Is Die Hard a Christmas movie?

[trappedslider]

In the Matter of is Die Hard a Christmas movie we have the following:

For the Defense:
It takes place with a Christmas party
Christmas carols weave in and out of the score (a couple bars of "Winter Wonderland" are heard when John tackles Tony down the stairs, John whistles "Jingle Bells," Theo quotes "The Night Before Christmas," and Powell briefly sings "Let It Snow.") Sleigh bells are also heard every now and then throughout the score.
Numerous Christmas decorations
Numerous references to it being Christmas

For the prosecution:
Die Hard's original release date was July 22, 1988
Bruce Willis himself has stated it is not a Christmas movie
it was never intended to be a Christmas movie.
It can be argue that the office party could have happened at any other holiday of the year.

Now it is up to you the jury to take make your decision.

 

[Nutation]

Technically, yes. It has a few Christmas references. "Now I have a machine gun. Ho ho ho."
But, the tone and the plot emphasis are all wrong. It's an action hero movie, the start of a franchise, and I voted "no".

 

[ichabod]

For the defense you left out a piece of music: Run-DMC's Christmas in Hollis that Argyle is playing as they roll up. And most importantly, you left out the Christmas miracle. That's the clincher that makes it a Christmas movie. And of course, I have to add:

 

[billd91]

Depends on what you consider to be a Christmas movie. Does it have to be about Christmas, per se, or are some trappings of Christmas enough? It's like the hen's and pig's relationship to an eggs and bacon breakfast. The hen is involved, the pig is committed. Is Christmas involved or is it committed in the movie?

Personally, I don't care about that distinction when it comes to my movies, so I consider Die Hard, Home Alone, It's a Wonderful Life, and Lethal Weapon to all be Christmas movies. They may not be AS Christmassy as Love Actually or Elf, but I am unfussed by that difference.

 

[Deset Gled]

Piggybacking off my posts in the other thread where this came up...

There is no "technical" or meaningful definition of a what makes something related to a holiday. The idea of a "Xmas movie" is simply a social construct. Any movie that people, as a group, associate with Xmas can be considered a Xmas movie.

Therefore, the facts that:

• People have opinions about whether or not Die Hard is a Xmas movie
• People association Die Hard with the discussion of "what makes a movie a Xmas movie"
• We are having this discussion around Xmas

Mean that Die Hard is a de facto Xmas movie, regardless of it's content. The discussion/dissension around whether it counts only makes it more of an Xmas movie, by strengthening the social relationship.



Also, I'm going to be really lazy and just going to copy and paste my examples from the other thread:

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It's A Wonderful Life only mentions [Xmas] in passing; it's not part of the plot other than setting the background.

Frosty The Snowman likewise has only tertiary references the Xmas, and the plot could happen any time in winter completely unchanged.

The classic silent The Snowman has no explicit references to the holiday.

The entire plot of Rudolf the Red Nosed Reindeer involving his running away, making friends with Cornelius and Herbie, escaping the Bumble, and finding the island of misfit toys takes place an indeterminate number of months before Xmas. The part where he leads Santa's sleigh at the end is a coda unrelated to the central narrative.

If any of those count as "Xmas movies", then Die Hard meets the same minimum prerequisites.

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Consider "Three Little Nuts for Cinderella", a classic German Christmas movie that has nothing to do with Christmas at all. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tři_oříšky_pro_Popelku

Consider "Dinner for One", the most watched New Year's Eve movie in the world, that has nothing to do with New Years. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dinner_for_One

Consider Taco's "Puttin' on the Ritz", which is in so many "Halloween music" compilations I can't even start to count them. It has nothing to do with Halloween. The only association is that the song was used in "Young Frankenstein". But Taco's version isn't in the movie. And the movie isn't about Halloween.

 

[Ryujin]

Nope. And neither are all those sappy Hallmark rom-coms that are set at Christmas, using the same boilerplate premise, that are filmed in Almonte, Ontario, Canada.

Except "Fatman." That was filmed in Almonte and is a Christmas movie. Because it stars Mel Gibson as Santa.

 

[payn]

 

[aco175]

Over the weekend there was a Rocky marathon since the first couple have the main fight on Thanksgiving. The 4th one with the Russian has the main fight on Christmas, so TV marketers can't be wrong with picking holiday movies.

 

[Morrus]

It was a summer action movie, released in the summer, which is not Christmas. Does anybody really think people were going out to watch a ‘Christmas movie’ in July?

I mean it has Christmas in it. It has an elevator in it, but it’s not an elevator movie. Or a helicopter movie. Or a cigarette movie. Or a movie about clouds. It’s a summer action movie.

 

[FrogReaver]

Faulty poll, no option for yes and no.

It depends on perspective.
Is a Christmas movie one about Christmas tropes and themes?
Or is a Christmas movie one you watch around Christmas time?

In the first perspective it’s not. In the 2nd perspective it is.