Why Die Hard is Definitely a Christmas Movie
In 2018 Bruce Willis declared “Die Hard is not a Christmas movie. It’s a goddamn Bruce Willis movie!” Thinking this would put a stop to the debate about Die Hard’s place amongst our favourite festive films, he only intensified the argument. Mainly because in this case, he was wrong. Die Hard is definitely a Christmas movie.
Firstly, it is set on Christmas Eve. Simply being set around Christmas does not make a film a Christmas film. That is unless it directly affects the plot, which is clearly the case here. Our hero John McClane flies from New York to Los Angeles to spent the holidays with his wife (the festively named Holly) and kids. No other holiday brings family together like this, he’s not flying that far to spend Halloween with them.
It is not a coincidence that Hans Gruber and his group of criminals chose this time of year and the Nakatomi Christmas party to try pull off their elaborate heist. They know that this is the only time when all the high-level executives would be together, along with members of their families, perfect for taking hostages. They also knew the rest of the building would be empty, keeping security and potential casualties to a minimum. Making the timing of the heist a key plot device.
There is something particularly evil about stealing, taking hostages and murder around Christmas. Obviously, these are awful at any time, but at Christmas time they provoke a particular emotional response for movie watchers. We can compare Hans Gruber to the evil banker Mr. Potter from It’s A Wonderful Life, Scrooge from A Christmas Carol, The Grinch or the Wet Bandits from Home Alone. The emotional response viewers get from these characters is because we can’t believe they act that way at Xmas time. Alan Rickman’s portrayal of Hans Gruber stirs similar emotions because Die Hard is a Christmas film and viewers can’t believe someone could do something that evil during the festive period.
Then we have the soundtrack. A very merry soundtrack. Run DMC’s Christmas in Hollis, Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!, Winter Wonderland and Ode to Joy all feature. Bruce Willis even whistles a little bit of Jingle Bells for good measure. The original score was composed and conducted by Michael Kamen who included plenty of bells to ensure it had a particularly cheerful feel.
Of course there is also all of the classic symbols of Christmas, beautifully lit trees, tinsel, over the top decorations, drunk office workers, Santa hats and well wrapped presents with ribbons and bows. Some festive wrapping tape even plays a pivotal role in John taking out the bad guys.
The film then ends with a fluttering of snow, sort of. It rarely snows in L.A so a creative solution was found. Thanks to some wonderful cinematography, paper falling from the now destroyed Nakatomi Plaza allows L.A residents to dream of having a white Christmas.
In essence Die Hard is a film about a family man trying to reconnect with his wife and kids over the Christmas period and realising that your loved ones are the most important thing in the world. This is the plot to about 80% of all Christmas films.
20th Century Fox, the studio behind the film, never intended Die Hard to be a festive classic. It was originally released on July 15th and none of the marketing made any references to Christmas. But it was the fans, rewatching every December that cemented its place alongside the likes of Home Alone, It’s A Wonderful Life, Elf, Love Actually and How The Grinch Stole Christmas. And ultimately, that’s what makes something a Christmas film, not the setting, not the characters, not the bright lights or the soundtrack. But people watching every year and associating it with the yuletide season. For some, Die Hard will never be considered a Christmas film but for others it’s not Christmas until John McClane steps off that plane from New York and heads to Nakatomi Plaza.
