Throughout his decades-long career, James Cameron has made some of the most iconic action films ever made. From the Terminator franchise to the Avatar series, the director has shown his chops, masterfully integrating other genres with the thrills of action. Naturally, one would think that if Cameron had to choose his favorite action movie, he would pick anything from Terminator 2: Judgment Day to True Lies. Then again, one would be mistaken, as Cameron has chosen something else. We’ll give you a hint: “Yippee Ki Yay, motherf-ers.”
Cameron was recently a guest on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. The 71-year-old Oscar winner is currently promoting Avatar: Fire and Ash, and he stopped by the late show to talk about the latest installment in the sci-fi series. However, to his surprise, he didn’t only have to talk about Avatar 3, and whether the series will continue with the production of Avatar 4 and 5, per his original plans.
Instead, Cameron took The Colbert Questionert, a quick round in which he answered questions of every kind. From the simplest ones (what is the best sandwich?) to some that were a bit existential (what do you think happens when we die?), the director opened up and seemed to have plenty of fun. One of those questions concerned his favorite action movie, and when Cameron asked whether it could be one of his own movies, Colbert said, “It can be one of yours.” Surprisingly, the director responded, “No, no,” and chose 1988’s Die Hard:
I know the answer to this, it’s Die Hard. It’s ‘best one-liner,’ ‘best villain death,’ ‘best Christmas movie.’
The Polarizing Status of ‘Die Hard’ as a Christmas Movie
Bruce Willis as John McClane in the action classic Die Hard20th Century Fox
If you celebrate Christmas this time of year, chances are you’re planning to rewatch holiday movies. The classics are a must-watch, and films like Home Alone, National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, and A Christmas Story are some of the most popular picks on watchlists across the globe. Nevertheless, the world seems to be divided on another very popular pick: Bruce Willis’ seminal action hit, Die Hard.
Whether Die Hard is a Christmas movie seems to be largely a matter of personal opinion more than anything. It does take place around Christmas, and Willis’ iconic character John McClane has the one-liners that Cameron’s talking about, and some of them are decidedly Christmas-themed. Though Macaulay Culkin, Home Alone star and self-proclaimed “the godfather of Christmas,” says that Die Hard isn’t a Christmas flick, the film continues to grow a base of merry followers each year. Perhaps, we should simply listen to what Willis himself said about the long-lived debate: “Die Hard is NOT a Christmas Movie!”
Even if Willis holds the ultimate authority in terms of whether Die Hard should be watched this Christmas to boost the holiday cheer, his wife recently shared the reason why the film is a timeless holiday classic: “I think it’s important to put Die Hard on because it’s a Christmas movie. Bruce loved Christmas, and we love celebrating it with him. There is still joy. It just looks different.”
Die Hard is currently streaming on Prime Video.
- Release Date
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July 15, 1988
- Runtime
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132 minutes