Examples Why Die Hard is a Non-Traditional Christmas Picture
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Archived from the IMDb Discussion Forums — Die Hard
bounce_out — 10 years ago(December 27, 2015 01:33 AM)
- When the plane lands in LA, the stewardess says Merry Christmas over the intercom.
- Christmas tree and Christmas decorations in Nakatomi Plaza.
- The Nakatomi employees are having a Christmas party and Joe Takagi wishes them Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.
- Story takes place on Christmas Eve.
- Various Christmas themed dialogue throughout: A) Holly: "You're making me feel like Ebenezer Scrooge", Holly tells her daughter no looking for presents and mentions Santa, B) Theo: "'Twas the night before Christmas and all through the house", C) Hans: "It's Christmas, Theo, it's the time of miracles", D) Robinson: "Johnson, that's crazy, it's Christmas Eve, man".
- "This is Christmas music", que Run-DMC's
Christmas in Hollis
. - The score at times is Christmas-esque, ex. jingle bell sounds.
- Various characters hum Christmas tunes throughout.
- McClane writes Ho-Ho-Ho on Tony's sweater.
- Christmas tree decoration inside the police dispatch control room as well as decorations inside the news station and the Gennaro residence.
- Snowflake decorative lights on the street light posts.
Yes, Die Hard is NOT a traditional Christmas picture, i.e. no Santa, no reindeer, no elves, not family friendly oriented, etc.
However, it IS 110% non-traditional. Just because a film doesn't include Santa, reindeer or the North Pole, etc. doesn't mean it can't be a Christmas picture. Family films don't monopolize the market on Christmas films. Horror films like Silent Night, Bloody Night (1973), Black Christmas (1974), You Better Watch Out (1980) and Silent Night, Deadly Night (1984) are DEFINITELY Christmas pictures and thus fall under the category of non-traditional.
I read a user mention Die Hard's July theatrical release as a way to prove it's not a Christmas picture. That doesn't mean anything, Halloween H20 was released in August of '98- is it no longer a Halloween film?? Yes, the basic premise of the story can happen anytime of the year, but to take place on June 14, you have to switch up the dialogue and tweak the set decorations, for example, but yes, again, Die Hard is possible. But we have to take Die Hard (1988) as it has been made. If you want a Die Hard picture not Christmas-y, go with Die Hard with a Vengeance, but the '88 flick is, in this user's opinion, a Christmas filmnon-traditional.
The Dude Abides!
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Krishthegod — 10 years ago(January 02, 2016 09:37 AM)
LEthal Weapon and Gremlins were both released in the summer of their release years, yet people think of those as more of Christmas movies than Die Hard? Why? I have no clue, I guess people just wanna be selective about it because aide Hard is a lot more violent than the other two, but I vehemently disagree. Die Hard IS a Christmas movie. Pure and simple. Some people just don't like mixing the holidays with their action, I guess. But for me, and a lot of me, they enhance each other
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GreenGoblinsOckVenom86 — 10 years ago(January 03, 2016 11:03 AM)
I sort of agree. Almost everyone in my family (my mom, dad, brothers, and sisters) argues otherwise. They'd rather watch movies like The Santa Clause, It's a wonderful Life, A Christmas Carol, Miracle on 34th street, A Christmas Story, or Home Alone.
To be fair it's a wonderful life for the most part doesn't take place at Christmas for most of the movie. Only the very beginning and the last 30 to 40 minutes takes place at Christmas. The rest takes place different times of the year. I think a reason why people might not associate Die Hard with Christmas is because it's an action film and therefore can be watched when it's not Christmas. Also you mentioned it was released in July of 1988 when most people aren't thinking about Christmas. But whatever.
I think this does feel more Christmassy than Lethal Weapon though. I watched Lethal weapon a few months ago having not watched it in more than 10 years and except for Jingle Bell Rock playing in the credits, the Christmas tree farm scene at the beginning, and the finale where they crash into a house with a Christmas tree inside of it, it really doesn't feel very Christmassy to me. Heck unlike Die Hard nobody says Merry Christmas through out most of the movie.
Green Goblin is great! -
smoko — 10 years ago(January 14, 2016 04:58 AM)
@bounce_out
Yes, Die Hard is NOT a traditional Christmas picture, i.e. no Santa, no reindeer, no elves, not family friendly oriented, etc.
However, it IS 110% non-traditional.
I don't get it. You're saying that Die Hard is not traditional, then you argue that Die Hard is non-traditional. Isn't that the same thing? What are you trying to say?
Also: 100% is plenty. That extra 10% is unnecessary. -
virtualproc — 10 years ago(March 18, 2016 05:31 AM)
Of course its primary genre makes it a non-traditional Christmas film at best, but I'd argue it does deal in contemporary Christmas themes like McClane trying to reconnect with an estranged family and Gruber ultimately being focused on opening presents. There's a moral about the spirit of the holiday in there.
