Despite our differences in social upbringing, nationality, language, religion, etc... We all agree in 1 thing, that Die Hard is a Christmas Movie, right?
Yippee Kay Yay... (The only movie that doesn't depresses me in Xmas)
My dad was arguing that it wasn't because being set at Christmas isn't enough, and said a bunch of things typical of a Christmas movie to have; while I countered with a list of things that happen in Die Hard that met his criteria.
"Someone needs to receive a gift."
"McClane was gifted a machine gun."
"There needs to be a miracle."
"It's a miracle John survived."
"It needs to capture the feeling of Christmas."
"Have you never spent time with your relatives at Christmas? It feels just like being held hostage at Nakatomi Plaza."
Haha this is very funny.
Plus, he gets his wife (and kids, by extension) back at the end.
Even Plex agrees:
What We Left Behind made me feel idk. I loved seeing everyone again and some of the background info, but part of me wants to forget i ever saw it.
I don't know why, i love DS9. My next rewatch would be the 9th.
I was hyped for the documentary and couldn't wait to get to see it.
Missed Sisko.
Edit: on topic, i think Die Hard is Santa's favorite christmas movie - but really only the first one.
Iβm kinda in the same boat. I think Ira is a really talented creator and producer but heβs got that tried to hard theatre kid vibe at times. Like, love him and donβt doubt his sincerity in the slightest but yeah, bit navel gazey.
I think Die Hard 1 & 2 both qualify for Christmas films but the first one is obviously superior for sure.
I mean if a movie like It's A Wonderful Life can be a Christmas movie, despite most of it not having anything to do with Christmas, then so can Die Hard.
subtract chrismas from the plot: you have no chrismas party filling a finished floor of the office tower with future hostages; you have no cross-county traveling hero to save-the-day. becomes a six page script and an easy in-and-out for snape and co.
Gremlins is also a Christmas movie.
So is Mortal Kombat from the 90s. Itβs all about people fighting to be number 1. Just like Christmas shopping.
There are 2 kinds of people, those who say die hard is a Christmas movie, and those who are wrong.
I just think it's a nondenominational winter season celebration movie.
You do realize this makes you wrong?
No and I'm tired of people pretending it is. Now, Gremlins on the other hand.
I'd say they both have equal standing. Diehard couldn't happen. If it wasn't for the corporate Christmas party and Grimlin's because of the poorly thought out, last minute Christmas gift.
Why Die Hard is a Christmas Movie:
Also, it's about a man attending a party in order to fix his family, and he needs to learn to let go of his pride. Classic Christmas movie message.
Jumping on here, because this is often overlooked. If you didn't know the title of the film, and someone played the first 20 mins to you you'd expect a hallmark film. Going to see the estranged wife, trying to repair a relationship, the awkwardness at the Christmas party.
The whole thing subverts Christmas movie tropes. It's not just an action movie set at Christmas. It's a Christmas movie which gets hijacked.
Even the final scene plays on the parody with the 'snow' falling, the comedy comeuppance for the nuisance bad guy, and then they kiss and drive off as 'let it snow' plays.
Real reasons:
The last thing it seemed like many perceived they had in common was Tiger King.
Now it's support for murder as a necessary means of change.
This is progress.
Yippee Kai Yay, motherfucker.
Now itβs support for murder as a necessary means of change.
Violence wasn't necessary, it was the only means available. If those in power want to peacefully negotiate, then they must make it possible.
βThose who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable."
Violence wasn't necessary, it was the only means available
Right. The alternative to murder is to be murdered indirectly.
In the same way that tomatoes are fruit and bananas are berries.
Technically correct. The best kind of correct.
No, we agree that βDie Hard is a Christmas movieβ is a fun proposition to entertain, either because itβs edgy and freaks the mundanes with its audacious disregard for cherished norms, or (more recently) because itβs a fun meme, with own line of commercially available ugly Christmas sweaters and knowingly ironic greeting cards. Though the meme eventually will become so overexposed that quoting from Die Hard on Christmas will become as basic and mid as dressing up in a Santa costume and drunkenly making an arse of yourself with several hundred similarly attired dudes.
It is literally set at a christmas party. Without christmas, that movie doesnt happen
Everyone keeps saying that, but it could be a random party. It's not particularly important that the party is Christmas, the company could be having an Easter celebration or even just a random party for a specific milestone for the company. As far as I remember, there's nothing particular about being Christmas other than the decorations.
I like to pretend that John McClane is Santa trying to get gifts to the hostages.
Leaia is a Disney Princess.
It's a movie about a man attending a Christmas party in order to patch things up with his wife and spend the holidays among his family. But the only way to do that, and to defeat the greedy villain, is to let go of their pride. And also there's guns and stuff.
It's a Christmas movie in the same way Addams family is a wholesome family. They obviously are, and you only disagree if you're unable to look past the surface.
While I agree that people shouting about it being a Christmas movie is annoying, it definitely is a Christmas movie. It has all the trappings of a Christmas movie and Christmas music is in the score.
Hell yeah! Of course, best Christmas movie ever. Multicasting it over the corporate network since last Monday and won't kill the process before 2025!
now i've got a machine gun ho ho ho!
Correct answer. The rest die hard.
Haters will say this is fake:
This is such an exhausting topic. Anyone saying it isn't a Christmas movie either hasn't seen it recently enough to remember it or they're being contraian. It takes place during Christmas, a Christmas party even. It has Christmas music woven into the soundtrack. The b plot is the main character fixing his marriage (a common theme of Christmas movies is fixing families).
To be honest, I sort of would view people arguing that it isn't a Christmas movie like people arguing Red One isn't a Christmas movie because it is primarily an action movie. Red One is more obvious due to the marketing and the fact it's literally about saving Santa after he is kidnapped, but it's still very moreso an action movie than other similar titles (The Santa Clause also has a kidnapped Santa subplot and a team of elite elves rescue him, but it is much more minor).
I think its important to establish why it's a Christmas movie. I consider it one not just because it's Christmas time in the movie but because it's heavily Christmas themed the entire movie. For this exact same reason I think other movies also fall into this category like gremlins and terrifier 3.
One of my friends had this take on it:
Die Hard can't be a Christmas movie because Die Hard is actually good.
is actually good.
sad muted jazz noises
So is Gremlins.
Yesss, I always forget that one! Have you seen Gremlins 2?
Every movie that's set during Christmas is a Christmas movie. I'm watching Eyes Wide Shut with my wife tonight
And then?
ππ sex
"Fidelio"
Diehard is 100% a Christmas movie, however, Die Hard 2 which also takes place at Christmas time, is NOT a Christmas movie, as the fact that it's Christmas is coincidental and not at all integral to the plot.
It's about a man at a Christmas party that has gone incredibly wrong. It's a Christmas movie
My wife claims
Yet
She's so gorgeous but sometimes I just don't understand her.
Why is it always Die Hard? 29 Alternative Christmas Movies That Aren't Die Hard
Die Hard, the grade school musical?
Absolutely. There can be zero disagreement on this.
Yes, along with the dress being blue.
Bruce thinks itβs a Bruce Willis movie.
β¦ he gets a pass.
Well, yeah. What else would it be?
No.
That's like saying Flight Club is a movie about soap.
...melon farmer.
heck yeah, it's a christmas film. the whole thing is based around a christmas party and is all about love
Every scene in this movie is a work of art. It's so rare for a movie to check as many boxes as this one does so perfectly. it has humor, a love story, action, Alan Rickman, a heist, and most of all Christmas!
Happy holidays everyone! Hoping you can all get together and have a few laughs with your loved ones.
Astonishingly, that was also Rickman's movie debut
In as much as home alone and Batman is a Christmas movie.
I don't wanna be the party pooper here, but Die Hard is a specifically American Christmas Movie. I'm not saying that other people can't or shouldn't enjoy it as a Christmas Movie if so inclined.
But as a German what we "traditionally" watch as Christmas Movies/Shows is something completely different (though also varying greatly from region to region and family to family. I for one still enjoy "Weihnachten bei den Hoppenstedts" a lot my father mostly insists on seeing "Familie Heinz Becker feiert Weihnachten". A movie a lot of people consider to be a Christmas Movie as far as I can tell is "Drei HaselnΓΌsse fΓΌr AschenbrΓΆdel".
Again I'm not saying that people can't consider "American" Christmas Movies as their own or make them their traditions a friend of mine insists that "In Bruges" is the ultimate Christmas Movie. I just think saying "We all agree" is making it to simple
Edit: Read some more comments and maybe I misunderstood the premise. I'm not saying "Die Hard is not a Christmas Movie" what I'm trying to say is "Christmas Movies are what people make their Christmas Movie regardless of if they are Christmas-y" if I started watching Shrek at every Christmas it would be my Christmas Movie. But I feel what OP wanted to say was "There are Movies that are considered Christmas Movies because of the content and Die Hard should be considered one of them".
I think the joke is that Die Hard obviously isn't a traditional Christmas movie. But the story is literally set at Christmas. Many people like Die Hard more than traditional Christmas movies, so when their family members start voting om which Christmas movie to watch this year, they steadfastly nominate Die Hard with the argument that "it really is a Christmas movie, the internet agrees"
what I'm trying to say is "Christmas Movies are what people make their Christmas Movie regardless of if they are Christmas-y"
It's more Christmasey than you may remember, when is the last time you watched it?
I thought this was a closed deal? Of course it is a Christmas movie.
Indeed. Itβs perhaps the only Christmas movie.
Yes, and so are The Long Kiss Goodnight and Kiss Kiss Bang Bang
Do we really have to do this every year?
I find the topic exhausting because Did Hard is obviously a Christmas themed action movie (and I believe that qualifies as a Christmas movie), but everyone really making a stand about it is sort of being cringe. I don't really know how to explain it. It's like they're acting like it's so wild and crazy to say, like they've found some weird loop hole. I think it's this weird tone of the discussion that leads to the pushback. Because, while it's definitely a Christmas movie, it's not like super Christmas-y. The Christmas aspects could easily be edited out and the movie would still make sense.
Yes, that's what Christmas is for.
Die Hard is awesome, but I've always liked The Ref too.
Yippee kayak other buckets
I remember the 90's TV censored edit was "Yippee Ki Ay, Melon Farmer!"
The most recent time I watched the TV version it was, "Yippee Ki-yay, my friend".
I was doing the B99 version
the best classifier i've heard is "christmas movies are movies you would feel weird watching any other time of the year".
The best christmas movie!
Technically it is set during Christmas, but it's not about Christmas. But a movie tons of people like to watch at Christmastime is a Christmas movie.
It has Christmas music in the soundtrack, the b plot is about family mending, and it takes place during a Christmas party.
Yes it is. Just like how The Shawshank Redemption is an after New Year's movie.
Die Hard is not a Christmas movie!
Die Hard is a Christmas Eve movie.
/s
Since we can all agree that "The Wrong Trousers" is the best Christmas film, I think that "Die Hard" is a Christmas film is a no brainer.
The Straight Lads need a film they can be emotional, bond over, and feel festive joy.
Hell yeah!
π
There is definitely a demand for such movies on Christmas, otherwise a movie like Fatman wouldn't have been produced. It's a Christmas movie with Die Hard elements.