We break down the criteria for a Christmas movie and find out if Die Hard belongs on the naughty or nice list.
.
.
Transcript provided by Youtube:
00:06
by the way in recent years a growing
00:15
debate rages over whether diehard
00:17
qualifies as a Christmas movie when we
00:21
think Christmas movie we think it’s a
00:23
Wonderful Life Miracle on 34th Street a
00:25
Christmas story not an action flick full
00:28
of guns explosions and terrorists to
00:30
settle this question once and for all we
00:32
have to nail down what makes a Christmas
00:34
movie here’s a loose checklist the
00:39
setting it takes place in the Christmas
00:41
season and the Christmas setting
00:43
couldn’t easily be swapped out the
00:44
movies marketed or released at Christmas
00:46
it features Christmas music especially
00:48
in key moments the Christmas spirit
00:51
comes into play or is a driving force in
00:53
the story there’s a Grinch or Scrooge
00:55
character the movie underlines classic
00:57
Christmas themes the tone is more
00:59
subjective but the movie gets us into
01:01
the holiday mood the end tends to
01:04
restore the order of goodness and
01:05
tradition so let’s see if diehard
01:07
belongs on the naughty or nice list
01:09
diehard takes place during an office
01:11
Christmas party so you might say it’s
01:13
the original office Christmas party
01:15
movie sorry Jen still there are plenty
01:18
of non Christmas movies that feature
01:19
Christmas even prominently almost none
01:22
of these are thought of as Christmas
01:23
movies meanwhile in the Christmas movie
01:26
Christmas Day can get minimal screen
01:28
time or not be seen at all despite lots
01:30
of holiday build-up we don’t see the
01:32
actual day and it’s a Wonderful Life or
01:34
white Christmas
01:35
diehard doesn’t show Christmas Day
01:37
itself either but Bruce Willis is John
01:39
McClane flies to LA to spend Christmas
01:41
with his estranged wife and kids Alan
01:43
Rickman’s Hans Gruber also plans his
01:45
robbery around the party because he
01:47
knows the building will be understaffed
01:48
and have a ripe picking of hostages so
01:51
the plots driven by Christmas it’s
01:53
Christmas themed we feel the holiday
01:55
presence throughout in the visual
01:57
decorations sounds and dialogue when we
02:00
remember die hard
02:01
we remember Christmas theoretically die
02:03
hard could have been said on the 4th of
02:05
July just his home alone could have
02:06
happened any time McAllister’s took a
02:09
vacation but both films wouldn’t have
02:11
the same stakes gravitas or
02:13
pay off diehard was released in July as
02:16
a summer blockbuster so it doesn’t check
02:19
this box but it’s not fatal to its
02:21
Christmas movie status Miracle on 34th
02:23
Street came out in May of 1947 and while
02:26
it’s a Wonderful Life did premiere just
02:28
before Christmas in 1946 Frank Capra
02:31
said he never thought of her intended it
02:33
as a christmas film die hard delivers on
02:36
this one the movie features joyful
02:38
joyful just before Maclean’s final
02:41
showdown with the bad guys and as John
02:43
and Holly Drive away reunited in the
02:45
credits goal the cheery but a snow plays
02:47
out the Christmas movie often features a
02:51
Grinch or a Scrooge sometimes his role
02:53
is to learn the meaning of Christmas
02:54
other times he’s the evil obstacle that
02:57
the Christmas spirit has to overcome the
02:59
Grinch here is Alan Rickman’s Hans
03:01
Gruber who pretends to be a terrorist
03:02
but is really a ruthless thief and if
03:05
Stan will blow the roof to spend a month
03:07
sifting through the rubble and by the
03:08
time they figure out what went wrong
03:10
we’ll be sitting on a beach earning 20%
03:13
he’s pure greed personified a simple
03:16
evil from acclaim to vanquish the
03:20
Christmas spirit is the force that makes
03:22
things right when they’re starting to
03:23
look wrong in the Christmas movie the
03:26
Christmas spirit might be represented by
03:28
God or Santa or an angel or it might be
03:31
proven by the human characters decision
03:33
to do the right thing it’s the authority
03:35
of goodness the rule of celestial law or
03:38
perhaps in diehards case the police and
03:41
die hard the Spirit gives McLean his
03:43
final breakthrough when for the finale
03:45
the guy straps guns to himself with
03:47
Christmas ribbons
03:48
it’s a laughably literal version from
03:50
the Christmas spirit laying down the law
03:52
wiping out the bad guys
03:54
the Christmas spirit becomes righteous
03:56
vengeance the strongest criteria for a
04:00
Christmas movie are the recurring
04:02
Christmas themes valuing family helping
04:05
others seeing the bigger picture and
04:07
feeling the heartwarming goodness of
04:08
fellowship among men the desire to bond
04:11
with family is at the core of die hard
04:13
the first image we see of McLean is his
04:15
wedding ring when McLain’s plans for
04:17
family bonding are derailed MacLean has
04:19
to lay down some out of jurisdictional
04:21
justice but then he’ll get back to
04:23
Christmas the scenario isn’t that far
04:26
stretch from home alone
04:27
where Christmas is the background to a
04:29
story about family reconciliation
04:31
interrupted by the need to violently
04:33
shut down some criminals this cinematic
04:38
violence can be interpreted as catharsis
04:40
getting out our frustrations that family
04:42
life isn’t easy making us feel renewed
04:44
and ready to appreciate the gift of our
04:46
family MacLean is a lesson to learn
04:48
about family – he’s been struggling to
04:50
support the career ambitions of his wife
04:52
Holly her name another Christmas
04:54
reference professionally Holly’s been
04:56
going by her maiden name miss Gennaro
04:58
which drives the staunchly traditional
04:59
New York cop crazy rap the film we see
05:05
Holly root from his success but MacLean
05:07
has to recognize that he hasn’t
05:08
supported her in the same way
05:14
[Music]
05:23
even deeper than the family theme is the
05:25
Christmassy feel of brotherly love it’s
05:27
seen in Maclean’s fighting to help the
05:29
innocent from the evil Grinch and it’s
05:31
highlighted in his immediate connection
05:33
without the LA cop he bonds with over
05:35
the radio some might dismiss the bloody
05:38
violent diehard is too dark to be a
05:40
Christmas movie but beloved Christmas
05:43
movies are often loaded with darkness
05:45
before they’re happy sentimental endings
05:47
many popular examples even have elements
05:49
of the anti Christmas movie A Christmas
05:51
Story is full of sarcasm and
05:53
cartoonishly exaggerates the confusing
05:55
even nasty way that adults dismiss the
05:57
concerns of young kids Bad Santa
06:00
turns Santa himself into an antihero in
06:02
die hard the violence that explodes at
06:04
the office Christmas party is a means to
06:06
what’s intentional in many of these
06:08
movies countering the sugary sweet
06:10
messages of family reunion and brotherly
06:12
love with an opposing cynical or not
06:14
very Christmas like sensibility this
06:16
dose of the gory or black humour can
06:18
make that spoonful of sugar just a
06:20
little easier to swallow Bruce Willis
06:23
and his wife make out his arms bloody a
06:25
stream of pieces of paper falling behind
06:28
them perfectly like snow the absurdist
06:30
image is an ironic office party
06:32
equivalent of the idyllic snow the
06:34
papers the endings with a more
06:35
conventional Christmas movie despite the
06:37
cheekiness it’s sending us that classic
06:40
image of peace and togetherness John
06:42
introduces powell to Holly for
06:44
reacquires for Miss MacLean lean it’s
06:46
the restoration of tradition as it ought
06:48
to be at least in Maclean’s world John
06:50
and Al through their emotional mail
06:52
sharing on the radio have both are in
06:54
their redemption for past sins while the
06:56
action and Christmas movie genres
06:58
seamen’s unlikely pairing they’re maybe
07:00
not as far apart as they appear both end
07:02
by resolving the heroes personal
07:04
conflicts to usher in a return to the
07:06
status quo and the positive forces of
07:08
authority and order the final decision
07:11
on a film’s
07:12
as a holiday title pump down to the
07:15
people when the holiday rolls around the
07:17
substantial number of people want to
07:19
break out their diehard DVDs if it gets
07:21
you in the spirit and fills you with
07:22
that warm fuzzy feeling then it’s a
07:24
Christmas movie to you for audiences who
07:27
like their holiday cheer mixed with
07:28
explosions diehard does just that
07:31
[Music]
07:40
you
—
This post was previously published on Youtube.
—
***
If you believe in the work we are doing here at The Good Men Project and want to join our calls on a regular basis, please join us as a Premium Member, today.
All Premium Members get to view The Good Men Project with NO ADS.
Need more info? A complete list of benefits is here.
Talk to you soon.
—
Photo credit: Screenshot from video