It seems like every holiday season as long as I can remember there has been a debate if ‘Die Hard’ is a Christmas movie or not! Sure the movie doesn’t have elves or Santa in it, but the setting for the movie is Christmas time.

According to CNET, Director John McTiernan gave an interview to the American Film Institute about what he and the producer had in mind for the movie. In the interview McTiernan revealed that ‘Die Hard’ is in fact a Christmas movie!

He actually took inspiration from the classic Christmas movie, ‘It’s a Wonderful Life.’ McTiernan said there was one scene in the classic Christmas movie he drew the most inspiration from and that was the scene in which hero George Bailey discovers that his town of Bedford Falls has become the sleazy Pottersville. In the interview, McTiernan said he wanted, “a movie where the hero was a real human being, and the people of authority — all of the important folks — were portrayed as kind of foolish.”

In the interview McTiernan also went on to say that they didn’t intend for ‘Die Hard’ to be a Christmas movie, but the joy that came from the movie is what turned it into a Christmas movie. So there you have it, the debate has been settled and now we don’t ever have to talk about this again!