I Changed My Mind, Die Hard is a Christmas Movie

If you had asked a year ago if Die Hard was a Christmas movie I would have given you a very definitive answer. No!

My argument, for the movie that was released on July 20, 1988, was that it was an action movie that just happens to take place on Christmas Eve. Christmas was not integral to the story and it could have happened at any other time of the year. That argument I made over and over was what eventually changed my mind a few weeks ago.

There is an argument that Christmas is important to the story of Die Hard. If it wasn't for the Christmas party going on in the Nakatomi Building, there wouldn't have been a group of hostages congregated in a relatively small area in a large and mostly empty building. But I write off this point because the building wasn't done and they still could have taken the hostages, including the important Joseph Takagi, on July 24 instead.

But what finally dawned on me was when I was listening to a podcast that brought up that "it was time to watch the Christmas movie Die Hard." I was disagreeing with them but then told myself to think about it. Does my argument negate the perception of other Christmas movies? I thought of It's a Wonderful Life. No one would argue that isn't a Christmas movie. But as I ran the movie in my head I realized that while it takes place at Christmas, it could take place at any time of year. In fact, most of it doesn't take place at Christmas at all. And the fact that Clarence got his angel wings has nothing to do with Christmas was the kicker for me.

Does this really matter? No. You can say that Die Hard isn't a Christmas movie. Maybe because it is so violent. But just remember, Home Alone is actually quite violent as well, just much less gory.