Die Hard: Director Joel McTiernan Weighs In On The Christmas Movie Debate

Most every year, around this time, we see memes and articles either arguing Die Hard is a Christmas movie, or that it isn’t. Personally, I think both sides make good arguments, and there are more worthwhile film debates to engage in. But I get it. The film’s director, John McTiernan, recently commented on the subject while making a video for the American Film Institute. You can check out what he had to say below.

“Joel Silver sent me the script three, four times. And it was about these horrible leftist terrorists that come into the sort of Valhalla of capitalism, Los Angeles, and they bring their guns and their evil ways and they shoot up people just celebrating Christmas, terrible people, awful. And it was really about the stern face of authority stepping into put things right again, you know? And I kept saying to Joel, I don’t want to make that.”

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“I went to Joel. And I said, ‘Okay, if you want me to make this terrorist movie, I want to make it where the hero in the first scene when the limo driver apologizes that he’s never been in a limo before. The hero says it’s alright. I’ve never ridden in a limo before. Okay, working class hero. And Joel understood what I meant. And he said, Okay, and so we started to work on it….And in fact, everybody, as they came to work on the movie began to get, as I said, this idea of this movie as an escapee. And there was a joy in it. Because we were, we’ve had changed the content. And that is how Die Hard became, 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. And that’s really the best I can tell you about it.”

Wow, Die Hard certainly did go through some significant changes, and it’s unlikely the film would be as beloved as it is today had it stayed with the original idea. I love the film, as most do. It launched an entire genre of movies, some good, some bad, but it will always be a huge part of cinema history.

No matter if land on the Christmas side of the argument or the other side, I think arguing it is similar to politics in it’s highly unlikely that either of you will change the mind of the other. However, feel free to have at it, I encourage most any sort of movie debate. As for me, I am of the opinion of a meme I occasionally come across. I’ll post it down below.

Die Hard is a Harry Potter movie in 2020 | Harry potter movies, Harry potter  funny, Harry potter

On which side of this debate do you find yourself? Let us know in the comments down below!

Sources: American Film Institute, (via MovieWeb)

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