A Christmas Story Christmas pays tribute to the original movie’s “triple dog dare” scene with Flick getting revenge on his old pal Schwartz.
In A Christmas Story Christmas, many callbacks are made to the original movie, but the one that stands out the most is Flick’s revenge on Schwartz with his own triple dog dare. This moment occurs in the second half of the movie, as Ralphie takes his son, Mark, to Flick’s bar to cheer him up with Christmas right around the corner. Flick allows Mark to be a bartender for a little, and even he even gets a tip from a local townie for keeping his location a secret from whoever is looking for him.
Schwartz has a long-running tab at Flick’s Tavern, and he always says that he is going to pay it off. An argument occurs between the two A Christmas Story Christmas characters, which ultimately leads to Flick telling Schwartz to go ride The Ramp. The Ramp is a huge slide that, according to Ralphie’s narration, is “An abandoned experiment from the Army Corps of Engineers. In winter, it turned into a frosted sluice of terror.” When the moment comes, Schwartz wants to chicken out, but Flick pulls the triple dog dare card, putting Schwartz into a dead end.
How A Christmas Story Christmas’ “Triple Dog Dare” Scene Still Helps Schwartz
While this triple dog dare is far more dangerous than the original flagpole scene in A Christmas Story, Flick offers Schwartz to clear his bar tab if he goes through with it. The bar tab that Schwartz has going isn’t great for his economic situation, so of course, he’s willing to risk his safety in order to get rid of his debt to his friend. It’s a great scene in the 2022 sequel of A Christmas Story that allows the original characters to reenact a familiar dialogue. Schwartz is okay in the end, and sarcastically offers drinks to his friends on his new tab.
Why A Christmas Story Christmas Needed Its Own “Triple Dog Dare” Moment
A Christmas Story Christmas does an amazing job of including nostalgic moments of its predecessor film. The “triple dog dare” scene in the first movie is one of the most iconic parts of the story, so obviously, the sequel had to have its own version of it! It’s a fantastic scene that ties to the sequel’s plot and keeps the connection going to the original film. Flick does Schwartz dirty with the revenge tactic, but it’s all in the holiday spirit. The returning characters in A Christmas Story Christmas bring comedy and nostalgia perfectly to this moment.
While this film has nothing on the original, A Christmas Story Christmas allows audience members to enjoy a new holiday story with a lot of familiar faces from 1983. It’s an emotional ride for Ralphie, as he has to be the one to make Christmas a special one for his family, but scenes like the “triple dog dare” scene remind him what the holidays are all about. A Christmas Story Christmas can only be streamed on HBO Max as it is an original film of the platform.