The 30 Best Christmas Movies to Stream on Amazon Prime

It's not Christmas until you've seen Elf . Will Ferrell's stars as Buddy the Elf, a human raised by elves in the North Pole who eventually moves to New York to find his real father. Countless moments of festive joy and hilarity ensure, along with one tearjerking Christmas sing-a-long that saves the holiday.

There's no classic Christmas movie quite like It's a Wonderful Life . The film premiered in 1946, and has truly stood the test of time. George Bailey's guardian angel Clarence Odbody shows him all the lives he's changed by walking him through an alternate reality where George was never born. The result is a heartwarming movie you will want to watch again and again—and you'll think of Clarence every time a bell rings during the holiday season.

Ranked as one of the greatest Christmas films of all time, A Christmas Story has stood the test of time as a beloved holiday film. The movie centers on Ralphie Parker's one dream Christmas gift: a Red Ryder BB gun. Other stories come to light along the way as the Parker family prepares for the holidays, but despite all the drama Ralphie is delighted when he receives the greatest Christmas gift of all time.

It's not Christmas without the Griswold family. Chevy Chase stars as Clark Griswold, who is planning for the perfect family Christmas until just about everything goes awry. Their hilarious adventure captures the highs and lows of the holiday season, ending with some much needed Christmas cheer.

More: The Best Classic Christmas Movies of All Time

Just in case you needed some inspiration not to leave your shopping to the last minute, tun into this '90s Christmas favorite, where Arnold Schwarzenegger stars as a dad whose holiday goes haywire as he desperately tries to track down the hottest toy of the year for his son on Christmas Eve.

This classic comedy features Tim Allen as a divorced dad who has custody of his son on Christmas Eve. When Allen's character accidentally kills the real Santa (who was on top of his roof), he must take over St. Nick's Christmas duties and journey to the North Pole.

Nobody does Christmas quite like Kevin McCallister. The Christmas classic spawned multiple sequels, but we keep coming back to the original year after year. All Kevin wanted was to be left alone, but once it becomes a reality and he's home alone for Christmas, he wants them back.It's often ranked among the best Christmas films of all time, so it's a must-watch every holiday season.

There's something for everyone in Love Actually 's various intertwining love stories, ranging from an unrequited love story of a man in love with his best friend's wife, a blossoming romance stifled by language barriers, a widower helping his stepson find love, a heartbreaking story of a man embarking on an affair with his secretary, and a surprising love affair between the Prime Minister and a member of his household staff, to name a few. Just add one epic performance of "All I Want for Christmas Is You" and Love Actually earns its place as one of the greatest Christmas movie of all time.

This remake of the original 1947 stands out as a classic of its own. Richard Attenborough stars as Kris Kringle, who takes over the role of Santa at Cole's Department Store in New York. Kringle brings a little holiday magic to the children he meets, and soon everyone believes he's the real Santa Claus—which eventually is proven in court. This heartwarming film is a must-see holiday classic.

If you're looking for an action-packed Christmas movie, The Polar Express is a must-see. On Christmas Eve, a young boy boards the Polar Express train heading to the North Pole, meeting friends along the way and eventually arriving in Santa's workshop. It will inspire even the most cynical viewers to believe in a little Christmas magic.

The holidays can be a tense time for families coming together, and Four Christmases brings that idea to the next level. Vince Vaughn and Reese Witherspoon's characters have planned the perfect family-free holiday with an exotic vacation, but they're forced to change their plans and spend time with their families instead. The comedy will relate to anyone bracing for nonstop family time during the holiday season.

We defy you not to sing along with the iconic titular song every time this Christmas classic, starring Bing Crosby, Rosemary Clooney, Danny Kaye, and Vera Ellen as a duo of performers who help out an old army buddy by putting on a spectacular Christmas show.

The Charles Dickens classic gets a Jim Henson twist in this hilarious family favorite starring the beloved Muppet characters like Kermit the Frog, Miss Piggy, and Gonzo as Ebenezer Scrooge (played by Michael Caine) spends a dramatic Christmas night learning about the real meaning of the holiday.

Santa's misfit son has to save Christmas in a whirlwind journey to deliver a final missing Christmas present before the big holiday morning arrives.

Is Die Hard a Christmas movie or not? We'll leave that for you to decide as you watch off-duty cop John McClane as he tries to rescue his wife and an office building full of hostages from a scheming group of thieves, in true action hero style.

Another riff on Dickens's iconic tale, in this version Bill Murray stars as Frank Cross, a selfish, cruel TV executive who is hilariously subjected to the full Scrooge treatment when he's visited by the ghosts of Christmas past, present, and future.

After learning she has just weeks to live, uptight Georgia (Queen Latifah) decides to seize the day and live her last Christmas to the fullest.

Things take an unexpected turn in this '90s favorite when an angel (Denzel Washington) sent to help a preacher with his crisis of faith and troubled marriage becomes enchanted with the preacher's wife (Whitney Houston).

A historically-Christmas loving couple of empty nesters who have planned to skip the holiday season get into hilarious trouble when they have to recreate all of their Christmas traditions on the fly after their daughter decides to come home for the holiday at the last minute.

Santa's troublemaker brother Fred stirs up all kinds of problems for the jolly old elf when he returns to the North Pole to work as a toymaker after getting into criminal mischief in this off-beat comedy.

This holly-jolly 1964 classic, all about the famous reindeer with his shiny nose, is sure to be a stop-motion favorite with the whole family.

In the original 1947 classic, a department store Santa must prove that he's the genuine article, and save one little girl's faith in Christmas in the process.

A type-A woman (Sarah Jessica Parker) ends up causing no end of family drama when she accompanies her boyfriend home for the holidays to meet his eccentric family.

In this live-action adaptation of the Dr. Seuss classic, Jim Carrey stars as the titular green grump who sets out to wreck the holidays of Whoville, and winds up learning a valuable lesson about Christmas instead.

Christmas in New York gets a dose of Kevin McCallister, when the wisecracking kid accidentally ends up alone in the Big Apple, and finds himself dodging some familiar face from Christmas past.

Who better to take on the role of Scrooge than Scrooge McDuck, the miserly Mickey Mouse favorite who gets a dose of his own medicine in this Disney cartoon version of the Charles Dickens story.

A trio of longtime friends attempt to carryout their annual Christmas Eve tradition of partying as the looming specter of adulthood threatens to make it their last holiday together—leading to an especially wild night of mishaps, debauchery, and hilarity.