For many years I would roll my eyes when people said that Die Hard was a "Christmas movie." How could it be?! It's an R-rated action movie with terrorists, after all!

I just watched Die Hard this weekend for the first time in maybe 20 years, and I'm here to tell you...this is a Christmas movie, and I was too closed-minded to see it before.

1. Die Hard takes place on Christmas Eve.
2. Basically everything in the movie from the plot to the set designs to the music fundamentally rely on Christmas.
3. I looked up the screenplay, and the literal first word is Christmas ("Christmas tinsel on the light poles." and it comes up 17 more times in the script).

So why isn't it a "Christmas movie"? Is it because it's not a family-friendly affair? Because it doesn't end with a heartwarming scene with a family hugging and loving life together (although it basically does this)?

Nope, Die Hard is a Christmas movie because it's deeply intertwined with Christmas, it would be a very different movie if it took place any other time, and the only reason people like me didn't want to all it one was because it didn't perfectly fit the mold of the traditional Christmas movie.

But even if you take all that away, it's still a Christmas movie because countless people watch it around Christmas every year. It's a part of Christmas to them, and who am I to say their holiday movies are any less real then anyone else's? Hell, I'd consider the Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings series Christmas movies since the season makes me want to re-experience those as well.