Christmas. It’s a time of year we can embrace with joy or dread, for a simple reason—will we ever resolve the question: Is Die Hard a Christmas movie?
This year it got just a little more complicated. As this question started popping up on Twitter (and I’m sure other forums and in real life), the SyFy channel offered up a Die Hard marathon under their Christmas Movie branding. One might think the question of Die Hard as a Christmas movie was settled if you subscribe to SyFy as the arbiter. But no, it just complicated things—is Die Hard a science fiction movie? After all, the SyFy channel might think so.
Let’s consider which Science Fiction movies are unequivocally Christmas movies. That’s where I started my “research” for this post. And you know what I found? Not much. There are lists of movies that came out around Christmas and movies that take place around Christmas. One such list includes such offerings as:
Brazil
Prometheus
Gremlins
Children of Men
Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale [The list makers confess this is more horror than Sci Fi]
Santa Clause Conquers the Martians
But there is a real lack of movies about Christmas that are also science fiction. No android Santa’s or robot reindeer. No rocket-powered sleighs or time-stopping machines. No transporter beams for families without chimneys. And certainly, no aliens co-opting Christmas for their nefarious schemes. The closest we get is the last one on the list.
So, I’m going to go with Santa Clause Conquers the Martians. It’s tuned right into my B-movie obsession, and what’s not to like: Santa, cute kids, Martians, weird 60s Sci-Fi costumes, cheesy sets—the list goes on.
Synopsis from IMDb: Worried that their children have become obsessed with television shows from Earth which extol the virtues of Santa Claus, Martians begin an expedition to Earth to kidnap the one and only Santa Claus. While on Earth, they kidnap two lively children that lead the group of Martians to the North Pole and Santa Claus. The Martians then take Santa Claus and the two children back to Mars with them. Voldar, a particularly grumpy Martian, attempts to do away with the children and Santa Claus before they get to Mars, but their leader Lord Kimar stops him. When they arrive on Mars, Santa Claus, with the help of the two Earth children and a rather simple-minded Martian lackey, overcomes the Martians by bringing fun, happiness, and Christmas cheer to the children of Mars.
[Ref: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0058548/?ref_=vp_back]
But discovering Rare Exports and watching the trailer has me intrigued. I’ll need to check out where I can watch it and see what it’s all about.
Synopsis from IMDb: “On Christmas Eve in Finland, Santa Claus is unearthed in an archaeological dig. Soon after, children start disappearing, leading a boy and his father to capture Santa and with the help of fellow hunters, they look to sell him back to the corporation that sponsored the dig. And then there’s Santa’s elves, who are determined to free their leader…”
[Ref: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1401143/ ]
It doesn’t seem then that this post will resolve the question of Die Hard as a Christmas movie. If you apply the criteria from www.thelastthingisee.com (above), I would say Die Hard is. But you’ll never convince me it’s a Sci-Fi movie. The SyFy channel, I think, is stretching it. But I’ll keep watching.
Leave a comment and let me know what you think.
Thanks for stopping by. Happy Holidays.
[Disclaimer: Please accept my apologies for any ads that pop up before the linked videos. They do not reflect my position, nor do I endorse any of the products—it’s just a YouTube thing I can’t get around.]