Unveiling Die Hard's Christmas Charm: Persuading the Cinematographer to Embrace Its Holiday Spirit (Exclusive)

In the realm of festive films, Peter Billingsley, a seasoned holiday-movie star renowned for his roles in A Christmas Story, Elf, and Four Christmases, holds a distinctive view on whether Die Hard qualifies as a Christmas classic.

 

During a captivating episode of A Cinematic Christmas Journey podcast, the 52-year-old actor engaged in a discussion about Die Hard alongside co-host Steve Byrne and the film's cinematographer, Jan de Bont — celebrated for directing Twister and Speed.

 

Billingsley, intrigued by de Bont's previous statements discrediting Die Hard as a Christmas movie, seized the opportunity to change his perspective. "Would you mind if I try to convince you of why this is a Christmas movie? I know you made it. I know you’ve lived with it for a very long time, since 1988," Billingsley proposed to de Bont, who agreed to the challenge.

 

While Die Hard originally hit theaters in the summer of 1988, its plot, revolving around a New York City police detective (Bruce Willis) entangled in a terrorist takeover of a Los Angeles skyscraper, unfolds on Christmas Eve.

 

Billingsley successfully swayed de Bont's stance by emphasizing the thematic elements that resonate with the holiday spirit. "That relationship between John McClane and his estranged wife, they’re fractured, but by the end, they learn to forgive each other. There’s hope, there’s joy, and they’re going to go and have a great Christmas morning with their kids," Billingsley explained. "Not to mention there’s Christmas songs, and they have the snow falling. In my opinion, it is a Christmas movie."

 

Even Die Hard director John McTiernan aligns with fans and critics who deem the film a holiday classic. McTiernan stated, “We hadn’t intended it to be a Christmas movie, but the joy that came from it is what turned it into a Christmas movie,” during an interview with the American Film Institute in 2020.

 

However, during Comedy Central’s 2018 Roast of Bruce Willis, the star himself, Bruce Willis, weighed in on the Die Hard debate, asserting, “Die Hard is not a Christmas movie! It’s a goddamn Bruce Willis movie.”

 

Despite Willis' firm stance, Billingsley managed to reshape de Bont's perspective. "I went through my criterion," Billingsley revealed. "And he said, ‘I’ve never thought about it that way.’ He said, ‘You have now convinced me it is a Christmas movie.’ And I was like, ‘Yes!’ So I was able to change a filmmaker’s mind, which was cool."

 

In the ongoing debate over Die Hard's holiday categorization, the film's nuanced elements and thematic resonance continue to captivate audiences and challenge traditional notions of what constitutes a Christmas classic.