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Obviously, plenty of movies and TV shows have snow in them. So, as with the previous list, we are looking at moments where ice and snow had some special significance, making the story a bit more memorable. These snow scenes include a deformed child abandoned to a presumptive ice-watery grave, a legendary vampire, a fugitive facing a Chicago winter, and a Halloween-happy character who discovers the joy of Christmas. Enjoy!
Snow Moment #1: Batman Returns (1992)
In Tim Burton’s sequel to his blockbuster Batman, we are introduced to Gotham City orphan Oswald Cobblepot (Danny DeVito), who was rejected by his birth parents (Paul Reubens and Diane Salinger) on a snowy evening in a grand fashion. Deeming the infant as not even a member of the human race, they take the child onto a small bridge in Gotham and cast him into some icy waters below, where he gets swept into the sewer system, destined to become the nefarious Penguin.
Years later, the now adult Penguin kidnaps industrialist Max Shreck (Christopher Walken), intending to strike up a partnership as the city’s Mayor. In order for the Penguin to attain power as a leader, he feels he must take out Batman (Michael Keaton). He does so by framing Batman for the assassination of Gotham’s beauty queen “Ice Princess” (Cristi Conaway), as well as sabotaging the Caped Crusader’s Batmobile!
Of course, Penguin also forges a shaky alliance with Catwoman (Michelle Pfeiffer), whose real name is Selena Kyle, an assistant to Shreck, who pushed her from a high window after she was caught snooping around in his personal files. Overwhelmed by grief and representing a sort of nihilistic-yet-vengeful dual personality, Catwoman is the film’s anti-heroine, working variously to distract Batman while working as Penguin’s enforcer (in addition to Penguin’s Red Triangle gang of circus workers-turned criminals, as well as real-life penguins who are trained to be loyal).
By the time Batman captures Cobblepot, the miscreant’s comrades have all either abandoned him or been killed, and Cobblepot is sent into an icy, watery grave, much as his birth parents originally intended.
Snow Moment #2: Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1992)
In this Francis Ford Coppola depiction of Bram Stoker’s Dracula, we get deeper insight into the backstory of Dracula (Gary Oldman), or Vlad and the Impaler. As he was out slaying his enemies, his wife Elisabeta (Winona Ryder) had falsely heard of Vlad’s death and took her own life as a sacrifice. Enraged upon the news that her suicide places her in Hell, Vlad curses a holy altar and declares war against God, somehow magically placing a vampire curse on himself.
Putting aside the politics of how this scene validates the church, it is a powerful moment, and it first introduces us to the visual beauty of Dracula’s castle. Over the course of time, the Transylvanian castle becomes a feared place. That being said, the scenery on the way to it looks lovely when covered with snow. Though snow isn’t the main focus of these scenes, it does make them seem more majestic somehow. The snow is also meant to be an expression of Dracula’s power over the elements.
On that note: Some critics and fans joke about Keanu Reeves seeming out of place in this film. It’s tempting to imagine him further out of character, doing neat tricks on a snowboard near Dracula’s castle. Excellent!
Snow Moment #3: The Fugitive (1993)
After his wife (Sela Ward) is murdered by a one-armed man (Andreas Katsulas), Dr. Richard Kimble (Harrison Ford) is wrongly convicted as the killer and, through freak circumstances, makes a daring escape. In fact, Kimble initially needed to escape in order to survive. However, here’s the problem: If you are an innocent man who had to escape, do you simply turn yourself in and decline to avenge your wife and prove your innocence? Richard Kimble said “Hell no” to that, which is why he ends up pursued by the dedicated U.S. Marshal Sam Gerard (Tommy Lee Jones).
As he narrowly avoids capture, Kimble does a number of death-defying stunts. However, we are also reminded that Kimble must face the elements, including the cold Chicago winter. Director Andrew Davis and screenwriters Jeb Stuart and David Twohy keep these elements relatively subtle, but savvy critics have noted this.
For example, Robert Rubsam of Gawker notes: “The Fugitive was shot during a midwestern winter, frequently at night, sometimes in frigid water, and everyone looks like they’re freezing all the time. The actors are always hunching their shoulders, their hands in their pockets, breath misting.” The cold surely has symbolic value regarding Kimble’s being at the mercy of nature and makes his plight seem all the more daunting.
Snow Moment #4: The Good Son (1993)
In this underrated flick by director Joseph Ruben, Mark Evans (Elijah Wood) ends up having to stay with relatives in Maine while his dad (David Morse) goes away on an extended business trip. Sad that his mother (Ashley Crow) passed away, Mark first spends much of his day sullen and withdrawn. However, Mark’s cousin Henry (Macaulay Culkin) seems cool enough to maybe cheer him up.
Unfortunately, though, Mark gradually learns of Henry’s dark, manipulative nature, which he uses to do bad, harmful, potentially even deadly things. In the process, he turns the grownups of the house, Wallace (Daniel Hugh Kelly) and Susan (Wendy Crewson), against him, making them think he’s the one who’s acting badly.
Susan is pleasant and encouraging, but especially susceptible to Henry’s manipulations. However, the audience knows better about Henry, especially after he bullies and threatens his sister Connie (Quinn Culkin), including almost putting her to an icy early grave while ice skating! Yes, Henry is willing to inflict death, seemingly for fun, as if it’s nothing but a game.
Now, what about the critics and The Good Son? Don’t listen to the negative reviews! Frankly, there is practically nothing bad about this movie, including Culkin’s performance. Could it be they were unfairly criticizing the child actor for his relation to Home Alone? Did they think he could never outgrow that particular role? Though it’s not true that Macaulay Culkin retired from acting (just check his IMDb page), one wonders if the chilly reception to this film might have made him have second thoughts about acting. This movie simply serves a little more love than it seems to get.
Snow Moment #5: The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)
Directed by Henry Selick and based on a poem by Tim Burton, The Nightmare Before Christmas is a one-of-a-kind movie, with few people bold or pathetic enough to try duplicating its core concept. It centers on the monsters, ghosts, and witches of Halloween Town and their designated leader, Jack Skellington (Chris Sarandon/Danny Elfman). Though all the other citizens of his town remain enthralled by Halloween, Jack secretly longs for something more.
For better or worse, Jack finds it in his discovery of Christmas Town and its own enigmatic leader, Santa Claus (Ed Ivory). Jack decides it would be a dandy idea to criss-cross their worlds, bringing delightful frights to Christmas and holiday cheer to his own domain. As one might expect, problems quickly arise, and they end up jeopardizing both “Towns” (though one perhaps more than the other).
Though the creepy aspects of the film are appealing, the scenes of Skellington reveling in the snow seem to bridge the gap between holidays. Jack seems enthralled with this other world, and who can blame him? Christmas does look pretty fun, at least the way it’s depicted here. Also, October is not very far from December anyway (and you might enjoy a nice family dinner in November, too).
Snow Moment #6: Schindler’s List (1993)
Depicting the brutal reality of genocide and forced labor, Steven Spielberg’s Schindler’s List is not just some love letter to the central character (Liam Neeson), but depicts heroism in the face of terrifying odds within the Jewish community. Like elsewhere in films about the Holocaust, the extermination of the Jews is characterized by efficient planning, mass murder, and insane levels of hatred by power-mad leaders.
In one memorable, wintry scene, the sadistic Commandant Amon Goeth (Ralph Fiennes) chooses the shivering Helen Hirsch (Embeth Davidtz) to be his housekeeper and his future victim of protracted psychological abuse and manipulation. Immediately after this, he coldly executes a Jewish engineer (Elina Löwensohn) who correctly notes that their construction project had been miscalculated by planners. Then he instructs the construction crew to rebuild with her corrections. In other words, she was executed despite being correct!
Amon Goeth is undeniably one of cinema’s most memorable villains, but it’s commonly said that Fiennes actually needed to downplay his characterization of the character because the real Amon Goeth was so sinister that moviegoers would not have believed it. There are aspects of the Holocaust that remain underexamined on film, such as the Jasenovac concentration camp. However, with Schindler’s List alone, we get a pretty clear picture of the dangers of fascism, as well as totalitarianism overall.
Snow Moment #7: Dumb and Dumber (1994)
In Peter Farrelly’s Dumb and Dumber, dim-witted limo driver Lloyd Christmas (Jim Carrey) develops a crush on ride recipient Mary (Lauren Holly). After she leaves a briefcase in the airport terminal, Lloyd assumes it’s a chance to return it to her and win her affection. Little does he understand or care that she’s actually married, and he totally misses that she left the suitcase behind on purpose as ransom money for her kidnapped husband (Brad Lockerman).
Lloyd and his pal Harry (Jeff Daniels) may be slow upstairs, but they eventually figure out that Mary can be found in Aspen, Colorado. As they head out to return her briefcase and (ostensibly) win her affection, they are tracked by two henchmen enforcers of the kidnap plot, J.P. Shay (Karen Duffy) and Joe “Mental” Mentalino (Mike Starr).
Part of this movie’s success is the star power of Jim Carrey, his chemistry with Jeff Daniels, and a few key moments of potty humor. Still, there are definitely snowy moments that will be remembered forever. The two characters deal with some major adverse weather conditions, always unprepared, yet always having the ambition to plow forward on their half-assed quest. They both believe Mary will be impressed by their total lack of sophistication. Mary, a very independent woman, and the two professional henchmen are not at all ready for what these two dufuses unwittingly have to offer.
Snow Moment #8: True Lies (1994)
James Cameron’s True Lies has a rather memorable dash through the snow during its intro. Secret agent Harry Tasker (Arnold Schwarzenegger) emerges from some icy waters, and gets chased by dogs and angry men with machine guns on skis. Springing to his aid is Tom Arnold’s character, driving through the snow frantically (“It’s called ice and it gets a little slick!” he explains). For good measure, one of the snowmobiles hits a tree and explodes, as one might expect in such an action movie.
On the bright side, Harry does get to fraternize with a beautiful art dealer, Juno Skinner (Tia Carrere). The problem is that Harry’s wife Helen (Jamie Lee Curtis) might not approve. Then again, she at first doesn’t know. Nor does she know that Juno has links to a terrorist organization.
True Lies came out when the world was still pretty much hypnotized by Schwarzenegger the action star, but this film also caters to people who long for spy tales, obvious villains with shady connections, and secret headquarters. Jamie Lee Curtis also does an excellent job depicting Helen as someone who is initially reluctant to join her husband as a partner in his secret life, but ultimately proves herself. True Lies also stars Art Malik as Salim Abu Aziz, intending to blow things up. There is also Eliza Dushku as Helen and Harry’s daughter, Dana, and Bill Paxton as Simon, a sleazy car salesman-type who often pretends to be a mysterious spy to make himself more exciting to women.
Snow Moment #9: 12 Monkeys (1995)
In Terry Gilliam’s mind-bending, time-hopping, adventure 12 Monkeys, James Cole (Bruce Willis) often must deal with confusing and harsh circumstances as he attempts to track down the origins of a deadly virus. Sent to various different times in history, Cole must put up with various harsh circumstances, crazy people, and occasionally some harsh, wintry weather. The end result is one of the most easy-to-follow perplexing films ever made.
One of the strange characters he meets is Jeffrey Goines (Brad Pitt), who may or may not be the origin source of the virus. The story is frantic, as Cole lacks stable communication and proper training to fully deal with his mission in a competent manner. In fact, by a certain point, he becomes institutionalized because people, such as Dr. Kathryn Railly (Madeleine Stowe), assume he must just be a vagrant suffering from bizarre delusions including time travel and an “Army of the Twelve Monkeys.”
12 Monkeys is perhaps even more interesting now, as many have survived the coronavirus, so it’s easier for a film like this to get straight to the point emotionally (even if it is at times divergent). 12 Monkeys covers the characters’ struggle to return to sanity or to even grasp what sanity is, while ostensibly attempting to save the world from a disease of its own construction. It’s not a bad movie premise, and Brad Pitt was even nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, thanks to his compelling depiction of the quirky Mr. Goines.
Snow Moment #10: Fargo (1996)
This classic Coen Brothers film is about a kidnapping going awry, and how attempting to set up the perfect crime seldom works out. It also largely occurs in Minnesota, in the middle of a snowy and cold winter. Basically, if you’re living in Minnesota in the winter, you’d best make sure your coat is even thicker than your accent.
Frances McDormand shines here as Marge Gunderson, a pregnant Minnesota police chief who investigates a few murders related to the kidnapping plot, and the strange crimes also seem to involve a car salesman named Jerry Lundegaard (William H. Macy). The other criminals in Fargo, Carl (Steve Buscemi) and Gaear (Peter Stormare), end up demonstrating how even small-time crooks can be vicious and strange.
Kristin Rudrüd also appears as Jerry’s wife, Jean, who pays a steep price for being married to Jerry, and also for not being able to stay quiet. Jerry’s failed kidnapping plot is dramatic, but also oddly funny to watch. Fargo is one of the definitive dark comedy films of the 1990s.
What’s your favorite snow moment from this list? Are there any we should include in a future installment? Let it snow with suggestions in the comment section!
