Yippee-ki-yay, it’s Christmas. That means it’s time to settle in for the cold winter and reignite one of cinema’s most hotly debated topics: Is Die Hard a Christmas film?
The question has divided film fans for more than three decades, as John McTiernan’s 1988 action flick is notably missing most of the things that make a Christmas film a Christmas film. It does, however, take place on Christmas Eve and was even voted the best ever Christmas film by Empire readers in 2016.
Starring Bruce Willis in arguably his most iconic role, Die Hard follows NYPD detective John McClane as he travels to Los Angeles to visit his estranged wife. When he arrives at her office Christmas party at Nakatomi Plaza, McClane finds the building has been taken over by a group of terrorists led by the villainous Hans Gruber (Alan Rickman).
