‘Die Hard’ Director John McTiernan Ends Great Christmas Movie Debate

Case closed.

Die Hard
Video Still

In the video above, Die Hard director John McTiernan ended a debate that’s been going on since Bruce Willis had hair. Is his iconic 1988 tale of a cop named John McClane taking down bad guys holding hostages at a party a Christmas movie or just an action flick that happens to occur at the Most Wonderful Time of the Year?

We’ve made the case that it most assuredly is a Christmas movie and belongs on any holiday-themed binge-watch along with unquestionably Yuletide-themed films like It’s a Wonderful Life

Bruce Willis has weighed in on the subject and he also says it’s a Christmas movie. As does Die Hard‘s screenwriter, Steven deSouza.

Die Hard John McClane
John McClane (Bruce Willis) delivering some gift-wrapped holiday ass kicking.

John McTiernan discussed the question for the American Film Institute. If you haven’t watched the video yet, be warned that McTiernan’s response goes pretty far down a few blind alleys—he touches on politics, aging and even cites the Bible at one point—but in the end, his answer is clear: yes, Die Hard is a damn Christmas movie.

This case is really once and for all closed, so celebrate with a nice hot cocoa and random machine gun fire. This discussion is over. At least until next Christmas.

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