It's a Christmas movie

[Martoto]

I reckon a lot of us across the pond frankly couldn't GAF about the thanksgiving setting and just considered Planes, Trains And Automobiles a Christmas. Close enough.

[mwynn]

Originally Posted by Martoto

I reckon a lot of us across the pond frankly couldn't GAF about the thanksgiving setting and just considered Planes, Trains And Automobiles a Christmas. Close enough.

I don't think we ever mention Thanksgiving movies, or pretty much any other Holiday themed movies, even though they all would have examples.

[DR Herbert West]

Hardware
Maniac Cop 2

[DR Herbert West]

Trancers

[mwynn]

You Could Steal City Hall - YouTube

[Ruemorgue10]

David Cronenberg's Rabid. That poor Mall Santa...

[Show spoiler]

[Reignman35]

I've always felt there is definitely a difference between a "Christmas Movie", and a movie that takes place at Christmas. A movie that centers around Christmas and has that as one if its main themes (A Christmas Story, Miracle on 34th Street, and 1,734 others), are "Christmas Movies" in my opinion.

A movie that happens to take place around Christmas, is just that. Die Hard is probably the most well known example. Place it around any other holiday, and it doesn't change the main theme that it's about terrorists taking over a building, and one man's quest to stop it from happening. Lethal Weapon is another one. If you polled 1000 people, probably 950 of them wouldn't even remember the movie took place at Christmas, let alone call it a "Christmas Movie".

[RCRochester]

Originally Posted by Reignman35

I've always felt there is definitely a difference between a "Christmas Movie", and a movie that takes place at Christmas. A movie that centers around Christmas and has that as one if its main themes (A Christmas Story, Miracle on 34th Street, and 1,734 others), are "Christmas Movies" in my opinion.

A movie that happens to take place around Christmas, is just that. Die Hard is probably the most well known example. Place it around any other holiday, and it doesn't change the main theme that it's about terrorists taking over a building, and one man's quest to stop it from happening. Lethal Weapon is another one. If you polled 1000 people, probably 950 of them wouldn't even remember the movie took place at Christmas, let alone call it a "Christmas Movie".

No offense, but this same tired old cyclical argument has been going on and on and on for at least the past ten years, if not more.

It's become such a thing in mainstream pop culture now where Die Hard is embraced as a Christmas movie that who even cares at this point if it's about Christmas or just set at Christmas?

It has Christmas elements in the movie, people like watching it at that time of year and get a sense of the joy of season from doing so, so why split hairs trying to pick it apart if it's just become an accepted thing?

[Torgon]

Originally Posted by RCRochester

No offense, but this same tired old cyclical argument has been going on and on and on for at least the past ten years, if not more.

It's become such a thing in mainstream pop culture now where Die Hard is embraced as a Christmas movie that who even cares at this point if it's about Christmas or just set at Christmas?

It has Christmas elements in the movie, people like watching it at that time of year and get a sense of the joy of season from doing so, so why split hairs trying to pick it apart if it's just become an accepted thing?

I’d say it’s about 50/50. I wouldn't call it an ‘accepted thing.’ It’s an accepted thing by a certain group of people; not everybody. You can make the same argument about almost anything.

Poll 1

Poll 2

I’m sure you could probably find similar ones in support of the opposite view.

[RCRochester]

Originally Posted by Torgon

I’d say it’s about 50/50. I wouldn't call it an ‘accepted thing.’ It’s an accepted thing by a certain group of people; not everybody. You can make the same argument about almost anything.

Poll 1

Poll 2

I’m sure you could probably find similar ones in support of the opposite view.

I didn't say it was accepted by absolutely everybody; I already pointed out this whole "is it or isn't it a Christmas movie" contrived debate that pops up every year in every hack online publication has already played itself out.

Enough people watch Die Hard at this time of year as a "Christmas movie" that it's far more embraced than junk like Christmas With the Kranks or Four Christmases that are considered "real" Christmas movies.

I mean you have stuff like this that's out there:

[Show spoiler]

So even if it's just in a tongue-in-cheek fashion, to many people Die Hard is a movie that's part of their Christmas time celebrations, so that's all that matters.