Bruce Willis revealed whether or not Die Hard should be considered a Christmas movie
Die Hard – a Christmas film? Or an action film simply set during the festive period?
Another Christmas is looming and so is the continued debate as to whether Die Hard is truly a festive film.
The story of the 1988 release takes place on Christmas, but the festive season doesn’t really impact the plot at all and thus begins the debate on whether or not the release can be considered a Christmas movie.
Social media users have heavily weighed both sides of the argument, and director John McTiernan has even weighed in alongside actor Bruce Willis, who has also entered the debate of the century.
Prepare to get into the Christmas spirit – or not? – here:
Die Hard centers around New York City policeman John McClane (Willis), who goes to visit his estranged wife (Bonnie Bedelia) and their two daughters on Christmas Eve.
Alas, after getting to the Christmas celebrations being held at his wife’s company, the festivities soon turn sour – a group of terrorists deciding to get grinchy.
Now, this all does sound very Christmassy, but just because its set around the season, does that mean it’s actually a ‘Christmas’ film over an action?
Well, thankfully star Willis weighed in on the conundrum.
Bruce Willis in Die Hard (20th Century Fox)
Getting straight to the point during his Comedy Central roast in 2018, Willis said: “Die Hard is not a Christmas movie.”
He continued: “It’s a Bruce Willis movie so yippee-ki-yay to all you motherf**kers and good night!”
In spite of Willis’s remarks, the director of the film has quite a different view.
John McTiernan said in a 2020 interview: “Joel Silver sent me the script three, four times. And it was about these horrible leftist terrorists that come into the sort of Valhalla of capitalism, Los Angeles, and they bring their guns and their evil ways and they shoot up people just celebrating Christmas, terrible people, awful.
“And it was really about the stern face of authority stepping into put things right again, you know? And I kept saying to Joel, I don’t want to make that.”
Willis weighed in on whether Die Hard is a Christmas movie in 2018 (ANGELA WEISS/AFP via Getty Images)
McTiernan continued: “In fact, everybody, as they came to work on the movie began to get, as I said, this idea of this movie as an escapee. And there was a joy in it. Because we were, we’ve had changed the content.
“And that is how Die Hard became, we hadn’t intended it to be a Christmas movie, but the joy that came from it is what turned it in to a Christmas movie.And that’s really the best I can tell you about it.”
So we’re not really any closer to settling the age old question.
