What makes a movie a Christmas movie? Does it have to be snowing outside, with “Jingle Bells” playing in the background? Does the main character have to be indirectly related to Santa Claus? We all know the age of the argument of “Is Die Hard a Christmas movie?” So, let’s look at both sides of the coin and end this old tale.

For: A poll published by Gazette news, 79% of people say that they do consider Die Hard a Christmas movie. So, the numbers are there. Does “Jingle Bells” need to be a part of the score? Well, Die Hard does include some classic yuletide tunes, to bluster its Christmas joy. I also said does snow need to be falling, and if you can recall at the end of the film the snowflakes do make their grand entrance.

Against: Die Hard itself focuses more on the action aspect compared to the meaning of the holiday spirit, which is by far the biggest argument against it. The fact that it simply takes place during Christmas time does not automatically mean it is one. For example, if Home Alone took place during Halloween, is it now a Halloween movie? Once more, if Michael Myers slashed his victims with a Santa hat on, is the Halloween series now Christmas blockbusters?

Conclusion:

In my opinion, I think Die Hard leans into the Christmas spirit “enough” to the fact that I would very fringe consider it one. It’s a Christmas movie you can watch December 1st, just to simply enter the beginnings of the Christmas mood. If we use the fact that it takes place on Christmas against it, then therefore couldn’t every movie have that used against it? If the Grinch tried to steal Easter but kept the red hat on, then which would it fall under? You can’t use the time of a movie to go against logic, and you can’t make up a hypothetical. Die Hard takes place during Christmas and ends with the exact message of Christmas. Let’s all end the debate and accept the truth. Die Hard is a Christmas movie.