Die Hard is a Christmas Movie

[Rhom]

A wayward traveler is on his way home on a snowy day to see his family at Christmas. He is distracted from his trip by a problem that only his unique profession can solve. He resolves his romantic difficulties with his wife. There is Christmas music. 

Sounds like every Hallmark Channel Movie I’ve ever seen.

[Inkdaub]

I once took a Christmas photo with my girlfriend in front of the departures sign at Grand Central because it listed the train to Hollis.

[DaveSumm]

I say nay. By my own personal definition, if a movie is frequently enjoyed outside of Christmas (Die Hard was released in summer, and is widely regarded as one of the best action films of all time and enjoyed when you’re in the mood for such a thing) then it’s not inherently a Christmas movie. I also, possibly more controversially, put Home Alone in the same category. It’s famous for Kevin rigging a house with booby traps, and the setting isn’t particularly relevant to that.

Or to put it another way; if a movie spawns a sequel that isn’t set at Christmas (as both Die Hard and Home Alone have), how inherently Christmassy can they have been to begin with?

[drawkcabi]

This is my own personal rankings on movies that take place during Christmas but are disputed as actually being "Christmas movies".

Any movie that is at 50% Christmasy or above is a Christmas movie in my opinion:

Die Hard: 60%

DIe Hard 2: 60%

Lethal Weapon: 40%

Gremlins: 80%

The Nightmare Before Christmas 50% (and 50% Halloween)

Love, Actually: 50% (and 50% Valentine's Day)

Cobra: 35%

Reindeer Games: 70% (and an underrated movie imo)

The Long Kiss Goodnight: 65% (and if not underrated, then criminally forgotten about)the

Batman Returns: (surprisingly) 50%

 

@DaveSumm

I disagree. My qualification for a Christmas movie is how Christmasy it makes me feel. Pure and simple. There's a reason "Christmas in July" is a thing. I can watch A Christmas Story in the middle of summer (and I have before TBS/TNT went completely overboard with its yearly 24 hour marathons) and while I'm watching it, no matter what time of year it is, feel in the Christmas spirit.

[Soylent Brown]

Absolutely. Not only is it set on Christmas Eve, but Brucey also says Santa's most famous catchphrase, "Yippee-ki-yay, motherfucker!"

There's the subtle Christmas motifs throughout, like the red feetblood on white glass, and our hero running about covered in (chimney) soot.

And there's also a man with a beard in it too.

 

I haven't double-checked my working out, but I calculate that it's about 27% more Christmassy than Santa Claus The Movie.

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

Anyone who says it isn't can go straight to hell. 

54 minutes ago, drawkcabi said:

Lethal Weapon: 40%

Lethal Weapon isn't a Christmas movie. 

[Stannis Eats No Peaches]

My girlfriend had never seen Die Hard until a couple of years ago. If I remember correctly she said she didn’t understand how it’s even a debate, as it is so obviously a Christmas movie.

[Corvinus85]

1 hour ago, DaveSumm said:

I say nay. By my own personal definition, if a movie is frequently enjoyed outside of Christmas (Die Hard was released in summer, and is widely regarded as one of the best action films of all time and enjoyed when you’re in the mood for such a thing) then it’s not inherently a Christmas movie. I also, possibly more controversially, put Home Alone in the same category. It’s famous for Kevin rigging a house with booby traps, and the setting isn’t particularly relevant to that.

Or to put it another way; if a movie spawns a sequel that isn’t set at Christmas (as both Die Hard and Home Alone have), how inherently Christmassy can they have been to begin with?

What? The theme of being with family at Christmas is throughout the movie. The reason why the burglars are operating there is because of Christmas. 

Your logic about movies spawning sequels is also flawed. You can have more than one Christmas miracle.

[Guy Kilmore]

Die Hard and Die Hard 2 are very much Christmas Movies.  They were made by people who were very aware of the medium of Christmas movies and then utilized those tropes knowingly.

[Rhom]

30 minutes ago, Corvinus85 said:

What? The theme of being with family at Christmas is throughout the movie. The reason why the burglars are operating there is because of Christmas. 

Your logic about movies spawning sequels is also flawed. You can have more than one Christmas miracle.

By that reasoning, National Lampoons Christmas Vacation can't be a Christmas movie!!!!

[drawkcabi]

1 hour ago, Tywin et al. said:

Anyone who says it isn't can go straight to hell. 

Lethal Weapon isn't a Christmas movie. 

Correct!

> 50% = Not a Christmas movie, only a movie that happens to be set around Christmastime.

[DaveSumm]

28 minutes ago, Corvinus85 said:

What? The theme of being with family at Christmas is throughout the movie. The reason why the burglars are operating there is because of Christmas. 

Your logic about movies spawning sequels is also flawed. You can have more than one Christmas miracle.

The theme is there, but my thesis is that Home Alone is more famous for being a movie about a kid rigging a house. It has value outside of Christmas, and is watched all year round because of it. The movie could, conceivably, not have been set at Christmas and still been good.

Hence my point about sequels: would there be an Elf sequel set in July? Or an Arthur Christmas sequel set in March? No, because at their heart they are about Christmas. Die Hard and Home Alone have both spawned sequels which aren’t set at Christmas, because at their heart, they’re an action movie and a ‘kid lives by himself’ movie. The fact that they were ever capable of spawning such sequels proves, I advocate, that they aren’t Christmas movies.

(I would also point out that I enjoy debating this, but of course, there is no definition of a Christmas movie and therefore no answer, it will only ever be subjective.)

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

24 minutes ago, DaveSumm said:

The theme is there, but my thesis is that Home Alone is more famous for being a movie about a kid rigging a house. It has value outside of Christmas, and is watched all year round because of it. The movie could, conceivably, not have been set at Christmas and still been good.

Hence my point about sequels: would there be an Elf sequel set in July? Or an Arthur Christmas sequel set in March? No, because at their heart they are about Christmas. Die Hard and Home Alone have both spawned sequels which aren’t set at Christmas, because at their heart, they’re an action movie and a ‘kid lives by himself’ movie. The fact that they were ever capable of spawning such sequels proves, I advocate, that they aren’t Christmas movies.

(I would also point out that I enjoy debating this, but of course, there is no definition of a Christmas movie and therefore no answer, it will only ever be subjective.)

Lethal Weapon isn’t a Christmas movie because Christmas doesn’t play any significant role in the plot. Home Alone, OTOH, completely requires Christmas to work. The family is going on a Christmas vacation, and that’s what causes Kevin to be left home alone. The robberies are happening specifically because families are away for the Christmas. The major theme is family, with Kevin realizing home much his family means to him, hence why his Christmas wish is for them to reappear. The fact that you can watch Home Alone or Die Hard anytime of the year speaks to how good they are, not that they aren’t Christmas movies. People only watch movies like A Christmas Story around Christmas because the movie isn’t very good.

[DaveSumm]

15 minutes ago, Tywin et al. said:

Lethal Weapon isn’t a Christmas movie because Christmas doesn’t play any significant role in the plot. Home Alone, OTOH, completely requires Christmas to work.

Ah OK, so LA Confidential is a Christmas film? The events are set in motion by a brawl that happens as a result of too much eggnog on Christmas Eve. “Bloody Christmas”, the headline reads. No. Because it didn’t need to be Christmas, it could’ve been any other plot device. Just as Kevin could’ve been left Home Alone by any other plot device. Upon learning that Home Alone 3 wasn’t set at Christmas, did everyone say “Wait, what?! How on Earth is he left Home Alone?”

15 minutes ago, Tywin et al. said:

The family is going on a Christmas vacation, and that’s what causes Kevin to be left home alone. The robberies are happening specifically because families are away for the Christmas. The major theme is family, with Kevin realizing home much his family means to him, hence why his Christmas wish is for them to reappear. The fact that you can watch Home Alone or Die Hard anytime of the year speaks to how good they are, not that they aren’t Christmas movies. People only watch movies like A Christmas Story around Christmas because the movie isn’t very good.

I mentioned Arthur Christmas earlier, which I really enjoy. But I don’t watch it any other time outside of Christmas, as I’m not looking to feel Christmassy then. I’m not sure quality is a useful measure on this occasion.

[Corvinus85]

47 minutes ago, DaveSumm said:

The theme is there, but my thesis is that Home Alone is more famous for being a movie about a kid rigging a house. It has value outside of Christmas, and is watched all year round because of it. The movie could, conceivably, not have been set at Christmas and still been good.

Hence my point about sequels: would there be an Elf sequel set in July? Or an Arthur Christmas sequel set in March? No, because at their heart they are about Christmas. Die Hard and Home Alone have both spawned sequels which aren’t set at Christmas, because at their heart, they’re an action movie and a ‘kid lives by himself’ movie. The fact that they were ever capable of spawning such sequels proves, I advocate, that they aren’t Christmas movies.

(I would also point out that I enjoy debating this, but of course, there is no definition of a Christmas movie and therefore no answer, it will only ever be subjective.)

Being able to set up sequels in a different setting doesn't take away anything from the originals. They can be mutually exclusive. Like Rhom said above, National's Lampoon Christmas Vacation is a Christmas movie, but the others aren't. The same applies to Home Alone 1 & 2, and Die Hard. 

[DaveSumm]

1 minute ago, Corvinus85 said:

Being able to set up sequels in a different setting doesn't take away anything from the originals. They can be mutually exclusive. Like Rhom said above, National's Lampoon Christmas Vacation is a Christmas movie, but the others aren't. The same applies to Home Alone 1 & 2, and Die Hard. 

National Lampoon is an outlier, as it already was a sequel to a non-Christmas movie. It was a Christmas version of an established series of films. So new rule: if an original movie could conceivably have sequels set another time of the year, it isn’t a Christmas movie.

[Corvinus85]

5 minutes ago, DaveSumm said:

National Lampoon is an outlier, as it already was a sequel to a non-Christmas movie. It was a Christmas version of an established series of films. So new rule: if an original movie could conceivably have sequels set another time of the year, it isn’t a Christmas movie.

It's the same rule you made up above, and the court rejects it. Good day! 

[Slurktan]

14 minutes ago, DaveSumm said:

National Lampoon is an outlier, as it already was a sequel to a non-Christmas movie. It was a Christmas version of an established series of films. So new rule: if an original movie could conceivably have sequels set another time of the year, it isn’t a Christmas movie.

So then there are no christmas movies.  Santa Claus the movie isn't one because conceivably there could be a sequel where he is collecting unemployment in July and getting drunk all the time on his time off so Mrs. Clause forces him into rehab.

Christmas Story isn't one because conceivably there is a sequel where because of societal pressures (and bad parenting) the kid is in high school and snaps and becomes a sociopath and gets a real rifle but doesn't shoot *his* eye out.

[Jaxom 1974]

Die Hard is a Christmas movie!

Die Hard isn't a Christmas movie!

Hot dogs aren't sandwiches!

Hot dogs are totally sandwiches!

[DaveSumm]

11 minutes ago, Slurktan said:

So then there are no christmas movies.  Santa Claus the movie isn't one because conceivably there could be a sequel where he is collecting unemployment in July and getting drunk all the time on his time off so Mrs. Clause forces him into rehab.

Christmas Story isn't one because conceivably there is a sequel where because of societal pressures (and bad parenting) the kid is in high school and snaps and becomes a sociopath and gets a real rifle but doesn't shoot *his* eye out.

But you’d be very surprised if that were actually the case wouldn’t you? If those sequels were announced? Were you surprised Die Hard 3 wasn’t set at Christmas?