‘Die Hard’ totally counts as a Christmas movie

Bruce Willis in “Die Hard”. Image from 20th Century Fox

Christmas is less than four weeks away, and when you live in a country where the countdown to the most festive holiday of the year begins as soon as the “Ber” months begin, it’s the perfect time to write about the best Christmas movie, which is “Die Hard “. Yes, in my eyes “Die Hard” is a Christmas movie. While it may not seem like it to some, it certainly is for many reasons, besides being the launch pad to stardom for Bruce Willis and leads the way to the creation of a new breed of “action stars”, as he is the main figure behind its rise in Hollywood.

Willis, what a legend he is! We all know that he is now retired due to a serious medical condition that has worsened to the point where he is unable to speak. But his legendary action films such as “Die Hard” will forever speak volumes about the caliber of actor he was and how treasured “Die Hard” has become. Especially now, everyone has found a deeper appreciation for Willis’ valuable contribution to the film industry for decades.

“Die Hard” pioneered a more physically vulnerable hero, in contrast to the near-invincible on-screen characters of its time, such as Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sylvester Stallone and Jean-Claude Van Damme.

Willis embodied the worker and the common man, representing an everyday type of person. He demonstrated a strong sense of survival, resourcefulness in extreme conditions and fearlessness. All these manly qualities were displayed by his iconic on-screen police detective, John McClane in “Die Hard”, who found himself trapped in a high-rise with a group of terrorists, to make matters worse, his ex-wife was one of their hostages.

The premise, plot and story of “Die Hard” are among the most fascinating. It poses a question to the moviegoer: what would you do if you were in his position? Are you willing to risk your life to save your ex-wife and all the other surviving hostages and confront a heavily armed terrorist organization? The stakes couldn’t be higher for McClane, but he did everything humanly possible to achieve the impossible and give the ending this film deserves. At one point, McClane was barefoot and walking on broken glass; he was shot several times and in a brilliant move he even used an emergency fire hose to propel himself out of a window to reach a lower floor and escape a bomb blast! You know, simple and typical situations one might find themselves in! Ha ha…

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When “Die Hard” came out in 1988, it marked a turning point in the direction of action movies. Slowly, Hollywood became more aware that moviegoers wanted to see more realistic “action stars” in situations that could happen in real life, even if the chances were slim. The whole point was that “Die Hard” was a gamble for both Willis and the studio, but in the end it paid off. It cemented “Die Hard” as one of the best films of the late ’80s and made Willis the latest breakthrough Hollywood actor to watch.

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There have been four sequels to “Die Hard”. While the first two sequels didn’t stray too far from the original groundbreaking formula, they demonstrated that ‘Die Hard’ could play a role as a franchise long before the term “franchise” became commonplace in the film industry.

On a more humorous side note, I counted the number of F-bombs, profanity, and colorful language I heard in “Die Hard” when I recently rewatched it for this entertainment article. I counted close to 60 if my memory serves me right and I’m impressed. When it comes to the death toll, how many villains were killed? More than fifty of them met their end with a bullet or were killed in a very clever way thanks to McClane. If that doesn’t make Bruce Willis a certified “action star” of a newer breed at that point, I don’t know what will.

Before I forget, there is no doubt that “Die Hard” is a Christmas movie. It goes beyond the obvious reasons; it teaches us that saving our loved ones is worth every ounce of sweat, blood and tears. That’s the true spirit of Christmas: making sure that every time it’s that time of year, they’re all still alive to celebrate it with them.

For me, in the final scene of “Die Hard”, when McClane is reunited with his ex-wife and you hear “Let it Snow” by Vaughn Monroe playing, more than symbolic; it means that everything McClane went through was worth it.

And, as McClane would famously say, which is one of the greatest one-liners and his catchphrase, “Yippee-ki-yay, motherf****r!”