Star of “A Christmas Story,” Peter Billingsley, is putting up a strong argument in the age-old argument over whether or not “Die Hard” qualifies as a Christmas film.
His reasoning was so strong that he was able to persuade “Die Hard” cinematographer Jan de Bont, who wasn’t entirely convinced that the action film starring Bruce Willis is a holiday classic despite its mid-summer release date.
“Can we have a healthy debate? Can we make the argument to you of why it’s a Christmas movie?” Billingsley proposed to de Bont on a recent episode of his podcast “A Cinematic Christmas Journey.”
He continues, saying that the movie’s main setting is a Christmas party and that “production design put Santas everywhere.” Of course, there’s the scene where Willis’s character John McClane “decorates the dead body and puts it into an elevator,” which Billingsley refers to as the “iconic ‘ho ho ho’ moment.”
“But I’ll leave you with this,” Billingsley told de Bont. “Most importantly, I think it embodies the themes of Christmas of acceptance, forgiveness, love and family.”
With a nod of approval, de Bont smiles and says, “Okay, I’m sold now.”
In a video that Billingsley and his co-host Steve Byrne shared on Instagram, they can be seen grinning and laughing as de Bont concedes their disagreement.
“Die Hard,” which starred Willis, Bonnie Bedelia, and the late Alan Rickman, debuted in July 1988. It tells the story of a New York City police officer who tries to rescue hostages who are kidnapped by terrorists on Christmas eve at a party.
Willis, on the other hand, views “Die Hard” as a very different kind of film.
“Die Hard is not a Christmas movie!” He proclaimed during his 2018 Comedy Central Roast. “It’s a Bruce Willis movie, so yippee-ki-yay… and good night!”