Taking the top spot is the 1988 blockbuster Die Hard with its over the top action scenes totalling an eye-watering £15,192,394 worth of damage to the iconic Nakatomi Plaza office block and its surroundings. In second place came Gremlins with the mischievous, evil creatures inflicting £544,415 of damage to the fictional town of Kingston Falls.
To calculate how much damage was done in each film. Rated People enlisted the help of their expert database of tradespeople. A summary of every single piece of damage that took place in the films was sent to an expert panel made up of an electrician, decorator, glazier, builder and plumber who quoted for each piece of damage as if it was a real request from a prospective customer. The result is an extensive comparison of the damage that takes place in some of our favourite festive hits.
Christmas Films with the Most Damage
- Die Hard: £15,192,394
- Gremlins: £544,415
- Home Alone 2: £217,730
- The Grinch: £152,815
- Paddington: £34,547
Die Hard (1988)
(Yes, it’s a Christmas film!)
From start to finish this Bruce Willis classic is all action and destruction, with almost the entirety of the movie set around the doomed Nakatomi Plaza. Some of the costliest moments in the film include throwing explosives down an elevator shaft (£450,000 to repair), a police tank being blown up with a rocket launcher (£8,000,000) and three floors of the office being damaged by exploding C-4 (£291,000). Not to mention the sprinkler system flooding 35 floors of office space (£30,000) and a military helicopter crashing (£6,000,000 for the helicopter, £3,900 to repair the concrete it lands on).
Damage total: £15,192,394
Gremlins (1984)
When they weren’t exploding in microwaves, the evil Gremlins and their leader Stripe were busy wreaking havoc around the town of Kingston Falls. Their reign of terror included launching elderly Mrs Deagle off her stairlift and through a window (£250 to fix), snow ploughing through a wall in a house (£3,400) and exploding a small movie theatre (at least £500,000 to repair).
Damage total: £544,415
Home Alone 2: Lost in New York (1992)
It wouldn’t be Christmas without Home Alone, and it’s no wonder that the sequel comes out as one of the top five most destructive Christmas films. Between the Sticky Bandits blowing the electrics of Uncle Rob’s three-bed New York townhouse (£500), ruining the plumbing by lighting a toilet full of petrol in the bathroom with their head (£10,800) and causing further damage to a property already in need of major renovations (£190,000), the McCallister’s certainly have a large bill to take care of.
Damage total: £217,730
The Grinch Who Stole Christmas (2000)
A surprising addition to the list, the Christmas hating resident of Whoville creates quite a stir on his trips into the town. Stand out moments of the Grinch at his cunning worst include; setting alight the gigantic town Christmas tree (£500 to replace); smashing an entire bay window by pulling a bed through it (£1,000) and causing fire damage to the exterior of six Who houses (£140,000). Of course, all is forgiven in the end.
Damage total: £152,815
Paddington (2014)
Despite his intentions being as sweet as the Marmalade in his hat, disaster always seems to follow the clumsy Paddington. One scene sees the beloved bear completely ruin the bathroom of the Brown family’s three-story townhouse. The iconic moment sees Paddington block the toilet (£192), pull the cistern from the wall (£336) and burst the water pipe (£288) in one fell swoop. This leads to extensive water damage to the bathroom (£10,000) and the entire plumbing system in need of re-fitting (£10,800).
It’s not just the bathroom that needs repairing either. When the taxidermist attempts to capture Paddington in the Brown’s family home, an unfortunate series of events leads to the oven starting a fire in the kitchen. The result? Fire damage to the hardwood flooring (£900) and smoke damage to the entire kitchen (£7,000).
But it’s impossible to stay mad at Paddington!
Damage total: £34,547
To see the full breakdown of damage caused in the movies, click here.
