My dad was arguing that it wasn't because being set at Christmas isn't enough, and said a bunch of things typical of a Christmas movie to have; while I countered with a list of things that happen in Die Hard that met his criteria.

"Someone needs to receive a gift."

"McClane was gifted a machine gun."

"There needs to be a miracle."

"It's a miracle John survived."

"It needs to capture the feeling of Christmas."

"Have you never spent time with your relatives at Christmas? It feels just like being held hostage at Nakatomi Plaza."

I thought this was a closed deal? Of course it is a Christmas movie.

subtract chrismas from the plot: you have no chrismas party filling a finished floor of the office tower with future hostages; you have no cross-county traveling hero to save-the-day. becomes a six page script and an easy in-and-out for snape and co.

Technically it is set during Christmas, but it's not about Christmas. But a movie tons of people like to watch at Christmastime is a Christmas movie.

Never understood where that came from. Definitely not a Christmas movie for me.

No, we agree that “Die Hard is a Christmas movie” is a fun proposition to entertain, either because it’s edgy and freaks the mundanes with its audacious disregard for cherished norms, or (more recently) because it’s a fun meme, with own line of commercially available ugly Christmas sweaters and knowingly ironic greeting cards. Though the meme eventually will become so overexposed that quoting from Die Hard on Christmas will become as basic and mid as dressing up in a Santa costume and drunkenly making an arse of yourself with several hundred similarly attired dudes.