If you’re a pop culture junkie who barely hesitates before answering “Die Hard” when asked for the name of your favorite Christmas movie, this post is not for you. This is, instead, for anyone out there who might be swayed by the fact that on Christmas Eve this year, a few different forces have come together to make it clear that the classic flick about NYPD detective John McClane taking matters into his own hands when Hans Gruber attacks Nakatomi Plaza — that this movie, friends, is as Christmas as it gets.
Exhibit A is available for your perusal at the top of this post. Fox, the studio behind the film, has released a new Christmas-themed trailer for the film that pronounces it “the greatest Christmas story ever told.” It packs many of the movie’s epic and comedic moments into 90 seconds, against a backdrop of sleigh bells, tongue-in-cheek holiday well-wishes and even a snippet from The Nutcracker that can be heard playing during it. “Get ready to jingle some bells and deck the halls with boughs of Bruce Willis,” an announcer gleefully intones.
Still not convinced? Okay, how about this: Also on Monday, no less than the New York Police Department weighed in, taking to Twitter to give a tip of the hat to their colleagues in the Los Angeles PD — and, likewise, a nod to the film’s vaunted status among pop culture fans. Note the NYPD’s hashtag at the end of this tweet, about Die Hard and whether this is a Christmas movie:
On this Christmas Eve, we’d like to acknowledge our partners at @LAPDHQ who have been working with us to protect Christmas since Hans Gruber’s 1988 attack on Nakatomi Plaza. #DetectiveJohnMclean #YesItsAChristmasMovie pic.twitter.com/qOEgD1Lqt3
— NYPD NEWS (@NYPDnews) December 24, 2018
And then because it’s Christmas — so why not, right? — The Los Angeles Police Department likewise chose to get in on the act and send that bit of good fun right back to their colleagues in blue in the Big Apple. Here’s a tweet Monday from the LAPD also chiming in on the film’s status as a Christmas classic:
On this Christmas Eve, we too would like to acknowledge our partners at @NYPDnews for their continued partnership-they’ll always be more than welcome to follow in McClane’s footsteps & come to the (better) coast & have a party. Yippie Ki Yay & ho ho ho. #YesItsAChristmasMovie pic.twitter.com/yAKpZK7eIa
— LAPD HQ (@LAPDHQ) December 24, 2018
The Daily Dot in a lighthearted post singled out the NYPD’s tweet for praise, calling it “a brilliant tweet because McClane was a New York cop before he traveled to Los Angeles to crash the party hosted by his estranged wife’s employer who was the target of a group of German terrorists led by uber bad guy Hans Gruber.”
So there you have it. Again, this is all in good fun, so we won’t come down hard one way or the other on the long-running, good-natured debate here. Whether you think it’s a Christmas movie or not, we certainly hope yours is a happy, satisfying holiday. We wish you a merry Christmas — and of course a yippie ki yay or two, which goes without saying.
