Poll of the Day > Argyle basically spells out that die hard is a Christmas movie

(+) Yeah! (+)

In the very opening credits, John mcclane asks argyle to put on Christmas music. Argyle, who has already put on run dmc's Christmas in Hollis, a more modern and unconventional holiday song declares THIS IS CHRISTMAS MUSIC. In this scene, in the very beginning of the movie, they are explicitly making the case to the skeptical viewer that despite the fact that it's modern and unconventional, it is in fact a Christmas movie. Media literacy people, come on now

Bruce Willis said it isnt a Christmas movie so

There is a difference between a movie that happens to be set during Christmas and a movie about Christmas.

I say its Christmas Adjacent at best. If you can remove the Christmas element and doesnt really change anything its not a full Christmas movie.

It's a christmas movie.

Compare it to a lot of other christmas movies and you will see it actually has far more to do with it.

It's a wonderful life, literally just a christmas tree at the end.
It happened on 5th avenue. The low point of the movie when everyone is evicted is christmas.
Christmas in Connecticut, virtually nothing to do with Christmas. The plot works at any time of year.
White Christmas, doesn't even attempt anything to do with Christmas. Maybe the opening scene?
The Bishop's Wife, movie about an angel, not Christmas.

So let's look at die hard. I am stealing this from someone else on redit.

The basic narrative situation of Die Hard is a man returning to his family for Christmas.
His wife is called Holly.
It takes place on Christmas Eve. Not Thanksgiving or the Fourth of July. It could have been set any week of the year, but wasnt.
The chief villain Hans Gruber ( Alan Rickman ) explicitly invokes the Christmas spirit: Its Christmas, Theo, its a time for miracles.
Gruber is a classic bad capitalist villain: hes there to steal money. Just as Old Man Potter does in Its a Wonderful Life .
The soundtrack features Christmas tunes new and old: Run DMCs Christmas in Hollis and Frank Sinatras rendition of Let it Snow.
Santa Claus makes an appearance (in the form of a dead terrorist).
The film ends with the of character of limo driver Argyle (De'voreaux White) looking forward to New Years Eve.

Also, Die Hard 2 takes place during Christmas as well. Not a Christmas movie though, but interesting the sequel started the same.

Ogurisama posted...

I say its Christmas Adjacent at best. If you can remove the Christmas element and doesnt really change anything its not a full Christmas movie.

Except now the office is full of people, no one has a Christmas party, security would be higher.

The movie only works in it's current setting. Which is Christmas.

Ogurisama posted...

I say its Christmas Adjacent at best. If you can remove the Christmas element and doesnt really change anything its not a full Christmas movie.

If you take Christmas out of the movie you have to rewrite significant parts of the setting/scenario, and generally recontextualize multiple elements of the story.

And if you're willing to do that, then most Christmas movies aren't Christmas movies, because you can recontextualize pretty much anything if you're willing to do the work.

Die Hard's more of a Christmas movie than a lot of other movies people think of as Christmas movies (like March of the Wooden Soldiers, Home Alone, or A Christmas Story). Even movies like White Christmas can be pretty easily recontextualized into non-Christmas movies with about the same level of effort it takes to remove Christmas from Die Hard.

And yes, like it or not, Gremlins is also a Christmas movie.

MICHALECOLE posted...

Bruce Willis said it isnt a Christmas movie so

Bruce Willis was a huge asshole, who cares what he says

Zareth posted...

Bruce Willis was a huge asshole, who cares what he says

A huge asshole? Have you met him?

MICHALECOLE posted...

A huge asshole? Have you met him?

Eh, my dad had to do a bit of work for a scene in Die Hard 2 (they needed some assistance while filming at our airport and he was the engineer at our local television station), and he claims Bruce was an asshole/typical Hollywood diva. I haven't interacted with him personally, but that's as close an account as I could get to it.

Yeah, I know that sounds like "My dad works at Nintendo". Take it for what it is.

This is why Santa Clause is the best Christmas movie.

Step Brothers is a pretty great movie with Christmas elements in it.

Look at almost any "have you ever met a celebrity and what kind of person were they" thread online. Nobody has ever said anything good about Bruce Willis.

Die Hard is great to watch at any time of year. For that reason, I dont consider it a Christmas movie.

MICHALECOLE posted...

Bruce Willis said it isnt a Christmas movie so

bruce willis doesn't even know die hard exists

Did a Christmas movie marathon everyday this month. Watched Die Hard due to this debates notoriety and on inspection can safely say it is NOT a Christmas movie.

ConfusedTorchic posted...

bruce willis doesn't even know die hard exists

Too soon

Doesn't matter what half-assed "explanation" people try to come up with, Die Hard isn't a Christmas movie.

Then Rudolph isn't a Christmas movie

Metalsonic66 posted...

Then Rudolph isn't a Christmas movie

Now this is what I call logic

Metalsonic66 posted...

Then Rudolph isn't a Christmas movie

Rudolph Is a movie about prejudice and intolerance

https://youtu.be/2ThKV_G4VxI?si=uUYwIhHgpoCDTQGv

Exactly

rjsilverthorn posted...

There is a difference between a movie that happens to be set during Christmas and a movie about Christmas.

Literally there is not

FatalAccident posted...

Literally there is not

somebody come get your boy

It's an action movie, stop doing all these weird mental gymnastics to try and make it a Christmas movie. It's not about Christmas.

Ordinary People is a Christmas movie

Is Christmas a genre?

I kinda always figured people were being ironic calling Die Hard a Christmas movie but I watched it recently and it really does keep the holiday theme throughout.

It might even acknowledge it more than Halloween does for Halloween.

Yeah it's about as much of a Christmas movie as Halloween is a Halloween movie. IIRC didn't Die Hard have a working title that was Christmas-themed?

ParanoidObsessive posted...

And yes, like it or not, Gremlins is also a Christmas movie.

This was my Christmas movie pick a few years ago, too many people forget thos happens because the dad needs a Christmas present for his boy.

On topic, Die Hard and Jingle All the Way basically have the same core plot.

Guy wants to spend Christmas with family -> stuff happens that prevents this goal -> he overcomes these obstacles to achieve his original goal. That's Die Hard. JatW is the same thing, but switch the "spend time with family" to acquire "present for son".

If you really want to play Devil's Advocate, if you take A Christmas Story and substitute "Christmas" for "Ralphie's December Birthday ", 90% of the movie works without skipping a beat.

The problem occurs with there being no real definition of what a Christmas movie is. Because a movie specifically about Christmas narrows it down to stuff like the original stop-motion Santa Claus is Coming to Town, etc., which is explicitly about Christmas mythos and characters. Stuff like The Santa Claus also works.

Would Jingle All the Way be a Christmas movie if it was called Turbo Time?

there's more than enough christmas stuff in it for it to be a valid pick.

rjsilverthorn posted...

There is a difference between a movie that happens to be set during Christmas and a movie about Christmas.

Exactly. Die Hard is Christmas themed, down to its music, and doesnt make sense via changing the time in which it happens. Its a Christmas movie.

https://youtu.be/KR6AqAElxlk?si=LWWvIp9dvT3jehq1

This popped up on my feed today and I nearly fell over laughing. Wanted to share because it's not getting many views and it should