Greetings, intrepid readers! M. H. Barton here with another blog post on the art and craft of storytelling. Today, I’ll be wading into controversial waters and analyzing the film Die Hard to determine if it really is a Christmas movie. This is a hotly debated topic with strong emotions on either side, but I want to try and do this as analytically as I possibly can. As such, I’ll be doing some arguing with myself, making the case both for and against it being a Christmas film before reaching my ultimate conclusion. Regardless, none of this is meant as a criticism of Die Hard as a film. It’s a transformational action movie that became the standard-bearer for the genre and also became one of the most often copied or parodied action films of all. I mean, how many other films are directly compared to this one? Speed? Die Hard on a bus. Air Force One? Die Hard on a plane. I could go on and on, but there is definitely no criticism here of Die Hard as one of the definitive action films of all time. I simply want to see if it’s actually a Christmas film or not. Anyway, with all that said, let’s get started!
The case for a Christmas movie
First, and most obviously, Die Hard takes place entirely on Christmas Eve. This is more than can be said for several other films considered Christmas movies. In particular, White Christmas comes to mind. The only Christmas-set scenes in the movie are the early scenes and the final scene, yet nobody questions that White Christmas is a Christmas classic. Honestly, maybe we should, but that’s a question for another time. As for Die Hard, there’s no denying it does have proper Christmas timing.
Of course, the setting isn’t everything. There’s also tone, and this is an area where Die Hard receives some criticism from detractors, saying that it’s too violent and vulgar to be a Christmas movie. While it was certainly different back in 1988 to have such a violent movie with a Christmas setting, I don’t view this as disqualifying. We’ve gone on to have other movies considered Christmas films that are violent as well. These range from more cartoony violence, such as Home Alone, to films with gratuitous sex and murder, such as Bad Santa. While violence certainly goes against the meaning of Christmas, it can certainly find a place in Christmas storytelling.
Music is another area we can look at for this argument. Going back to White Christmas, we can see that this film features a mere two Christmas songs in it. Die Hard doubles that with four Christmas songs featured throughout: “Winter Wonderland,” “Christmas in Hollis,” “Let it snow! Let it snow! Let it snow!” and “Jingle Bells.” Once again, if one wishes to disqualify Die Hard based on music, one should be willing to do the same to White Christmas.
We should also consider the villain, Hans Gruber, portrayed masterfully by the late Alan Rickman. He’s an excellent antagonist by any measure, and his demeanor and actions throughout the story feel positively Grinch-like. He has literally zero regard for the loss of human life, shown by his attempts to calm the hostages only to plan to kill them all to cover their escape. He even seems rather callous towards his own men, only feeling emotion at losing the manpower they represent when they’re killed. With all this, plus Gruber’s constant snide remarks about Christmas miracles, he is certainly worthy of being regarded as a proper Christmas villain, helping the case for Die Hard as a Christmas movie even more.
In the end, amidst all the gunfire and explosions, the film’s story is one about a man and a woman learning how to be a family again. John McClain makes many mistakes, most born out of his compulsion to take control of any given situation. Holly, his wife (with a Christmassy name, to boot!), also seems to go out of her way to make things harder for John, clearly prioritizing her career over her family, as seen when she’s working late on Christmas Eve. Each is forced into a moment of letting go of their past sins and moving forward, John when he has to walk barefoot on glass and knows he’s likely too injured to survive the night, and Holly when she and John have to unclasp her promotion watch to send Gruber falling to his death. Holly ultimately takes up her married surname, McClain, once more in a beautiful conclusion to this story.
The case against a Christmas movie
While my other self makes a compelling argument for Die Hard being a Christmas film, there are several problems with the notion. Yes, the film takes place at Christmas, but so do many other films. One example is Iron Man 3, which isn’t described by anyone I know as a Christmas film. Also, neither film was released in theaters anywhere close to Christmas – Iron Man 3 in April and Die Hard in July. This seems to point to the idea that the makers of Die Hard never intended for it to be a Christmas film.
Music is another interesting point of contention. Yes, Die Hard features a number of Christmas songs, but most of them are played quietly in the background or briefly sung/hummed by one of the characters. The film’s score draws far more attention to the “Ode to Joy,” which features prominently as Hans Gruber’s theme. The song is iconic, appearing many times in the movie in many different ways, and is considered by many to be the theme song for Die Hard. This is the problem. The most likely song to stick in the audience’s head after the film ends isn’t even a Christmas song! Contrast this with another Christmas film, Home Alone. Not only are many Christmas songs featured, (and not as quiet background music) but the John Williams score is a masterclass in how to score a Christmas film. Many holiday songs, notably “Carol of the Bells,” are remixed and reworked into iconic themes that feel unique yet still in the Christmas spirit. Outside of a couple of major Christmas song moments, Die Hard falls flat in this regard.
The ultimate reason Die Hard falls short of being a Christmas movie is its story. Though Christmas settings and elements are present during the story, almost all of these are superfluous. We see random Christmas trees and Santa hats present during the fights and shootouts, but these things rarely play a major role in the story. The only exceptions are McClain’s first message to Gruber, done by dressing a dead thug in a Santa suit, and the way McClain hides his pistol during the final confrontation, taping it to his back with Christmas packing supplies. Still, even these elements, memorable as they are, aren’t required to be Christmassy.
In fact, if we were to strip away every reference to Christmas in the entire film, this would impact the story very little. The office Christmas party to get everyone in place for the terrorist attack? One of the workers mentioned it’s really a party for closing a major deal, so Christmas is irrelevant there. Gruber’s snide remarks about Christmas? Just a way to show his smartass personality with lines that are easily changed. Seriously, take away any mention of Christmas in Die Hard, and it’s literally the same exact movie. And yes, there is the heartwarming conclusion where John and Holly reconcile as a family, but that’s nothing exclusive about Christmas. In other movies with plots that are only tangentially related to Christmas, the holiday is still integral to the plot. Home Alone? The entire reason Kevin is “Alone” is that his family and everyone in his neighborhood are traveling for Christmas, leaving him the only one to defend against the Wet Bandits. Bad Santa? The entire point is a mall Santa using his job to the mall on Christmas Eve without raising suspicion. A Christmas movie doesn’t have to be about Christmas, but it does have to feature the holiday as an irreplaceable part of the story, which Die Hard really does not.
Conclusion
There’s no denying the natural divisions on this topic among fans. Hell, even the makers of the film don’t agree! Screenwriter Steven E. de Souza has declared that it is and was written to be a Christmas movie, but actor Bruce Willis has stated just as emphatically that it isn’t. It’s unbelievably difficult to make this determination, as I see the merits of both arguments, but I have to go with my gut. On my last watch of the film, I kept noticing the Christmas props in the film and thought, “Huh, that seems conveniently placed. Oh, there’s another one. But what does any of this have to do with Christmas?” If I’m questioning that much the relevance of Christmas in the plot, even after all these years, I think that makes the answer clear.
Final verdict: Die Hard is NOT a Christmas movie
And that’s going to do it for this controversial blog entry. Again, please don’t mistake my final verdict. I love Die Hard as a film. It modernized and redefined an entire storytelling genre! I just can’t come to see it as a Christmas movie. If you do, that’s cool. In fact, I’d love to hear from you and why you think it is or isn’t a Christmas movie. Feel free to let me know in the comments or reach out directly, especially if you have any ideas or requests for future entries. I’ve got an active running list of ideas, but I’m always open to more. I’d appreciate it if you’d leave a like and share this post on social media. And to stay up to date on future blog posts, you can sign up for my monthly newsletter on my website. Until the next story!