The days are shorter and there’s a cold bite in the air, so you know what that means: it’s time to cozy up with all your favourite Christmas movies. For me, one of those movies is Die Hard.
Every Christmas Eve, I make my family watch Die Hard with me, even though my mom doesn’t believe it’s a Christmas movie and my dad falls asleep before any action starts.
Thankfully, my younger brother is pretty easy to convince, but what 15-year-old is going to say no to a high-stakes action movie? Exactly.
It’s a heavily debated topic: is Die Hard a Christmas movie? The answer for me, at least, is 100 percent yes. Here’s why.
Point #1: It takes place at a Christmas party
The whole movie takes place at John McClane’s estranged wife Holly Gennero-McClane’s work Christmas party. There are Christmas trees with Christmas lights, presents, and estranged family members that you can barely stand. I don’t know about you, but that screams “Christmas” to me.
Home Alone is a well-known Christmas movie that I personally think doubles as an action movie. That whole movie follows Kevin, the main character, setting painful boobytraps to keep burglars from invading his home after being forgotten by his parents not once but twice.
Swap out the Germans’ guns in Die Hard for Kevin’s swinging paint cans, and it’s basically the same movie.
Yet, Home Alone is always referred to as a Christmas movie, no questions asked. Die Hard should be as well.
Point # 2: It opens with a romantic gesture
It’s a common trend for Christmas movies to have a main romantic plot. Or for the movies to be entirely a romance movie that takes place over Christmas, because who wouldn’t want to fall in love while frantically last-minute Christmas shopping in fuzzy reindeer pyjamas?
Some of my favourite examples are Elf and The Holiday. (Just because I think Die Hard is a Christmas movie doesn’t mean I have a heart of coal.)
Die Hard opens with McClane bringing a teddy bear for his wife from New York to Los Angeles. Yes, he is not the best dude, but neither are most male protagonists in Christmas movies. Travelling across the country is a pretty romantic gesture, if you ask me.
Point # 3: It concludes with a typical, heart-warming happy ending
At the end of the movie, John survives and Holly seemingly forgives him (even though they barely spoke, much less talked through their issues, the entire film) and their family becomes a family again. It’s like when Kevin and his family reunite in Home Alone. Yay, everyone is happy!
Well, clearly not everyone. RIP, Hans.
Anyway, you can’t tell me that McClane’s selflessness and determination to save his family isn’t just a little bit heartwarming.
Have I convinced you that Die Hard is, in fact, a Christmas movie? Or, if not, have I least shot down all your arguments for why you think it isn’t? Since you didn’t say anything, I’m going to assume the former is correct.
At the very least, I hope I’ve sparked some sort of interest for you to re-watch, or experience for the first time, this epic, action-filled CHRISTMAS movie.
Merry Christmas and yippee ki-yay, Camosun.