‘Die Hard’ Is Not a Christmas Movie According to a New Poll

If you happen to be one of the people who think that Die Hard is not only a Christmas movie but one of the best Christmas movies ever then we have some bad news for you. According to a new poll, most people disagree with you.

Per a poll conducted by Morning Consult and The Hollywood Reporter, only 25-percent of American adults polled consider Die Hard to be a Christmas movie while 62-percent straight up disagreed. A small group (13-perecent) had no opinion on the subject.

Now, inevitably, someone is going to be reading this and will be confused as to why Die Hard is considered by some to be a Christmas movie. The reason comes from the plot film itself. Released on July 12, 1988 — firmly a summertime blockbuster release date — Die Hard follows NYPD detective John McClane as he arrives in Los Angeles on Christmas Eve with the intent of reconciling with his estranged wife, Holly, at her office Christmas party. It doesn’t exactly work out that way. McClane, played by Bruce Willis, ends up spending Christmas eve battling terrorists in an LA skyscraper.

While this poll does appear to have some convincing numbers, there are a couple of things important to remember. For starters, the size of the poll is a little small to be the definitive word on Die Hard‘s Christmas movie status. Only 2,200 U.S. adults were polled, a fairly small sample size in the grand scheme of things. On top of that, one of the film’s screenwriters, Steven E. de Souza, even declared Die Hard a Christmas movie himself last year, replying to a fan on Twitter asking about the film’s holiday status.

Of course, Willis himself declared Die Hard is not a Christmas movie, earlier this year during his Comedy Central roast so it’s likely that not even a poll is going to settle the debate leaving fans to decide for themselves where Die Hard fits in when it comes to holiday films.

So, let us hear it: do you think Die Hard is a Christmas movie? What about Batman Returns? Let us know in the comments.