By For years “Die Hard” has been the go-to film for the endless debate about what constitutes a Christmas movie.
How one defines a Christmas movie is a big part of the reason why there’s still some division about this topic, so much so a good portion of people involved in the film have been asked to weigh in over the years.
Now Peter Billingsley, the actor who starred as the kid in what is considered one of the most iconic conventional Christmas movies – “A Christmas Story” – had made the case that “Die Hard” is a Christmas film.
In fact on a recent episode of his podcast “A Cinematic Christmas Journey,” he laid out his argument to “Die Hard” cinematographer Jan de Bont who has been skeptical on the matter in the past.
Billingsley starts his argument by saying the film is bookended by two key Christmas-centric songs – Run DMC’s “Christmas in Hollis” and Vaughn Monroe’s “Let it Snow”.
He then talks the production design which puts Santas everywhere and puts the film’s central location is at a Christmas party, he cites the “iconic ‘ho ho ho’ moment” and then says at the end: “Most importantly, I think it embodies the themes of Christmas of acceptance, forgiveness, love and family.”
de Bont smiles and says: “Okay, I’m sold now.” An edited video of the conversation is now up at Instagram.
Willis, Bonnie Bedelia and Alan Rickman starred in the 1988 film which star Bruce Willis has dismissed as not being a Christmas movie in the past, whereas director John McTiernan told the American Film Institute in 2020: “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.”
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