See ‘Die Hard’ Trailer Edited Into the ‘Greatest Christmas Story Ever Told’
Die Hard is indisputably a Christmas movie, if not for the fact that it’s set during Christmastime. That’s enough, right? But purists would rather call it a cop flick, an anti-terror flick, a modern-cowboy epic (“Yippie-kiyay!”) or something to do with crime, since, you know, Bruce Willis is blasting baddies for better part of two hours. To rectify this for the film’s 30th anniversary, 20th Century Fox has cut a new yuletide-skewed trailer to prove that it really is “The Greatest Christmas Story Ever Told.”
The 90-second clip plays up all the holiday tropes, with a voiceover that begins, “This is John. He just wants to spend Christmas with the family,” and ramped up with cute kids, music from The Nutcracker and Alan Rickman going, “Ho ho ho.” Of course, it doesn’t last long, and Willis starts blowing things up and shooting people, though they still get in a few references. Apparently, at one point in the movie, Willis calls out to his character’s wife, who just happens to be named “Holly,” allowing the voiceover up to say “boughs of … holly.” It’s a fun spin on the original.
Of course, earlier this year, Willis clarified what the movie truly was during his Comedy Central Roast, according to The Hollywood Reporter. “It’s a fucking Bruce Willis movie,” he declared. For more proof, watch the original action-packed, two-and-a-half–minute Die Hard trailer (which still has plenty of Christmas spirit, at least in the beginning) here.