Every holiday season, there seems to be a traditional war of words about whether or not “Die Hard” is a Christmas movie.
“Die Hard” is an action movie that takes place on Christmas Eve, focusing on New York police officer John McClane played by Bruce Willis.
He visits Los Angeles to visit his wife Holly (Bonnie Bedelia) and children John ‘Jack’ Jr (Noah Land) and Lucy (Taylor Fry).
McClane joins Holly for a Christmas party at the fictional Nakatomi plaza where she works.
Soon after joining the party, the building is taken over by international terrorists led by Hans Gruber (Alan Rickman) who wants to steal the company’s $640 million bonds.
The terrorists lock down the building, holding plenty of hostages inside including McClane’s wife. McClane realizes he is the only one who can save the hostages.
Throughout the movie, McClane injects humor regarding Christmas such as getting into a scuffle with one of the terrorists and putting a Santa hat on his lifeless corpse.
McClane also wrote in red permanent marker on his chest “Now I have a machine gun ho-ho-ho” to intimidate the other terrorists.
This is why McClane is just as jolly as Santa Claus.
In pop culture, the “Die Hard Christmas movie” discussion has been popularized through debate and reintroduced through shows such as “Friends” and “Brooklyn Nine-Nine”, according to a Screen Rant article.
I understand that people may think it is ridiculous to try and argue about whether an action movie can be a Christmas movie too.
The movie was released in July 1988 during this time of year movie studios have historically released action films, such as the “Indiana Jones” and “Jurassic Park” series.
Some fans credit three-time Oscar-winning director Steven Spielberg with the summer blockbuster trend, according to a Screen Rant article.
Over the years, movie studios have tried to produce Christmas movies with a twist that fall under the sub-genre of an action movie with Christmas themes such as “The Long Kiss Goodnight” and “Silent Night.”
This year, the action movie with Christmas themes is “Red One” starring popular action-movie actor Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, a movie that has some similarities to “Die Hard.”
During Christmas time, there are constant debates: what time to open presents, what type of wrapping paper to use and most importantly “Is ‘Die Hard’ a Christmas movie?”
One of my lifelong friends and I have agreed on most things throughout our lives, and we usually find a way to compromise and get along.
But for some reason, the one argument we will gladly die hard on is whether or not “Die Hard” can be enjoyed during the holidays.
I like “Die Hard” as a Christmas movie because it gives us all a chance to feel connected to the holiday through subtle themes.
At the same time, you’re able to watch a character walk on broken glass barefoot while killing international terrorists to try bring his family back together.
This debate has been prevalent for decades. Just like the fandom, even lead actor Bruce Willis and writer Steven E. de Souza seem to disagree on if “Die Hard” is a holiday film, according to a Digital Spy article.
De Souza’s main point of justifying that “Die Hard” is a Christmas movie is how throughout the whole movie there are themes that maintain the holiday spirit including the setting of an office Christmas party, according to the same Digital Spy article.
He defended his argument with a direct comparison to the 1953 film “White Christmas,” pleading that there are more Christmas song scenes and less deaths in "Die Hard.”
“It’s not a Christmas movie,” said Willis at The Comedy Central Roast of Bruce Willis in 2018, “It's a goddamn Bruce Willis movie!”
Although the debate about “Die Hard” being a Christmas movie can be taken as a joke started by the fandom, I think it provides a great excuse to watch an action movie during the holiday season.
