1988’s “Die Hard” is many things. It is arguably the definitive action film. It introduced the world to the incomparable talents of Alan Rickman and Bruce Willis. It solidified the career of director John McTiernan and made him the most important action filmmaker of the ’80s. It’s one of the most rewatchable and quotable films of the ’80s. But of all the things one can say about “Die Hard,” it is simply not a Christmas movie.
It’s also not, not a Christmas movie. It’s something else entirely. It’s an anti-Christmas movie. This is why every year a debate erupts on the internet over whether it is truly a Christmas film.
There are at least two kinds of Christmas movies. The first are movies that are actually about Christmas, films like “A Christmas Story” from 1983. As the title suggests, it’s a story about Christmas, told from the perspective of a midwestern elementary-aged boy. The second type of Christmas movies are films that are set during Christmas, but really the plot is seasonally interchangeable. For instance, “Home Alone” is set during Christmas, but it could have been set during Thanksgiving and relatively little would change. “Planes, Trains, and Automobiles” likewise is set during Thanksgiving but could have taken place at Christmas.
The Christmas Movie Genre
I think it’s fair to say that the first category is the real Christmas films. Films that start with Christmas as an essential element and are clearly about Christmas are obviously Christmas movies. The problem is
