Die Hard is considered one of the greatest action movies of all time.
The 1988 epic helped launch Bruce Willis into superstardom as he became one of the most bankable actors in Hollywood following the release.
Die Hard launched a franchise as it was followed by Die Hard 2, Die Hard With a Vengeance, Die Hard 4.0 and A Good Day to Die Hard.
The quality of the original is not in doubt in the eyes of many, but what is in question is whether or not it can be considered a Christmas movie.
Die Hard concerns John McClane, a cop, travelling to Los Angeles from New York to see his wife at a work Christmas party at Nakatomi Tower. Terrorists, led by legendary villain Hans Gruber, crash the party and attempt to steal millions of dollars worth of bearer bonds.
The movie is set at Christmas, involves a Christmas party, and even has the iconic Christmas song 'Let it Snow' playing as the credits roll.
The debate has raged on for decades, and now director John McTiernan has had his say.
Die Hard - A Christmas movie?
When previously speaking to the Empire podcast at the London Action Festival, director John McTiernan was asked about the Christmas debate, and he responded:
“It’s not for us to say, it’s people. It’s for the audience to say. If the audience decides they want to make it a Christmas movie, it’s a Christmas movie.
"It turns out that way. It wasn’t intended as a Christmas movie, or the fact that it was deliberately built around Christmas, but not intended to be a Christmas movie.
"But the fact that it was a Christmas movie had a lot to do with, you know, cause it’s actually, from a distance, politically very strident, and the only reason that survived was that the people in the studio who would have stopped that were deceived because they thought it was just an action movie about a Christmas party that goes wrong.”
McTiernan's answer is naturally very balanced and will certainly not settle the debate, but the points raised give food for thought.
Here at MovieMeter, we know it is a Christmas movie!
Related Movie
Die Hard
Action / Thriller
1988 • 131 minutes
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