It’s that time of year again when Mariah Carey has officially defrosted and Hallmark has started their Countdown to Christmas. One of my favorite Christmas traditions with my family is watching “The Polar Express” and drinking hot chocolate. Speaking of traditions, here’s one debate that usually happens during this time of year: Is “Die Hard”’ a Christmas movie? Well, I am here to put an end to this debate and say that it is, in fact, a Christmas movie.
But before we get into my reasons, let’s discuss the movie first. The best way that I can describe this movie is if Kevin from “Home Alone” grew up. For those of you that have seen “Home Alone,” we all know that Kevin’s smart behind not only got him in trouble, but it also kept him out of serious danger. Similarly, in “Die Hard” John was able to stop the bad guys, stay alive and crack some jokes in the process. But what makes this movie a Christmas movie? I have a couple of reasons.
According to Florida State University, two characteristics qualify a film as a Christmas movie. One of those characteristics is that it mentions Christmas in some way and the other is that if the movie was to take place at another time, the movie wouldn’t make sense. I think that “Die Hard” hits both of these marks.
“Die Hard” mentions Christmas multiple times. In the beginning of the movie, John says Merry Christmas to just about everybody he runs into. The music in the movie are Christmas classics, including and the first song we are introduced to is “Christmas in Hollis.” Even when the bad guys break into the safe the song that is playing is “Ode to Joy.” The movie ends with “Let It Snow.” I feel like that is a perfect justification to make it a Christmas movie.
The movie would also have to make sense if it was not around Christmas time. This movie would not make any sense if it wasn’t around Christmas time for a couple of reasons. First and foremost, there is a Christmas party at the time of the heist. Had the party never happened, John would have never gone to that office to look for his wife. And if John wasn’t there, I can’t confidently say that the bad guys would lose considering the terrible decisions of the FBI and police. Secondly, John is in Los Angeles to visit his wife and two daughters even though they are going through rough times. Now if you ask me, I wouldn’t want to visit my estranged family during Easter, Halloween or Arbor Day. Only the power of Christmas could make me do that, and I think that John would agree.
I also talked to my mom since we watched the movie together and asked her if it was a Christmas movie. My mom said “Yes it is a Christmas movie. It’s an action Christmas movie because it is set around Christmas time and it wouldn’t make sense if it wasn’t.” Not only did my mom comment on it, so did my aunt. She said, “I agree with Daphane (my mom). It’s an action Christmas movie.”
Well there you have it; an end to this yearly debate. “Die Hard” is in fact a Christmas movie because it mentions Christmas in some way and the story would not make sense if the setting wasn’t Christmas time. So is it safe to call this movie a Christmas classic? I think so.