Die hard is, in fact, a Christmas movie

In the winter of 1988, one of the most iconic action movies in American history was released in theaters. Like most movies of that genre in that particular time period, it successfully combined thrills, comedy, and romance. And, like most action movies of the 80s, the gratuitous boob shot requirement was also met. It’s the important things in life that make it worth living, you know?

The movie was based on a novel called Nothing Lasts Forever, written by Roderick Thorp (1936-1999) in 1979. I have known that the movie was based on a book for a while, but never dug much into it… until now. In preparation for this post, I finally looked that bit of info up. The opening credits only mention it was based on a novel by the author, but does not name the novel. What does this have to do with the point that Die Hard is a Christmas movie? Nothing, really. I just figured I’d throw it out there. Back to the matter at hand.

There have been many posts written on this subject, none of which I have read. Honestly, when I see a title along the lines of “10 Reasons Why My Blah Blah Blah is Important,” as most entertainment related posts tend to be, I roll my eyes and ignore such posts. It may not be fair of me, seeing as to how I am writing a post about the subject, but I know they would just be preaching to the choir; also, chances are good that there will be ad bombs, or that the post will be poorly written, so no thanks. I am a die hard believer, nay, knower of the truth: Die Hard is, in fact, a Christmas movie. To say otherwise would put one’s ignorance in full display. That is why it was so disheartening when Bruce Willis, the star of the movie, said it was not. He’s just an actor, though, so what does he know?

I will submit that it is possible they (John McTiernan and the rest of the production team) did not set out to make a Christmas movie. Intended or not, they did produce a Christmas movie, and one that should be watched every year… after the kids have gone to bed (it is rated R). The aforementioned book itself is set during Christmas, so it’s not like the script was changed to make it so. This is the problem for artists of all types. They may intend their art to mean one thing, but, in the end, it is up to the audience to determine what the art means to them. Denying this meaning exists is disrespectful of the audience. Therefore, since a large swath of the audience has correctly determined that Die Hard is a Christmas movie, the cast and crew have no choice but to acknowledge the fact that it is a Christmas movie. They may disagree, of course, but again, they risk exposing their ignorance on top of disrespecting the audience.

A Christmas movie needs a character arch, or an opportunity for redemption. A character starts out with a flaw, and at some point during the story, this flaw is analyzed and corrected. Think of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol. Old Scrooge is visited by several ghosts to tell him what a complete a-hole he is, and he should change his ways. In the end, Scrooge stops being a grade-A a-hole by giving away all his money, and supposedly lives happily ever after. John McClane, the main character of Die Hard starts out being a “bad husband” as his flaw. He and his wife separated because she wanted to have a career, and that involved moving from New York City to Los Angeles. As flaws go, this one is kind of meh, but it is a flaw nonetheless. Towards the end, John realizes that his wife is more important than his pride. So, we have redemption. On a side note, I would argue that Holly (the wife) was just as selfish, if not more so, than John, but that is outside the scope of this post. The support character, Al Powell (played by Reginald VelJohnson), also has a moment of redemption: he confesses that he put himself behind a desk after shooting a kid who had a toy gun. In the end, Al lets go of his guilt in order to save people by using his gun again. So, that’s redemption number two. No, it does not make it twice the Christmas movie.

A Christmas movie needs a miracle to happen. That is part of Christmas. The miracle that is Jesus’ birth must be symbolized somewhere in the story. Can a guy who has gone his whole life being a terrible, terrible a-hole really change overnight? If so, what would it take? Enter the ghosts in Dickens’ classic. The miracle in Die Hard is that, against all odds, one guy without shoes manages to stop 12 well armed men from killing a whole bunch of people. Then, there is the miracle Hans Gruber (played by the amazing Alan Rickman) perceives in the story, which he needs in order to achieve his goal of opening the vault. Enter the F…B…I to deliver that miracle.

A Christmas movie needs to be set during Christmas, and it must play a vital role in the story. The points I’ve brought up so far are just standard story/character arches. In the Shawshank Redemption, for example, we have redemption (it is in the title, duh!) and we have a miracle (dude crawls thru 3 miles of poo and comes out clean), but it cannot be a Christmas movie because it is not set during Christmas, nor does Christmas play a vital role in the story. Die Hard, on the other hand, is indeed set during Christmas time. The Nagatomi Corporation was throwing a Christmas party, which provided the opportunity for the bad guys to come in and start trouble. Hence, Christmas had a vital role in the story. Open the movie with a Christmas based rap song, and close it out with a classic, and you have pretty much solidified the season’s role in the movie.

A Christmas movie needs presents. John is bringing a gigantic teddy bear for one of his kids as a present. So that takes care of that.

A Christmas movie may or may not have an inspirational message. A lot of people want the “family-feel-good” to be prominent in a Christmas movie, like It’s a Wonderful Life or Miracle on 34th Street, but it is not a required element for a movie to be considered a Christmas movie. National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation does not inspire any feelings of good will towards others, yet it is a classic Christmas movie. You might think that there is no inspirational message in Die Hard, but you would be wrong. John was out-manned and out-gunned. Yet he did not surrender. He fought for what was right against incredible odds, sometimes even fought against the very people who were supposed to be on his side. If that does not inspire you to be a better person, then you have no soul.

Come to think of it, another “classic” Christmas movie is basically the kid version of Die Hard. I am talking, of course, of Home Alone. You have a little selfish kid who gets left behind by his family, realizes he is on the path to becoming a major a-hole when he is forced to live alone for a few days (redemption), and manages to thwart two (grown adult) bad guys falling for stupid pranks (miracle). It is set during Christmas, there are presents, and has the optional inspirational message that family is important. You cannot hold that Home Alone is a Christmas movie then argue Die Hard is not.

This is a debate that has been going on for years. I do not understand why since the truth is right in front of everyone. Again, whether it was not intended to be a Christmas movie is irrelevant. I, for one, consider the argument over, and hold that anyone who pretends (or worse, actually believes) Die Hard is not a Christmas movie is an uncultured heathen. Yippee ki yay, mother-f..!