# Is "Die Hard" a Christmas Movie? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** movies\ **Created:** [December 2, 2013, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-die-hard-a-christmas-movie/675283 "2013-12-02T14:48:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 32
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2025, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-die-hard-a-christmas-movie/675283/622 "2025-12-14T03:15:25Z")
The question is what do people mean by “A Christmas Movie”? One set in the season? Or one which is _about_ Christmas. To me- those are Christmas Movies. The Santa Clause. Polar Express. Rudolph the Red Nosed reindeer. And so forth. Home Alone is marginal. But if people want to say a film qualifies if it is set during Christmas- like Die Hard. That’s okay too. ---
**Author:** ![AlsoNamedBort](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alsonamedbort/32/3213_2.png) [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2025, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-die-hard-a-christmas-movie/675283/623 "2025-12-14T03:31:53Z")
Have you watched Home Alone? It’s not just set during Christmas. It’s about Christmas. Unless your definition requires it to be about Santa, which would exclude movies like Christmas Vacation. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2025, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-die-hard-a-christmas-movie/675283/624 "2025-12-14T20:06:55Z")
> [@AlsoNamedBort](#): > > Have you watched Home Alone? It’s not just set during Christmas. It’s about Christmas. I said it is marginal. It can qualify. ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2025, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-die-hard-a-christmas-movie/675283/625 "2025-12-14T21:25:40Z")
It seems that some people consider Brazil to be a Christmas movie. ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2025, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-die-hard-a-christmas-movie/675283/626 "2025-12-15T00:12:07Z")
To me, a Christmas movie is one in which Christmas is an integral part of the plot. The test is, what would it take to rewrite the movie to remove all references to Christmas? By this criterion, _Miracle on 34th Street_ is obviously a Christmas movie. It would be essentially impossible to rewrite it with no reference to Christmas. _Home Alone_ is borderline. It would take some work, but not a tremendous amount, to have the family vacation be for some other reason and remove all other Christmas references. By contrast, to remove all Christmas references in _Die Hard_ would be trivial. You’d just need to change a very few lines of dialog and remove the decorations from some sets. It would not affect the plot in any significant way at all. It’s not a Christmas move, it’s just a movie which happens to take place near Christmas. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2025, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-die-hard-a-christmas-movie/675283/627 "2025-12-15T00:50:18Z")
> [@markn\_1](#): > > The test is, what would it take to rewrite the movie to remove all references to Christmas? By this criterion, _Miracle on 34th Street_ is obviously a Christmas movie. It would be essentially impossible to rewrite it with no reference to Christmas. _Home Alone_ is borderline. It would take some work, but not a tremendous amount, to have the family vacation be for some other reason and remove all other Christmas references. By contrast, to remove all Christmas references in _Die Hard_ would be trivial. You’d just need to change a very few lines of dialog and remove the decorations from some sets. It would not affect the plot in any significant way at all. It’s not a Christmas move, it’s just a movie which happens to take place near Christmas. Good points. I agree Home Alone is borderline. Yes, it is a Christmas movies- or No, it is not- either works for me. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2025, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-die-hard-a-christmas-movie/675283/628 "2025-12-15T00:56:56Z")
How does It’s A Wonderful Life measure up? Yeah, you could strip out the Santa-and-Christmas-Tree-And-One-Horse-Open-Sleigh opening credits, and the angle where folks are praying on Christmas Eve so an angel will visit a guy who then runs around wishing a Merry Christmas to the people and buildings he runs past in the snow until he arrives home — to find people who then take turns wishing _him_ a Merry Christmas while giving him gifts and singing a Christmas carol — and someone then notes the gift that he got from the angel, which he describes as a Christmas present, and then it ends with him agreeing that a given Christmas-tree ornament isn’t merely decorative but has a spiritual meaning. But if you remove all of that, how much of a movie is left? ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2025, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-die-hard-a-christmas-movie/675283/629 "2025-12-15T01:05:07Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > How does It’s A Wonderful Life measure up? Make it New years. I mean, obviously it is better with Christmas, but it is not about Christmas. It is about the impact that one decent mans life can have, ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2025, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-die-hard-a-christmas-movie/675283/630 "2025-12-15T01:07:25Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > it is not about Christmas. It is about the impact that one decent mans life can have, Speaking as a Jew, I’m not sure if I’m allowed to say _“so is Christmas.”_ ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2025, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-die-hard-a-christmas-movie/675283/631 "2025-12-15T01:10:06Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > Speaking as a Jew, I’m not sure if I’m allowed to say _“so is Christmas.”_ You are,😁 and you make a good point. But I dont think that is the point of the film. ---
**Author:** ![ZonexandScout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zonexandscout/32/544_2.png) [@ZonexandScout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZonexandScout)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2025, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-die-hard-a-christmas-movie/675283/632 "2025-12-15T13:11:59Z")
I’m not so confident about the idea that a movie is not a Christmas movie if you can easily strip out all the Christmas references. For example, I think that _Christmas in Connecticut_ is pretty clearly a Christmas movie, yet it would be pretty easy to change it to another holiday or event, or even remove it from a holiday altogether. The plot and gags would still work. ---
**Author:** ![Gorsnak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gorsnak/32/7587_2.png) [@Gorsnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gorsnak)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2025, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-die-hard-a-christmas-movie/675283/633 "2025-12-15T13:37:03Z")
> [@markn\_1](#): > > By contrast, to remove all Christmas references in _Die Hard_ would be trivial. Not all that trivial. The fact that it’s Christmas Eve explains why Nakatomi corp is having a company social event in the tower, why the entire district is otherwise completely deserted, and why McClane has traveled across the country to visit his estranged family. I suppose you could make it Thanksgiving instead, but the fact that it’s the night before a major holiday is a key part of Gruber’s planning. ---
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2025, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-die-hard-a-christmas-movie/675283/634 "2025-12-15T13:37:59Z")
Oh, yeah! One of my favorite scenes of all time is in that movie! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![AlsoNamedBort](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alsonamedbort/32/3213_2.png) [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2025, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-die-hard-a-christmas-movie/675283/635 "2025-12-15T14:46:19Z")
> [@ZonexandScout](#): > > I’m not so confident about the idea that a movie is not a Christmas movie if you can easily strip out all the Christmas references. For example, I think that _Christmas in Connecticut_ is pretty clearly a Christmas movie, yet it would be pretty easy to change it to another holiday or event, or even remove it from a holiday altogether. The plot and gags would still work. Yeah, my problem with the whole “can you strip out Christmas” criteria, is it basically reduces the entire genre to movies about Santa. Everything else you can just say “well, make it another holiday.” Scrooge is about to be visited by the ghosts of Easter Past, Present, and Future. ---
**Author:** ![Zoobi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/13edae/32.png) [@Zoobi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zoobi)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2025, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-die-hard-a-christmas-movie/675283/636 "2025-12-15T14:53:06Z")
> [@AlsoNamedBort](#): > > is it basically reduces the entire genre to movies about Santa Or explicitly about the Nativity ---
**Author:** ![ZonexandScout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zonexandscout/32/544_2.png) [@ZonexandScout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZonexandScout)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2025, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-die-hard-a-christmas-movie/675283/637 "2025-12-15T14:55:44Z")
I don’t like to think about the Easter Future (shiver!) ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2025, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-die-hard-a-christmas-movie/675283/638 "2025-12-15T15:31:11Z")
![](https://media.tenor.com/oOWZRAfUtPYAAAAM/die-hard-hans-gruber.gif "Die Hard Hans Gruber GIF - Die Hard Hans Gruber Nakatomi Plaza - Discover &...") ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2025, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-die-hard-a-christmas-movie/675283/639 "2025-12-15T15:34:10Z")
> [@ZonexandScout](#): > > I think that _Christmas in Connecticut_ is pretty clearly a Christmas movie, I just saw it for the first time. I think it is less a Christmas movie than _Die Hard_, and I’m on record saying _DH_ isn’t a Christmas movie. There’s nothing Christmassy about _CiC_. It a story of lies and mistaken identity and an annoying bullying boss and a closeted gay man looking for a beard wife (🙂 ) It doesn’t even really need a holiday at all to work. > [@Gorsnak](#): > > and why McClane has traveled across the country to visit his estranged family. He doesn’t even need to be separated, or even estranged, for the film to work. Now I’m envisioning _Die Hard without Christmas_ like [Garfield without words](https://www.mezzacotta.net/garfield/?comic=4502) (or [Garfield without Garfield](https://garfieldminusgarfield.net/page/479)). ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2025, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-die-hard-a-christmas-movie/675283/640 "2025-12-15T15:52:25Z")
You’d have to remove the “Now I have a machine gun. Ho. Ho. Ho.” scene, which would have destroyed Alan Rickman’s career. But I do appreciate that your criteria means that “Bad Santa” is solidly a Christmas movie, which a lot of people argue against. ---
**Author:** ![Gorsnak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gorsnak/32/7587_2.png) [@Gorsnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gorsnak)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2025, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-die-hard-a-christmas-movie/675283/641 "2025-12-15T16:03:34Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > He doesn’t even need to be separated, or even estranged, for the film to work. I mean, it could obviously be rewritten to make that work, but Holly and John being estranged is a key plot point throughout the movie. You could, if you wanted, write a screenplay for a movie much like Die Hard that doesn’t require it to be Christmas, and that omits the Christmas-y tropes of reuniting family etc. At a certain point, however, it’s not quite Die Hard any more. I guess you could have Nakatomi celebrating some big company coup, like closing a major merger/acquisition or something, to move it to a random date. John and Holly are together, but John shows up late for some random reason. Holly has never taken John’s last name because she’s a modern businesswoman. Still have to do something about McClane being a cop but not an LAPD cop. Could have him working for Anaheim or something, I guess? Really doesn’t work as well as him being NYPD I don’t think. It’s a similar movie, but I’m not sure it’s actually Die Hard. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-die-hard-a-christmas-movie/675283.md?page=31) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-die-hard-a-christmas-movie/675283.md?page=33)