Christmas In August?

Why Die Hard Is 100% a Christmas Movie

By a regular dude who’s seen it like 20 times

As we near the end of summer, with politics getting crazier and the world feeling more off the rails than ever, let’s take a step back and talk about what really matters. Settling the age-old debate: Is Die Hard a Christmas movie?

Short answer? Hell yes it is.

First off, the whole movie happens on Christmas Eve. Not a random winter day. Christmas Eve. There’s a full-blown office Christmas party going on, trees, lights, Christmas music, and people getting buzzed on eggnog. If that’s not a holiday setting, I don’t know what is.

Second, John McClane’s whole reason for being there is to see his kids and fix things with his wife. That’s the heart of Christmas right there. Family, forgiveness, doing whatever it takes to make things right. Sure, he has to crawl through vents and fight terrorists along the way, but hey, we all got our holiday struggles.

And let’s not ignore the details. The movie ends with “Let It Snow,” there’s a guy in a Santa hat, and even one of the bad guys gets a message on his chest that says “Now I have a machine gun. Ho ho ho.” That’s the kind of festive chaos I can get behind.

So yeah, the world’s a mess, but we can all agree on one thing. Die Hard belongs on your Christmas movie list right between Home Alone and National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation.

Merry Christmas in advance, and yippee ki yay.