Is ‘Die Hard’ a Christmas movie? Americans have their say

A new poll from Talker Research for Newsweek has revealed America’s answer to the age-old question: is Die Hard a Christmas movie?

Every year around December 25th, families gather to exchange gifts, eat turkey and debate whether the cinematic exploits of Bruce Willis’ wise-cracking, vest-wearing John McClane constitute festive movie entertainment.

The new study appears to add some extra ammunition to one side of the argument. The Talker survey of 1,000 American adults, conducted between 2-6 December, so respondents were asked: “In your opinion, the film is Die Hard considered a Christmas movie?”

The answer could leave some readers more shocked than Hans Gruber falling from the top of Nakatomi Plaza on December 24. According to the results, 45 percent of Americans surveyed believe that Die Hard is not a Christmas movie. In comparison, just 38 percent answered yes, while 17 percent were unsure.

Dennis Hayden is pretty sure where he stands on the issue. Hayden played Eddie, a key member of Gruber’s crack team of terrorists in the original film, who was responsible for manning the downstairs front desk at Nakatomi Plaza.

Hayden’s character Eddie is one of the last of Gruber’s team left in the film, and as someone who spent a significant amount of time on set, he’s well placed to settle the debate. For Hayden, it’s clear.

“Die Hard is a Christmas movie,” Hayden shared Newsweek. “It’s all about Christmas; the setting, the timing, the Christmas Eve party, the decorations.”

The film’s director, John McTiernan, has previously suggested that Die Hard did not start out as a Christmas movie. In 2020, he told the American Film Institute, “We didn’t intend for it to be a Christmas movie, but the joy that came from it is what made it a Christmas movie.”

However, Hayden has a different recollection of events. “We filmed it during the holiday season,” he said. “It felt like a Christmas movie with a lot of action.”

However, he believes that its status as a Christmas film has been strengthened over time. “Every year it evolves into a new generation of Die Hard fans as a Christmas movie,” Hayden said.

While McTiernan may not be convinced, Hayden is keen to point out that one of the film’s writers, Steven E. de Souza, says it’s a Christmas movie.

During a performance at Script Apart podcast, De Souza claimed it Die Hard is arguably more of a Christmas movie than the 1954s White Christmas.

De Souza argued that although only the first and last scenes of White Christmas take place during the holiday season, the whole Die Hard is set in the festive season. Die Hard also boasts more Christmas songs than White Christmas and is set around a Christmas party.

However, some fans and critics still need to be convinced. Jimmy Cork works at the Film Forum theater in Manhattan and has directed several award-winning short films. Although he believes there is never a bad time to watch Die Hard” and it’s “Christmassy enough”, he can see why there’s been some “pushback” to the idea of ​​it being a festive film.

“I think most of the backlash to it being a Christmas movie comes from the fact that its setting is a little random,” he said. “Die Hard was a summer release. It is easy to have seen Die Hardenjoyed it and then completely forget its holiday connection.”

Cork added: “You swap Nakatomi Plaza’s Christmas Eve party for a New Year’s Eve or Fourth of July party, it’s the exact same movie. The fact that it takes place almost entirely inside a cold, metallic skyscraper in sunny Los Angeles doesn’t quite make help its cause either.”

Willis, for his part, shared his thoughts on the matter in 2018, below Comedy Central’s The Roast of Bruce Willistells the audience: “Die Hard is not a Christmas movie. It’s a bearded Bruce Willis movie!”

Hayden believes it was Willis’ way of “keeping the controversy going” by not coming out firmly on one side or the other. Despite the results of Newsweek vote, he doesn’t see the argument being settled anytime soon.

“I get fans sending me Die Hard Christmas memes from around the world and hear about Christmas Die Hard watch parties,” he said. “The world is still debating this, 36 years after the release of the film.”

This random double-opt-in survey of 1,000 ordinary Americans was commissioned by Newsweek between December 2 and December 6, 2024. It was conducted by market research firm Talker Research, whose team members are members of the Market Research Society (MRS) and the European Society for Opinion and Marketing Research (ESOMAR).