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“Die Hard” hit theaters 35 years ago and sparked a debate that has divided fans for decades.
The question of whether the classic 1988 action film is a Christmas film is the subject of heated debate every holiday season.
Directed by John McTiernan, Die Hard stars Bruce Willis as NYPD officer John McClane, who unexpectedly struggles to save his estranged wife Holly Gennaro McClane (Bonnie Bedelia) and her colleagues after they are taken hostage by a police officer A terrorist gang led by Hans Gruber (Alan Rickman) during an office Christmas party at the Nakatomi Plaza skyscraper in Los Angeles on Christmas Eve.
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Arguments in favor of classifying “Die Hard” as a Christmas film include the film's Christmas setting, the number of Christmas songs in the soundtrack, and its central message about the importance of family and friendship.
“Die Hard” fans continue to disagree about whether the hit film is a Christmas film. (Getty)
One of the film's stars, De'voreaux White, who played McClane's lovable limo driver Argyle, recently spoke to DailyMail.com to end the debate once and for all. White explains that while the film wasn't originally intended to be a Christmas movie, he still says, “I'll break it down for you. For the record, it's a Christmas cult classic. Don’t forget it!”
“No, it wasn’t [sold as a Christmas movie]“It was all about these terrorists at Christmas time taking over this building and a police officer comes here to reunite with his wife and meet her at the Christmas party.”
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Argyle was originally scheduled to appear in both sequels, Die Hard 2 and Die Hard with a Vengeance, but scheduling conflicts hindered him. After the popularity of the first film, White starred in his own sitcom, Head of Class.
Celebrities like Zooey Deschanel, Laurence Fishburne and Kristin Wiig have also shared their thoughts over the years.
Viewers who dispute that “Die Hard” is a Christmas movie point to the film's R rating, the violence and bloodshed on screen, and the fact that the holiday is not crucial to the plot.
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Deschanel, who starred in the more traditional Christmas film “Elf,” believes this is the case. She told Entertainment Weekly: “It brings out different feelings than that.” [other] Christmas movies, but sometimes we need that.”
Zooey Deschanel starred in “Elf” in 2003. (New Line Cinema)
Laurence Fishburne stated, “'Die Hard' is a Christmas movie!” to SciFi Wire in 2021, while simultaneously promoting the 1980s parody MacGruber. In 1988, Fishburne appeared in the television film “Christmas at Pee-wee's Playhouse.”
“MacGruber” co-stars Will Forte and Kristin Wiig, who starred in the 2021 animated film “A Boy Called Christmas,” weren’t so sure.
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Wiig initially seemed to feel this was the case when she was jokingly asked, “If there's a tree in there…” but she later appeared to change her mind when discussing with Forte.
“There aren’t many action Christmas movies,” she laughed. “I mean, I wouldn't sit around with your kids, maybe your little kids, watching that by the tree.”
Forte said diplomatically: “I’m okay with it no matter what side someone is on. I can imagine it going both ways. I think 'Die Hard' is a film for every occasion, so Christmas is as good a time as any other time to watch it.
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Former President Obama was in favor of it not being a Christmas movie when asked by Jimmy Fallon on The Tonight Show in 2020.
“No,” he replied, “'It's a Wonderful Life' is a Christmas movie. 'Charlie Brown Christmas' is a Christmas film. 'Die Hard' is an action film that has Christmas on the sidelines.”
Upon its release, the film became a huge box office hit and spawned four sequels. The second film in the franchise, Die Hard 2, was also set during the Christmas season, although subsequent films were not set during the Christmas season.
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On this day in history, July 15, 1988, Die Hard is the first in the franchise to hit theaters
In 2021, The Atlantic conducted an investigation into the origins of the debate. The media outlet claimed that the discussion started with a viral 2007 Slate post titled “Now I have a machine gun. Ho Ho Ho” began, referencing one of the film’s most memorable quotes. In the post, author Michael Agger explained the argument for “Die Hard” being a Christmas film.
The Guardian later published a blog entitled “My favorite Christmas film? How about Die Hard?” According to the Atlantic, the two blog posts were the first instances in which the topic surfaced online and sparked the internet debate that continues to this day.
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In the film, Bruce Willis played a New York police officer who finds himself in the middle of a terrorist takeover during his wife's office Christmas party. (20th Century Fox / Getty Images)
According to Google Trends, the number of searches for “Die Hard a Christmas movie” was relatively low until 2016. Starting in 2016, traffic for this term has increased sharply in November and December each year.
In December 2016, “Die Hard” debuted at No. 1 on British media outlet Empire's “30 Best Christmas Movies,” leading to a significant increase in Twitter searches for “Die Hard Christmas Movie,” according to The Atlantic. Online media outlet Observer later published a commentary loudly rejecting the ranking, titled “Die Hard is not the best Christmas movie.”
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Over the years, McTiernan, stars Willis, Bedelia and Reginald VelJohnson, and authors Jeb Stuart and Steven E. de Souza have weighed in on the topic.
In 2018, Willis, who reprized his role as John McClane in all five installments of the Die Hard franchise, seemingly ended the debate during his final monologue on The Comedy Central Roast of Bruce Willis.
“'Die Hard' is not a Christmas movie!” he declared at the end of the show. “It's a God—Bruce Willis movie!”
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The actor was later asked by how he thought fans would react to his statement.
“We’ll see,” he said.
In 2018, Willis seemingly ended the debate during his final monologue on The Comedy Central Roast of Bruce Willis. (Tommaso Boddi / WireImage)
In 2020, VelJohnson, who played LAPD cop and McClane's ally Sgt. Al Powell starred in the first two Die Hard films, and Bedelia told Entertainment Weekly that they never thought of Die Hard as a Christmas movie during filming.
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“The main issue wasn't Christmas, it was about getting McClane out of a bad situation,” VelJohnson said.
“It wasn't like that in the script, and it wasn't like that when we were shooting,” remembers Bedelia.
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However, both actors admitted that their perception of the film had changed over time and shared the opinion that whether “Die Hard” is a Christmas movie or not is ultimately up to the fans.
The film spawned several sequels, but only the second film in the series was also set at Christmas time. (20th Century Fox / Getty Images)
“You never know what the public is going to react to,” VelJohnson told the outlet. “Whatever it is in the film that makes the audience respond to it, I’m all for it. Although I didn't think of it as a Christmas movie before, you can't tell me now that it isn't. I'm 100% sure it is.”
“It’s wonderful that this is still being debated 30 years later,” said Bedelia. “But the people have spoken, and it’s their film now.”
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However, in an interview with Entertainment Weekly published last week, VelJohnson seemed less certain about calling the film a Christmas movie.
“Everyone seems to think it’s a Christmas movie,” VelJohnson said. “I think they have the right to say that. … Bruce would say no, he doesn't think it's a Christmas movie, I'm sure.”
Bruce Willis appears in a scene from Die Hard 2. (20th Century Fox / Getty Images)
He continued: “I personally don’t think that’s the case, but if people see that, then let them see it. Whatever made the film a hit, I’m happy with it.”
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During an appearance on the Empire podcast last year, McTiernan echoed VelJohnson and Bedelia's views on the debate.
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“It’s not our job to say, it’s the people,” the filmmaker said. “It’s up to the audience to decide. If audiences decide to make it a Christmas movie, then it's a Christmas movie. And that’s how it happens.”
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He continued: “It wasn't intended to be a Christmas film or the fact that it was intentionally filmed around Christmas but it wasn't intended to be a Christmas film.”
“But the fact that it was a Christmas movie had a lot to do with it, because from a distance it's actually very politically strident, and the only reason it survived was the people in the studio who would have stopped that.” deceived because they thought it was just an action movie about a Christmas party that goes wrong.
Over the years, McTiernan, stars Willis, Bedelia and Reginald VelJohnson, and authors Jeb Stuart and Steven E. de Souza have weighed in on the topic. (20th Century Fox / Getty Images)
However, in a video released by the American Film Institute in 2020, McTiernan seemingly confirmed that Die Hard had become a holiday film. He explained that this was due to the joy the cast and crew felt on set while making the film.
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“We didn't intend for it to be a Christmas movie, but the joy that came from it made it a Christmas movie,” he said.
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In the video, the “Predator” director also called “Die Hard” a “terror film.”
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“It was really about the stern face of authority stepping in to make things right,” he said.
The screenplay for Die Hard, written by de Souza and Stuart, was based on Roderick Thorp's 1979 novel Nothing Lasts Forever. Unlike the film, the book is not set at Christmas time, which serves as further argument for those who don't believe , that “Die Hard” qualifies as a holiday film.
An article from The Atlantic states that the “Die Hard”/Christmas movie debate began with a Slate blog post in 2007. (20th Century Fox / Getty Images)
In 2017, de Souza was asked on Twitter for his opinion on whether Die Hard was a Christmas movie.
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“Yes, because the studio rejected the Purim draft. #DieHardIsAChristmasMovie,” he joked, referring to the Jewish holiday of Purim.
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Stuart agreed with his co-authors' assessment in an interview with UPI in 2022.
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“'Die Hard' is definitely a Christmas movie,” Stuart said with a laugh.
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He continued: “I'm in LA now and I remember writing it for Christmas many years ago and being from the East Coast, I was a little bit like, 'What am I doing for Christmas in Los Angeles?' ' And a lot of that is in this script.”
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Despite the claims of the film's authors, polls have shown that people still have very different opinions about whether “Die Hard” should be included in the list of Christmas classics.
A 2018 Morning Consult/Hollywood Reporter poll found that while only 25% of American adults consider “Die Hard” to be a Christmas movie, the results vary by gender and age.
Holiday Shoppers Weigh: Is 'Die Hard' a Christmas Movie?
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Only 20% of women surveyed thought “Die Hard” was a Christmas movie, compared to 32% of men.
When the results were broken down by age, those over 65 were least likely to see “Die Hard” as a Christmas movie. Only 13% of this group agreed.
In 2021, Fox News asked Christmas shoppers at Rockefeller Center for their thoughts on the debate. The vast majority of those who saw the film supported the idea that the famous flick was a holiday film. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)
In comparison, 37% of 30- to 44-year-olds surveyed said they think “Die Hard” is a Christmas movie.
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The 45 to 54 age group also saw “Die Hard” more as a Christmas film. The survey found that 31% of respondents agreed that it was a Christmas movie.
In 2021, Fox News asked Christmas shoppers at Rockefeller Center for their thoughts on the debate.
The vast majority of those who saw the film supported the idea that the famous flick was a holiday film.
Earlier this week, Willis' wife Emma celebrated the 35th anniversary of Die Hard with a touching post on social media, writing in part: “Today marks the 35th anniversary of Die Hard hitting theaters comes and the rest is history.”
“What Bruce has achieved in his career will never be lost on us. We are so proud of him.”
In February, Willis' family announced that he had been diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia. He was diagnosed with aphasia last year and gave up acting at that point.
Fox News Digital's Christine Rousselle and Teny Sahakian contributed to this report.