Is Die Hard a Christmas movie? Bruce Willis (finally) ends the debate once and for all…

It’s been 30 years since John McClane took the Nakatomi Plaza by storm and rescued his family and a bunch of hostages from the clutches of Hans Gruber. But it’s not the yippee-ki-yay or even Bruce Willis crawling through vents that people remember. No, it’s the fact that it was set during the Christmas holiday. Ever since, debate has raged eternal about whether it’s a Christmas movie (it totally is). Bruce Willis, though, has put his foot down and given us the definitive answer. Is it a Christmas movie? Let’s find out…

During his own comedy roast, Bruce Willis capped things off by confirmed that Die Hard is (drumroll, please) NOT a Christmas movie.

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I mean, he’s wrong, but what are you gonna do? It’s set on Christmas Eve for Christ sake! You could’ve set it at any other time of the year (especially as it was, weirdly, released in July) and it’d still work just as well. Someone chose Christmas for a reason – and I want to find out who. But Bruce hath spoken.

Still, at least the ‘it’s an action movie, not a Christmas movie’ truthers will have something to cling to for the next 30 years until they roll Bruce Willis out again to tell everyone it’s actually a Christmas movie. For realises.

Now I put it to you, the people: is Die Hard a Christmas movie? This is the final definitive statement before we close the book on the most nonsensical debate in movie history. Vote in our poll below:

Oh, and while we’re here? Gremlins? It’s a Christmas movie. Deal with it.

Now, make your choice: best action movies or best Christmas movies. Die Hard may or may not be on both of these lists. Pick carefully.

Bradley Russell

I'm the Senior Entertainment Writer here at GamesRadar+, focusing on news, features, and interviews with some of the biggest names in film and TV. On-site, you'll find me marveling at Marvel and providing analysis and room temperature takes on the newest films, Star Wars and, of course, anime. Outside of GR, I love getting lost in a good 100-hour JRPG, Warzone, and kicking back on the (virtual) field with Football Manager. My work has also been featured in OPM, FourFourTwo, and Game Revolution.