New York City policeman John McClane (Bruce Willis) is visiting his estranged wife (Bonnie Bedelia) and two daughters on Christmas Eve. He joins her at a holiday party in the headquarters of the Japanese-owned business she works for. But the festivities are interrupted by a group of terrorists who take over the exclusive high-rise, and everyone in it. Very soon McClane realizes that there's no one to save the hostages -- but him.
shareNope, it's not a christmas movie ...
it is THE Christmas Movie ...
https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/die-hard-isnt-a-christmas-movie-jan-de-bont-185602423.html
Debating Die Hard’s status as a Christmas movie falls on the long list of holiday traditions that includes stuffing stockings and roasting chestnuts on an open fire. Two years ago, Bruce Willis — the star of the 1988 action classic — attempted to settle the matter once and for all, declaring “Die Hard is not a Christmas movie!” at his 2018 Comedy Central roast. Given the setting, though, it’s fair to assume that he might have been joking.
But it turns out that Willis’s feelings are backed up by the movie’s cinematographer, Jan de Bont. “I’m not sure if the spirit of Christmas is fully embraced by that movie, to be honest,” the director of blockbusters like Speed and The Haunting tells Yahoo Entertainment. “To really call that a Christmas movie — it’s a little far-fetched.”
At the same time, De Bont admits that the spirit of Christmas was felt on the Die Hard set, in large part because the commenced production took place in Los Angeles during the 1987 holiday season. “We were filming around Christmastime in the winter, and it was freezing cold,” he remembers. And then, of course, there’s the action itself, which unfolds on Christmas Eve and involves New York cop John McClane (Willis) taking on an army of terrorists who rudely interrupt the Nakatomi Corporation’s annual holiday party.
Two fleeting references to Christmas in the plot summation don’t make the central theme about Christmas. You can actually describe the plot of the film without even mentioning Christmas.
sharethis is a debate that will never end with no rules , i mean , its not like "xmas movie" is a thing with specific criteria
But ,yeah , I'm with you: movies set at christams whose plot have nothing to do with chrismas aint xmas movies!
The acid test being - would you watch it at other times of year?
you wouldnt watch elf , miracle on 34 , wonderful life etc unless its chriotsmas right? (not that theres a law or anything)
Die Hard
Lethal Weapon
First blood (yep - set at xmas)
you can watch anytime.
that said ,
I'm on the fence about "Gremlins" . its half and half
Exactly! I even agree on Gremlins. I think it’s more of a Christmas movie than Die Hard but it seems more cynical than traditional Holiday fare. You could reasonably argue that it’s a critique of Reagan era unchecked consumerism, but Christmas plays a larger role in that story.
shareNo its not a Christmas movie, because you can easily take the Christmas element out of the the movie and it still works and doesn't lose a thing. Although you take Christmas out of Jingle All The Way or A Christmas Story or A Miracle on 24th street, and those movies don't work, because they are Christmas movies and need Christmas in them to work.
Thats my way of telling what movie is a Christmas movie or not, is if you take Christmas out of the movie does the movie still work? if it does its not a Christmas movie, if it doesn't its a Christmas movie. Its pretty simple, not sure why this has been such a big debate over the years.
Everyone in that building was there because it was Christmas (McClain, his wife, bad guys, employees). Without Christmas, no bad guys, no McClain. Ergo, it's a Christmas movie.
shareYeah but everyone could've easily been there for a birthday party, or a retirement party or a...see where i'm going with this? Christmas isn't absolutely needed for the movie to work, it could've been any old holiday or event to get them all at that building.
share> ... it could've been any old holiday..
yeah, but it isn't, the writers/director had chosen Christmas.
You can't just take Van Gogh's Starry Night and say "this doesn't have anything to do with 'night'. Could have been daytime, 'night' is not necessary, could have been 'starless day'...". That logic doesn't work, because Van Gogh chose stars and nighttime.
If it wasn't Christmas time (inside the Die Hard universe) none of the events would have happened. So, Christmas is necessary, and that makes it a Christmas movie.
Of course it is... the music, the Xmas gags and references throughout, the Christmas party that sets up the premise.
Even the studio that made the movie sez it's a Christmas movie:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Wi28Vsi_ZU
I also own the Die Hard Christmas hardcover written by Doogie Horner.
https://www.amazon.ca/Illustrated-Die-Hard-Christmas/dp/1608879763
On the cover it very clearly states: "The Illustrated Holiday Classic"
On the back cover: "Die Hard may be the greatest Christmas movie of all time, and now you can enjoy this timeless tale in this whimsical storybook for adults!"
It is and will always remain so...
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