Here’s Why ‘Die Hard’ Is A Christmas Movie, Despite What Willis Says.

Many years ago, during the Christmas season, a group of my friends gathered at what used to be Queen City Cinema Club in Bangor. We were there to watch a classic holiday movie—not the Grinch, not Frosty the Snowman, not even Rudolph.

We were all there to watch Professor Snape get thrown off the roof of the Nakatomi Plaza in "Die Hard."

Every year people go through their favorite holiday movie lists, and inevitably it's all the same; "It's A Wonderful Life," "Elf," "The Grinch," "Rudolph," "Frosty The Snowman," "Miracle on 34th Street," "Home Alone," etc. But the one movie that gets left off the list, all too often, in my opinion, is my favorite holiday movie, "Die Hard!"

Now, despite what Bruce Willis himself jokingly said on Comedy Cental in 2018, "Die Hard" is most definitely a Christmas movie. Here's why...

Point #1: The entire movie takes place at a company Christmas party.

It might just be the worst company Christmas party in history, but it's still the holiday season! Decorations, Christmas music, and even the utterance of the traditional "Ho Ho Ho" can be seen and heard all throughout the movie.

Point #2: It shares the plot of many an already-accepted Christmas tale. 

Compare it to the plot of a couple of other undeniable holiday favorites, and I ask you to show me the difference. Take "Home Alone" and "The Grinch," for instance. The plot of both of those movies involved unhappy crooks trying to rob innocent holiday revelers of their belongings, only to be foiled by either a cute kid or an inventive hero (in the case of "Home Alone," Kevin is both!) Bruce Willis's John McClane is the definition of an inventive hero in this movie, and Alan Rickman's Hans Gruber is definitely an unhappy crook, especially by the end of the movie.

Point #3: Christmas ornaments are used to save the day in all three movies!

Kevin sets traps for Harry and Marv using Christmas tree decorations in "Home Alone." A rogue ornament that pops off the tree wakes Cindy-Lou Who and busts the Grinch. And John McClane used holiday packing tape to strap a hidden gun to his back so [SPOILER AHEAD] he could shoot the bad guys at the end of "Die Hard!"

Nothing gets me into the holiday spirit more than the dad from "Family Matters" walking Bruce Willis through how to escape Alan Rickman's squad of Euro-disco machine-gun-toting bad guys, and seeing things blow up. Merry Christmas!