I finally watched Die Hard – is it really a Christmas film?

I’ve heard through the grapevine there’s an ongoing debate as to whether Die Hard can be classified as a Christmas film or not. Now having watched the 1988 movie, I can (at last) have my say as to what I think – and I definitely think Die Hard is a Christmassy film. Yes, there’s a lot of action, gunshots and death (which isn’t very festive), but it’s based on an office Christmas party that’s gone awry.

New York cop John McClane (Bruce Willis) finds himself in the hero role as he flies to LA to reconcile with his estranged wife, Holly (played by Bonnie Bedelia). Having greeted Holly in her place of work, at the Nakatomi Plaza Skyscraper, it’s not long before a group of gun-wielding criminals hold people captive.

John then makes it his mission to find out what they want, how to stop them, and how to return people to safety.

The majority of the film is based on John fighting off the terrorists, led by the villainous Hans Gruber (performed by British legend Alan Rickman).

While this is world’s away from the typical rom-com typically associated with Christmas, there’s moments of levity and romanticism.

For a laugh, there’s the scene where John calls the police to report what’s happening, and the call handler on the other side responds with “this channel is reserved for emergency calls only”, to which John replied: “No f***ing sh*t, lady! Does it sound like I’m ordering pizza?”

Then there’s the real-life sentiment of what it means to love someone, to be on the verge of losing them, and wishing things could be different.

One touching moment is where John, thinking he’s not going to get out alive, reveals what he wishes he could say to his estranged wife.

Over a walkie-talkie, to another cop, he said: “Tell her… that she’s the best thing that ever happened to a bum like me.

“She’s heard me say, ‘I love you’ a thousand times… she never heard me say, ‘I’m sorry.’ I want you to tell her that… tell her that John said he was sorry.”

But, in the end, Die Hard finishes just like most Christmas films do, in a cheery resolution as the baddies are defeated, people are saved, and the couple reunite.