Die Hard writer says the movie is inarguably a Christmas movie

Oh, we are just up to our ass in this debate again, John? Even 35 years after its release, 1988’s Die Hard is as cited around the holiday season as often as Home Alone and A Christmas Story. And that comes down to two sides: you either watch it every year or you argue why it’s not a Christmas movie. As it turns out, co-writer Steven E. de Souza is at least in support of those in the former camp.

Posting on social media over this holiday weekend, de Souza stated (with tongue in cheek?) that not only is Die Hard unequivocally a Christmas movie, it’s even more so than the one where Bing Crosby tap dances with Danny f*ckin’ Kaye. ““White Christmas” is universally acknowledged as a benchmark Christmas movie, so empirical evidence proves “Die Hard” is even *more* Christmas-y.”

For starters, Die Hard takes place entirely during the Christmas holiday – chiefly, a party – while White Christmas only has a few scenes of this. It also has twice the amount of Christmas songs! There, too, is the “Gift of the Magi-like selfless sacrifice”, which we all know walking on glass is the ultimate example of. He also makes more specific comparisons that may not fall under the blanket of Christmas, but might be worth a look:

For his own part, Die Hard director John McTiernan has remained fairly diplomatic on the topic, saying it’s fans that make it a Christmas movie. “If the audience decides they want to make it a Christmas movie, it’s a Christmas movie…It turns out that way. It wasn’t intended as a Christmas movie, although the fact that it was deliberately built around Christmas – but not intended to be a Christmas movie.”

While I continue to take the stance that Die Hard is a “Christmas-adjacent” film, I see no problem in anybody who makes it part of their annual viewing, especially if it helps break up the schmaltz. Who says the holiday season can’t be about both gift-giving and international terrorists?

Whether you watch it annually or not, can you objectively call Die Hard a Christmas movie? Defend your answer below!