JAKOB LUCAS, Sports Editor—
As Christmas music takes over the radio, trees and lights go up, and people are more than halfway through their advent calendars, the Christmas season is undoubtedly upon us. People will also soon begin to rewatch their Christmas favorites if they haven’t already.
At the top of my queue will be one of my favorite holiday season classics: the critically acclaimed Die Hard.
While this choice may draw the criticism of some people, allow me to quickly dispatch the argument against it being a Christmas movie. First and foremost, the movie’s plot must obviously center around the holiday season; one simply cannot argue that a movie which takes place in August is a Christmas movie. The only other requirement of a Christmas movie is the main theme associated with the holiday: family. Die Hard checks these boxes.
Also, saying Die Hard isn’t a Christmas movie is like saying Home Alone isn’t a Christmas movie. Both movies revolve around a very similar basic premise: a lone protagonist must use only their wits and surroundings to stop a team of antagonists from pulling off a heist during the holiday season.
Not only is Die Hard a Christmas movie, though; it is, in fact, one of the best out there.
The movie does an excellent job of balancing humor and heart with intense action. The humor and heart are used to lighten the tone before things get too dark for a Christmas movie. At the same time, though, these funny and warm moments don’t feel unnatural or shoehorned in.
Throughout the movie, John McClane flies cross-country from New York City to Los Angeles to reunite with his wife Holly. Before he can do so, however, he must overcome numerous challenges. Despite all the action thrown at viewers, the movie never lets the audience forget why John McClane is in LA and what he is fighting for: family, the theme most central to Christmas.
Finally, the movie is very comforting overall, something everybody looks for in a great Christmas movie. In the end, not only does good triumph over evil, but family defeats greed as John McClane takes down Hans Gruber and his team of thieves before reuniting and driving off with Holly, just in time for Christmas morning.
At its heart, Die Hard is just a movie about a family man doing whatever it takes to reunite with his estranged wife. While it may have gunfire and explosions, it relays the core Christmas theme to viewers in an entertaining, well-written fashion. Every year while the fire burns and the trees glimmer with lights, I watch Hans Gruber fall off Nakatomi Tower.