Holiday Movie Reviews: Is Die Hard A Christmas Movie? Plus My New Favorite Santa!

Die Hard (1988)

I literally had not seen this movie in decades! I forgot about how much I used to love it. Bruce Willis was the ultimate ordinary guy, trying to save the day in the age of action heroes such as Rambo and Arnold Schwarzenegger. If you’ve never seen it, NY Cop, John McClain comes to California to visit his estranged wife. While at her Christmas party a group of German Terrorist take over the building and John is forced to save the day, while barefoot. The action pieces hold up wonderfully and Alan Rickman plays an absolutely great villain. His quip, “Mister Nakatomi won’t be joining us for the rest of his life” still gets a giggle out of me all these years later. John McCain does his best to stay alive and be a self described “fly in the ointment” to the would be thieves, while the police chief and FBI agents play your stereotypical late 80s / early 90s douchebag cops. It’s a surprisingly smart movie with well put together action sequences that up the suspense. Also the character building / exposition scenes, that come in the form of a running conversation between John and a cop who is stationed outside the building, do their function without seeming to stiff. It builds up the human interest well and keeps you rooting for the hero. I will say this movie makes my feet hurt. If you know, you know.

Now we get to the big question. I don’t remember it being labeled as such when it first came out, but over the years Die Hard has become known in certain circles as a Christmas movie. It has been the source of a lot of controversy and caused a ton of internet arguments. So here is how I see it. The movie has holiday travel, as John McCain is going to California to visit his wife. It has a Christmas party and people giving gifts (it’s a Rolex!). It has Christmas music throughout and it’s even snowing paper at the end while “Let it Snow” plays. I will also say it has a family that has fallen apart due to both parents putting their careers above their relationship and in the end they see the error of their ways and find their way back into each others arms. When you look at all the boxes this movie ticks, I say it is a Christmas movie. I mean based on the boxes above it’s easily as much of a Christmas movie as Home Alone, which has a lot of violence and mayhem (and injuries to feet!), just presented in a much more slap stick manner. So I know it won’t help with the controversy, but my vote is in and it’s totally a Christmas movie. Yippee Ki Yay M@ther F@cker!

Amber’s Take:

This IS NOT a Christmas movie.

I mean yes there is a Christmas tree, Christmas music and snow (even if it is just drugs), but it feels nothing like a Christmas movie.

(Editor’s Note: You would never know it from the review, but she actually liked the movie!)

The Christmas Chronicles (2018)

Kurt Russell has played some of my favorite movie characters over the years, Snake Plissken, R. J. MacReady, Wyatt Earp, Jack Burton, Rudy Russo, and now… Santa Claus? Yes indeed, in the Christmas Chronicles, Kurt Russell plays the not so jolly St Nick himself. You see this Santa is no “fat man” as he complains to the kids and he doesn’t “ho ho ho”. But what he does do is play the man in the red suit with a deceptive amount of depth. Part ornery outsider, part loving grandfather. And it’s my favorite Santa ever. If I had to pick a Santa Claus to believe in, it’s this one.

As far as the plot goes, it’s typical Christmas movie schlock. The father of Kate and Teddy dies in a fire and the perfect family falls apart. The brother and sister fight, with older brother acting out more and more, even stealing a car at one point, all while the Mom struggles to make ends meet. It’s a dire situation, but when the daughter is reviewing old Christmas footage she makes a startling discovery, one of the old videos catches the slightest glimpse of Santa’s arm. She then basically blackmails her brother into helping her capture Santa on video. Amazingly the plan works and the kids find Santa and his sleigh. Not satisfied to just see it, Kate goes in for a closer look and they end up stowing away in it. When Santa discovers them it sets off a disaster with the sleigh wrecking, the reindeer getting away, and Santa losing his magic hat. Now it’s up to Santa and the kids to save Christmas (spoiler alert, they do).

To me, ordinary Christmas movies can be hard to watch. Maybe I’m too cynical. But this movie is actually pretty good. As mentioned above, I really enjoy Kurt Russell as the type of Santa I feel like I could sit down and have a drink with. The family stuff is sappy and played for maximum tear jerking, but it doesn’t linger too long so they will have time for Kurt to chew the scenery, and chew it he does! Every scene with Santa is classic and Santa never really seems to be in danger (spoiler, he’s not…). I have to admit, while I’m still not big on sappy Christmas movies, I did enjoy this one, even if I think we could have carved a little time off of it and it would have ranked a little higher.

I also feel the need to mention there is a fan theory online that this movie takes place in the same universe as 1982’s “John Carpenter’s The Thing”. The theory goes that at the end of the Thing, MacReady is left freezing to death in the snow. He is found by Santa Claus, who takes him back to the workshop. MacReady wakes up and accidentally kills Santa. Grief stricken that he accidentally killed Santa, MacReady takes over the mantle, determined to keep Christmas alive as a way of paying back Santa for saving his life. I mean, it’s kind of out there, but I could see it… I mean stranger things have happened, like Die Hard ending up as a Christmas Classic…

Amber’s Take:

Now THIS is a Christmas movie.