‘Die Hard’ After Christmas
And relive 2024 before the new year.
It doesn’t matter to me whether you consider Die Hard a Christmas movie. Either way, the movie takes a perfect premise and executes it almost perfectly, and the holiday adds extra seasoning.
Terrorists seize control of an office building, capturing everyone except one visiting husband who happens to be an off-duty police officer. It’s one man against incredible odds as John McClane (Bruce Willis) struggles to save his wife, his marriage, and a bunch of innocent hostages.
Hans Gruber (Alan Rickman) possesses all the traits of a classic movie villain: deadly, cunning, utterly committed to his goal, and in command of the situation. He’s thought through everything—except the possibility of someone slipping between the cracks and striking back from those very cracks. Or vents, as it were.
McClane is tough and highly skilled, but he never comes across as superhuman. Die Hard is the ultimate protector fantasy about overcoming impossible challenges to save the day, and yet it never quite feels like fantasy because Willis exudes just enough vulnerability throughout. The poor guy doesn’t even have his shoes on.
Die Hard’s goal is to entertain. Toward that end, it gets virtually everything correct. Among its correct moves is the decision to set the story during the Christmas season.
Any major holiday disrupts our usual routine. It creates an atmosphere that feels just a little different, a little heightened, and a little more special. It’s like entering a magical realm without requiring any actual magic. More seems possible during the holidays.
Die Hard didn’t need to be set during Christmas. A few edits could have made the story work at any point during the year. Indeed, whenever a TV show has its “Die Hard” episode (such as Buffy the Vampire Slayer’s “School Hard” or Lois & Clark’s “Fly Hard”), it’s usually not set during a holiday.
But adding Christmas to the equation enhances the flavor, layering familiar elements over a new and specific situation. “Now I have a machine gun. Ho ho ho.” It’s a cheat code for any story, provided it isn’t overused.
Die Hard may or may not qualify as a Christmas movie, but it’s better off for having flourishes of Christmas within. Still, you can watch it at any time of the year. It was a summer release, after all.
And, of course, the 1988 movie also features the future Carl Winslow in a supporting role. Reginald VelJohnson plays a cop here as well. Sure, his character’s name is Al Powell, but we can almost pretend that Family Matters is a Die Hard spinoff. The sitcom is technically a Perfect Strangers spinoff, as Jo Marie Payton played Harriette Winslow on that show first. If only Al’s wife had had any screen time, we could have pretended that Die Hard, too, was spun off from Perfect Strangers. Oh well.
Another Year of Fridays
Thank you for joining me for another year of rambling about movies, TV, comics, and/or books each Friday. Your reading time is always very much appreciated.
Here’s a sampling of what we covered this past year:
It’s always a pleasure to revisit the wonderful Justice League animated series.
I finally got around to watching Twin Peaks.
I launched my own serialized fiction on this platform (the next chapter comes out this Sunday, which will be my actual final post of the year).
X-Men ’97 was exceptional.
An impulse purchase of the Police Squad! DVD resulted in this next post.
Jim Henson received a nice documentary that celebrated his career, which led me to examine the failed Muppet Show pilot.
I rewatched Galaxy Quest, and it of course deserved a post.
A rewatch of Seinfeld resulted in my current most popular post.
With Beetlejuice, I got to both revisit a classic and review a new movie.
And a recent documentary gave me an excuse to gush about a great composer.
I’ll be back with more in 2025. One change, though: To prioritize quality over quantity, I’ll reduce the frequency to three Fridays per month. The first Friday I skip will feel strange for me, as I’ve kept this up for all of 2023 and 2024, but I’m hoping this will result in stronger posts overall.
Original fiction will continue on most Sundays, with the occasional skip week or brief hiatus along the way. If you prefer to receive only the commentary posts or only the fiction, you can adjust your account settings here.
Again, thank you for reading, and happy New Year!