Everyone’s favorite debate might not hold up as well as you’d think.

Ok, so let’s start at the very top here. What makes a film a Christmas film? Or better yet, what makes a movie a specific holiday film? Does a film have to take place around the dates of a holiday? Must it be specifically mentioned and practiced? Or are there more nuanced rules which define what makes a movie a specific holiday movie?

Typically, some familiar tropes or recurring themes in Christmas films include a love story, the redemption or transformation of a Scrooge-like character, a family coming together for the holidays, and the importance of tradition. Other tropes include the arrival of an unexpected visitor, the discovery of a long-lost relative, and the resolution of conflicts or misunderstandings, and you’ll often find that some Christmas movies also incorporate magical or fantastical elements, such as talking animals, enchanted objects, and visits from the big man himself.

When we look at those tropes and compare them to Die Hard, well, it’s easy to see why there is such a heated debate about whether Die Hard is a Christmas movie. And trust us, we’ve heard all of the arguments for Die Hard not just being a Christmas movie — but perhaps being the best holiday movie of them all.

Die Hard is a great film that brought so much to the table. It launched Bruce Willis’ acting career, introduced American audiences to Alan Rickman in his iconic portrayal of Hans Gruber, helped push the action boom of the 80s and 90s to new heights, and even ultimately created its own tower heist action subgenre of its own. And it’s hard not to argue with the fun elements of this debate.

But was it a Christmas movie on top of all of that? Or was it simply a movie that takes place during Christmas? Let’s explore this never-ending debate to see if we can disprove it (or prove it) once and for all.

Die Hard is a Christmas Movie

So, first and foremost, let’s get all the debate points out of the way about why Die Hard is unequivocally a Christmas movie. Yes, the film takes place over the Christmas holiday break. Even though our locale is sunny California without a single snowflake, the film establishes early and often that our hero John McClane is taking a Christmas vacation to visit his daughter and estranged wife.

Throughout the film, we have dozens of examples of Christmas referenced by clear lines of dialogue to more subtle standards, including musical soundtrack cues or other subconscious connections. (And, if you want a complete list, here are 50 concrete examples of Die Hard referencing Christmas throughout its 2-hour and 12-minute runtime.)

But, to the dismay of any pro-Die Hard is a Christmas movie truther, outside of these textual examples of Die Hard referencing Christmas, any argument about Die Hard following the hallmarks of a genre holiday film becomes a bit more challenging to pin down explicitly.

Die Hard isn’t a Christmas Movie

And that’s the crux of this counter-argument to any Die Hard as a Christmas film debate points. While we can prove that Die Hard takes place over Christmas, we have to ask ourselves, what about the film makes it a Christmas film? And as mentioned above, we must examine what makes any holiday film a holiday film.

If we’re to take a film like It’s a Wonderful Life as the prototypical example of what a holiday film (or more specifically a Christmas film) is, we have to examine then what are the tenets of a holiday film that a prototype like this outlines. In particular, with a Christmas film, it would reason that as a genre itself, any Christmas film must include tropes, iconography, and themes about family, redemption, belief, and miracles.

Similarly, any holiday film about another holiday — like Thanksgiving films, for example — will do the same based on its holiday folklore. But does Die Hard include these same themes and icons?

How Do You Personally Feel?

Ultimately, as much as we’d like to end this debate once and for all for the sake of redundant online arguing, it’s hard to pin down whether Die Hard includes all of the expected Christmas film subtexts.

This is most assuredly because so many of these elements are open to interpretation based on each audience member and their relationship with the film and the genre in question. How do you personally define themes like redemption? How do you feel that you perceive miracles both in real life and in art or film?

It’d be impossible to impose any stringent rules about what Christmas themes look or feel like. So, for better or worse, any debate about whether you think Die Hard resonates with you as a Christmas film will be largely inarguable.

And that might be the beauty of Die Hard as a film itself. Whether or not it was written and designed to be a Christmas movie through and through, or if it was an element added to explain why our protagonist was traveling to put himself in this challenging situation, it might never be answered.

However, depending on your beliefs and your choices as to where you end up on the debate, it will always be open for interpretation and discussion. Even if it means another year of endless debates, which we’ll never end.

For more on Christmas, check out these articles:

Music Showcase: Royalty Free Classic Christmas SongsThe Blender Christmas Shopping ListAfter Effects Tutorial: Creating a Particle Christmas Tree