‘Die Hard’: The greatest Christmas story ever told? Not in Britain.
While it’s not as sexy or current of a conversation as Brexit — although it is one that seemingly has no end these days — a hot matter of debate is whether or not the 1988 Bruce Willis film, Die Hard, is “the greatest Christmas story ever told.”
To try and settle this worldwide argument once and for all, UK-based YouGov, an internet market research and data analytics firm, conducted polls several years back to determine two things:
1. What constitutes a Christmas movie
2. The definitive British stance on whether Die Hard is a Christmas movie or not
The first poll asked people whether they would “consider a movie that takes place at Christmas time, but is not about Christmas itself, to be a Christmas movie.” Of the over 400 UK respondents, 31% said yes, 50% said no and 19% said “I don’t know.”
Fair enough, I think. And, good for Die Hard, it offers the opportunity to be mentioned in the same sentence as A Christmas Story, It’s a Wonderful Life, Miracle on 34th Street and Tuna Christmas.
The follow-up poll, which was explicitly about Die Hard, asked respondents if they thought of Die Hard as a Christmas movie. Surprisingly, half of Brits (52%) said no and only 30% said yes. The remaining 18% fell into the I-don’t-know or -can’t-say category.
I know the people of Britain have spoken but I have to say, still to this day, I include Die Hard every year on my must-see Christmas movie watch list. After all, the film does introduce us to John McClane (Bruce Willis) as a man who “just wants to spend Christmas with his family” even though he ends up having “a holiday he’ll never forget.” Sounds just like a Hallmark Channel holiday movie storyline, right?
It’s just not Christmas until I see Hans Gruber (Alan Rickman) fall from Nakatomi Tower. And, speaking of Hans Gruber and the Nakatomi Tower, I have yet to pull the string to buy the 2024 Hans Gruber Advent Calendar, but you know I want to! Maybe next year.
And, finally, to further solidify my case, Rotten Tomatoes lists it as No. 11 on their all-time top-50 Christmas movies list!
In: Odds & Sods
