards to the yearning of children and the whole Christmas era - I've been watching it since I was a child and every Christmas when it comes on TV I watch it again. It's funny, poignant and totally memorable - it has some of the best scenes of all-time and although I know a few people who dislike it because it's a bit "weird" and "dark," most people I know love it.

Worth watching every Christmas, forever!