Featured Image Credit: 20th Century Studios/Rich Fury/Getty Images
Topics: Bruce Willis, Christmas, Film, Die Hard, Holiday
Brenna Cooper
Topics: Bruce Willis, Christmas, Film, Die Hard, Holiday
Bruce Willis has finally ended the debate as to whether or not his 1988 classic Die Hard is a Christmas film.
It comes around every year without fail: 'Is Die Hard a Christmas movie?', someone will ask, and then within moments, everybody around you is locked in a fierce argument.
Supporters of the theory will argue that John McClane selflessly taking down a bunch of terrorists so everyone can celebrate the festive season together perfectly embodies the spirit of Christmas.
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Meanwhile, others would argue that you can't call a film a Christmas movie just because 25 December happens (by this logic, several Harry Potter instalments could be considered Christmas films).
However, neither said has been able to convincingly win over the other side, which means we've been trapped in a Die Hard Christmas stalemate for years.
That is until you take Bruce Willis' thoughts on the film into account.
Naturally, the debate has made its way back to Mr McClane himself, with the actor having some pretty strong thoughts on the topic.
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"Die Hard is not a Christmas movie," Willis told Entertainment Tonight back in 2018, instantly shattering hearts and minds across the world.
But what led him to this conclusion you ask? Well, it's very simple. Die Hard isn't a Christmas movie in the mind of Willis, but instead 'a goddamn Bruce Willis movie'.
Straight from the horse's mouth.
Willis isn't the only one to make this argument either, with John McTiernan previously revealing that he'd taken inspiration from Frank Capra's 1946 Christmas classic It's a Wonderful Life when making the film.
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"We hadn't intended it to be a Christmas movie, but the joy that came from it is what turned it into a Christmas movie," McTiernan explained during an interview with the American Film Institute.
Explaining how he and Joel Silver had gone back and forth over the script several times and arguing over plot points such as 'horrible leftist terrorists' and the 'essence of authoritarianism' stepping in to save the day.
"And I kept saying to Joel, 'I don't want to make that movie'," McTiernan explained.
He then went on to explain that It's a Wonderful Life influenced the character of John McClane being a 'working class hero'.
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"So I went to Joel, and I said, 'OK, if you want me to make this terrorist movie, I want to make it where the hero, in the first scene where the limo driver apologises that he's never driven a limo before, the hero says, 'It's alright, I've never ridden in a limo before'.
He added: "This was a movie where the hero was a real human being, and the people of authority, all of the 'important' folks, were all portrayed as kind of foolish."