IS DIE HARD A THANKSGIVING MOVIE?

Chad Sternberger Nov 26, 2020

HOLLYWOOD – We enter the realm of hot takes, with the unhinged proposal that Die Hard is a Thanksgiving movie.

The turkey is in the oven; the family has gathered; the virus invisibly spreads, but the question on everyone’s lips this Thanksgiving is: Is Die Hard a Thanksgiving movie?

Now, wait a second. Before you jump to all sorts of conclusions. Let’s look at the evidence. First of all the 1988 actioner stars Bruce Willis as a New York cop who turns up in Los Angeles to see his wife. Not much that’s very Thanksgivingy so far. But wait. The film is set during the Christmas holidays, right? And if I remember my calendar correctly Christmas comes like a month or so after Thanksgiving. So we’re not a million miles away.

Gaming companies are experts on thanksgiving. Everyone knows that. So, who better to claim that Die Hard is a Thanksgiving movie than JackpotCity online casino themselves? Given their array of festive slots and eye for storytelling, there’s no doubt in my mind that they should have the final word. Plus, they understand the McClane types who are ready to roll the dice.

The cliche debate is of course: Is Die Hard a Christmas movie? The short answer is: It’s not a Christmas movie. Why? Because how can it be, when it’s already a Thanksgiving movie. It just doesn’t fit the bill as a typical Christmas movie anyway, as it has none of the Christmas motifs – and hardly any Christmassy visuals. One thing that can’t be debated is that Santa does not make an appearance. 

Anyway, we only have to listen to Bruce’s Comedy Roast speech where he announces “Die Hard is not a Christmas movie! It’s a g—–n Bruce Willis movie!”. There, he said it – and did you notice that he didn’t deny it as a Thanksgiving movie?

Next up is the fact that Bruce Willis stars in the film. Bruce Willis is a famous fan of Thanksgiving, once telling Entertainment Weekly: ‘Yeah, Thanksgiving is okay, I guess. I mean, I suppose so.’ Also, during one of the action sequences, he can be seen mouthing the words ‘cranberry sauce’ and he refers to his wife as ‘Pumpkin’, although that scene got cut from the finished movie and then burned. So don’t look for it because you won’t find it.

In the movie, Willis also mocks the bad guys, saying: ‘yippee-ki-yay motherfuckers.’ This was a reference to Roy Rogers who was a cowboy like John Wayne. John Wayne also had a catchphrase which was calling people ‘pilgrim’. Thanksgiving celebrates the arrival and survival of the Pilgrim fathers. Coincidence? I don’t think so.

Finally, Die Hard takes place almost entirely in the Nakatomi Plaza. Nakatomi is obviously a Japanese word which translates roughly as ‘This Movie You are Watching, Yes, It is a Thanksgiving Movie.’

I rest my Hot Take.

Die Hard will be re-released.