Whether or not you are a film fan, odds are you have at least one preferred movie you have to knock out every December (or other similar holiday season). The potential list is not exhaustive, with Christmas films being produced as far back as the 1930s. However, there are a select handful that have reached a particularly special status: holiday films that have not only become staples of the season, but spawned iconic characters, sequels, and long-running media franchises that transcend their most basic intention.
It is difficult to discuss Christmas films without bringing up the Home Alone franchise (with emphasis on the first two entries). Running for 35 years, the adventures of young Kevin McCallister and his war against the Wet Bandits has become a perennial favorite and a must-watch for families across the country. Despite its string of less beloved sequels, the first two are often hailed as some of the best holiday films of all time.
Other films such as National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, Bob Clark’s A Christmas Story, Frank Capra’s It’s A Wonderful Life, and Jon Favreau’s Elf have had a comparable impact on modern media.
And yet, it would not be a discussion of Christmas movies without a healthy debate on whether or not the 1988 action masterpiece Die Hard qualifies as a Christmas film. A story involving a band of terrorists taking over a high-rise office building in Los Angeles, following Bruce Willis as a lone, barefoot cop trying to stop them doesn’t immediately sound like the makings for the perfect holiday film (read our review here for a more in-depth analysis). But this is not the time to discuss Die Hard’s relevancy as a holiday film. Assuming that it is, what makes an action film about a cop engaging in shoot-outs with terrorists much different from a story about a kid rigging up traps to take down a pair of bandits much different?
On the most basic level, comparing the visuals present in both films is easily what creates opinions about one being a holiday film and the other not being one. Home Alone is set in the quintessential suburban town; trees, colorful lights, frozen lakes, and snow, is abound within the film, setting the stage for a typical Christmas film. It is the departure that Die Hard takes from this vision that could be a factor in people not considering it a Christmas film, with its warm photography and LA setting, where there is no snow worth mentioning. On a visual front, Home Alone certainly qualifies, while Die Hard has to make use of its other elements (story, sound) to find its place in the genre.
The other easy argument to make is that Die Hard is an R-rated action film while Home Alone is a PG family film. The latter is not full of profanity and explicit violence, which are certainly not hallmarks of the holiday-genre. It plays out primarily in a singular location (the Nakatomi Plaza) and provides an intense feeling of caulastraphobia in certain sequences. John McClane makes use of typical action film weaponry, such as a service pistol, a machine gun, a brick of C4, a flight of stairs, and even a hanging chain. Without context, the uninitiated viewer could easily miss the references to the Christmas holiday, especially if they only see some of the more high-octane scenes.
Yet, to push back against the earlier statement, Die Hard is violent, and it is a tense action film, but Home Alone is only not violent because it functions with Looney Tunes logic. Across the two films in which they appear, Harry and Marv are hit in the head with hot irons, bricks, (presumably full) paint cans, and a massive lead pipe; they are electrocuted, burned, and dropped from significant heights, among other things. In the finale of the first film, Harry threatens to bite off all of Kevin’s fingers, not before he is hit in the head with a shovel. What could be a disturbing scene does not ultimately happen, but it is a surprisingly dark line of dialogue that rivals anything Hans Gruber does to anyone in the Nakatomi building. Although it is ultimately silly, there is a reason why a theory exists that “connects” the Home Alone series to the Saw franchise: if Home Alone wasn’t for kids, it could very easily be one of the most violent films ever made.
Therein lies one of the catches of comparing these two films: it is easy to write Die Hard off and say that it is nothing more than an action film, but why do people watch Home Alone every year? A large portion of the audience will cite the climax involving the attempted burglary and the iconic traps. It is the added spectacle of seeing the hero of the story fight back against the villains and ultimately succeed that makes it such a crowd-pleasing film. In that vein, it is similar to Die Hard in its central action. Both films deal with crimes being committed on Christmas Eve, and a lone figure rising up to dispense justice, as well as featuring extended action set-pieces (though being different in their content and structure).
It is important to mention the redemptive arcs that take place within each film: Kevin is rescued at the end of the film by Old Man Marley, who allegedly murdered several people with a shovel, but ends up using that shovel against the Wet Bandits. It parallels Officer Al Powell in Die Hard, who tells McClane the story of how he accidentally shot a kid in his first days on the force, and became a beat patrolman afterward, but ultimately puts down the final criminal when he emerges from the building, saving John and Holly.
In line with their shared genres, both films weave Christmas hymns and songs into their soundtracks, such as the usage of “Carol of the Bells” as Kevin prepares the traps, or “Ode to Joy” playing over the sequence where Hans Gruber successfully breaches the vault. Home Alone is certainly more overt in its usage of music, but it is ever-present in both films.
For those who indulge in such things, the ‘is Die Hard a Christmas movie?’ debate is an age-old (if 37 years can be considered an age) argument that does not have a clear-cut answer. However, Die Hard checks the boxes of what a Christmas film is and should be, while also packing in high-rise thrills and violent action for the masses. Their differences notwithstanding, delving into the dark hearts of each of these films reveal a shared sense of justice, emotional tales of redemption, and a statement on the value of family, all of which encapsulate the holiday season perfectly. Perhaps comparing them accurately is an impossible task, but their thematic similarities are too great to not talk about.
