It’s the same question everywhere and always, some may still asking it in hopes of getting a real answer while others just to laugh at it. So is John McTiernan’s Die Hard (1988) a Christmas movie? If movie maniacs are still asking it on X (Twitter), you’d think there’s something to this question. Right?
In your opinion, is Die Hard a Christmas movie? pic.twitter.com/WRDt4qUJda
— FilmX’s Number One Fan (@GAltringham) November 23, 2025
Several years ago, The Hollywood Reporter made a case for Die Hard being a Christmas movie by citing various elements and concluded:
Die Hard is inextricably built around Christmas thanks to its family plot thread, dialogue, music, sound effects and frequent visual references to tropes of the season.
Inextricably? Or rather casually? By its setting, yes of course it happens at a Christmas Eve party but to assess the story as a Christmas tale, it’s inevitable to look at what really happens there. Does a man who is there to save his wife so he can reconcile with her and live happy ever make a character who reflects divine grace? The answer will be a matter of opinion. With this scribe, it isn’t a loud and clear Yes! McClane’s war on terrorists and ending up in defeating them rather militarily and by physical force doesn’t resonate with the Christmas spirit which is all about peace through inspiration – divine inspiration coming through characters, whether humans or angels disguised as humans. Killing to serve the good cause actually kills the Christmas spirit. However, if the story had McClane engage in impactful dialogue with the bad actors so that he moved them to repent and surrender, letting the hostages go, it could pass the Christmas movie test.
The movie’s IMDb page assigns Die Hard the genres of action and thriller, which is the best and fairest placement. It does a Holiday tag in the main description panel and that because you can just add any word to describe the movie, including any theme and/or plot elements. Calling it a Holiday movie sounds fine but a Christmas movie, not really since it lacks the Christmas spirit – that soulful quality of following the God-fearing path by means of values like generosity, mercy, forgiveness, sacrifice, selflessness, and belief in the good. These are the qualities that make It’s a Wonderful Life a Christmas classic despite the actual Christmas eve spectacle at the end a very small part of the movie’s runtime.
So the question whether Die Hard is a Christmas movie is quickly and best answered in NO (caps intended). One thing The Hollywood Reporter got right is that the question of Die Hard being a Christmas movie won’t die. Filmospheric has no intention to become its killer either and the verdict of this jury is subject to appeal.
