Just stop. Die Hard is not a Christmas film

Each year it gets rolled out as a Christmas movie on TV or appears on the best of Christmas movie lists. But does it really belong there?

Shona Hendley

3 min read

December 4, 2023 - 1:32PM

Some people claim Die Hard is a great movie for Christmas time. Image: Supplied

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I love Die Hard but it’s no Christmas film.

While I am unsure of how age-appropriate it was (yes, mum, this jibe is directed at you), the fact is I grew up watching John McClane battle the baddies in the Die Hard franchise and I too became a lifelong Bruce Willis fan.

However, regardless of my appreciation of McClane’s world-class terrorist fighting abilities, each year as it gets rolled out as a Christmas movie on television or appears on the best of Christmas movie lists, all I want to say is Yippee-Ki-Yay, my festive friends– Die Hard is no Christmas film, not even close.

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Some people claim Die Hard is a great movie for Christmas time. Image: Supplied

Die Hard is NOT a Christmas movie

But it’s not just Die Hard that I feel this way about, it applies to several other faux Christmas film titles too, including the apparent number one Christmas film in Australia, the 2019 superhero movie, Shazam! (Really?!)

This result - which was determined by a very festively important study by language and culture experts Preply - not only revealed what I consider to be an appalling top choice for many reasons but also other films that really shouldn't be in the top 30 list including Die Hard and Gremlins.

Why do I care so much I hear you ask? Well as a lover of all things Christmas, rivalling Queen Mariah herself, someone who puts their tree up mid-November and watches Christmas films all year round, and as an ex-media teacher too who has analysed a film or two, what is, and isn’t considered a Christmas film and a festive favourite at that, well let’s just say I have opinions, strong opinions.

Firstly, just because a film is set at Christmas does not qualify it as a Christmas film. Nope, sorry McClane, just because you are heading home to visit your wife at the festive time of year and there is the occasional Christmas tree or decoration in the background of the scene does not make it a Christmas film.

For a film to be Christmassy, the time of year it is set has to have some impact on the plot and for McClane battling terrorists, well could happen anytime and anywhere, Christmas has zilch to do with it.

This mandatory requirement- the storyline being based on, or at least influenced by Christmas- is the hole in many falsely labelled Christmas films from Gremlins, Edward Scissorhands, The Long Kiss Goodnight, Eyes Wide Shut and even Mean Girls which have all had this Christmas themed description at one time or another.

The other issue I have with some films being labelled festive is when they are filled with action, gore, violence and swearing which although I enjoy in a film generally, for Christmas well, not so much.

I mean when McClane stabs one guy in the eye with an icicle or kicks another into a jet engine which shreds him into pieces, well yes, that is some quick and very out-of-the-box thinking but also it doesn’t scream Christmas spirit, does it?

Shona says Die Hard is not a Christmas movie. Image: Supplied

This is not a 'jolly' film!

When we hear Christmas carols about going home for Christmas, joy, Jesus being born, Santa Claus, being holly and jolly or having a pash under the mistletoe, whether we are fans of the musical genre, or not, they still generally share a warm, joyful, optimistic, vibe and make them the perfect Christmas listening. But being killed violently or just generally afraid for our lives, well for me, it isn’t the most ideal Christmas message (and for just a few days out of the year I’d like to view life a bit more optimistically).

Another hole in many of these films (yes, Die Hard you again), is that they do not feature any key Christmas characters like Rudolph, Jesus, Santa, an elf and/or Frosty, which means, yep you got it, it is not a Christmas film.

Despite my best arguments, I am sure there will be people who still disagree but thanks to my research I am comforted knowing that the consensus is on my side - with 47% of a 2021 UK poll believing Die Hard is NOT a Christmas movie and, in the US, a 2019 poll by the Hollywood Reporter also found this view, with 62% of people agreeing that Die Hard is not a Christmas film.

Finally, if you are still refusing to see how correct I am, take it from the mouth of Willis himself who said in 2018: “Die Hard is not a Christmas movie. It’s a god damn Bruce Willis movie!”