As anyone who has studied Die Hard knows, the film contains a solid sense of structure, with its composition, blocking, dialogue and performances working in total agreement with each other to set up and pay off every element introduced in the film. . As such, its opening titles, which stretch from the very beginning of the film to eight minutes into the filmit contains a lot of information about the characters, spaces, situations and themes to follow. From a businessman (Robert Lesser) telling John McClane (Bruce Willis) to "knock his fingers" to overcome his jet lag to the founding of the Nakatomi Corporation and its Christmas party, the opening of Die Hard is a feast. table setter.

Just as the credits begin to roll and the Nakatomi Building looms closer, Argyle (Devoro White), the limousine driver hired to transport McClane to the building, suggests playing some music. As Run-DMC's "Christmas in Hollis" blares over the limo's sound system, McClain rolls his eyes. “Don't you have any Christmas music?” he complains, given that it's Christmas Eve. “This is Christmas music,” Argyle answers confidently. the front entrance of Nakatomi Plaza as the song continues.

With this moment, McTiernan, writers Jeb Stewart and Stephen E. de Souza and "Die Hard" himself announce their intentions and try to preemptively calm down opponents. The choice of "Christmas in Hollis" is to demonstrate how this film will be energetic, irreverent, hip and even a little subversive, all while still keeping the holiday theme. In this way, Argyle may be speaking to the audience, insisting that "this is a Christmas movie" as the film deviates from typical holiday scenes of cold, snowy streets, suburban family dinners, gift exchanges, and so on. "Christmas in Hollis" even embraces this expanded definition of what Christmas is, with Run-DMC telling their story of the holiday celebration on the East Coast, with black culture. With this scene, this dialogue, and this pin drop, Die Hard cements its status as an official Christmas movie right from the jump.