There are plenty of things to look forward to over the holiday period. There are the times
you can spend relaxing with family and other loved ones, obviously there are the presents, and there's the irresistible
(and hard to define) festive feeling that is felt throughout the entirety of December. But there is another important thing most of us love to indulge in:
.
Even those who don't usually re-watch even films that they love, it's hard not to put on some old favourites at this time of year at least once. Personally, I don't feel like
is complete unless I watch It's A Wonderful Life - which is maybe the most life-affirming movie ever. I'll also try to sneak in a viewing of Gremlins and The Muppet Christmas Carol if I get the chance, partly because I loved them as a kid, but mostly because they're still fantastic to this day.
But one movie that I firmly believe is a Christmas classic is rarely as accepted into the festive canon in the same way as movies such as Elf or
. And that movie is none other than Die Hard, the
action movie from 1988.
When you think of Die Hard, you likely think of a sweaty Bruce Willis spouting witty one-liners in a tank top. You might also remember Alan Rickman's brilliant villain Hans Gruber and his team of gun-totting henchman. But aside from the fact that Die Hard remains one of the best the genre has to offer, it has started many a debate in recent years over whether it should be called a Christmas movie or not.
The fact that it is set at a Christmas party, features Christmas tunes, and the holiday season comes up frequently in the dialogue and plot, is often forgotten by people who haven't seen it in a while - but still many seem to be pretty split on the issue. It was only last week that YouGov ran a poll asking the public whether Die Hard was a Christmas movie or not, and only 30% voted yes, with 52% disagreeing and 18% saying they didn't know.
[[twitterwidget||https://twitter.com/YouGov/status/942734173416099840]]
However, it looks like we have received a final, definite answer on the matter.
Steven E. de Souza, the screenwriter behind other action classics such as Commando and The Running Man, is likely best known for being the man who wrote the screenplay for Die Hard. When posed the question, he gave us the answer: Die Hard IS a Christmas movie.
CNN anchor Jake Tapper put the question to de Souza on Twitter:
[[twitterwidget||https://twitter.com/jaketapper/status/944740130681753601]]
The writer replied, along with the hashtag #DieHardIsAChristmasMovie
[[twitterwidget||https://twitter.com/StevenEdeSouza/status/944812347461218305]]
In an interview with Dazed, he added:
"While of course in the script I made many references to the holiday season, it wasn’t until I set foot on the set and saw the giant Christmas tree and all the decorations in the office building locations that it struck me how ‘Christmassy’ the film was, even when no one was actively mentioning it"
And even went on to give an example of why, after seeing this reply from another fan of the movie:
[[twitterwidget||https://twitter.com/foullonL/status/944966361599627269]]
[[twitterwidget||https://twitter.com/StevenEdeSouza/status/944967233972793344]]
It's hard to argue with that, right? Now if you excuse me, I'm going to watch Die Hard for the 47th time.
