A Bruce Willis Action Classic Is Taking Over Prime Video's Top Charts

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas, apparently. Not just because Thanksgiving is behind us and we're well into December, with wall-to-wall Christmas stuff lining every aisle at big-box chain stores and sale after sale encouraging people to spend big this holiday season. No, it's because people are watching "Die Hard" en masse, which is truly the best way to get into the spirit of the season, in my humble opinion. I'm apparently not alone in that.

"Die Hard" is currently sitting at number six on Amazon Prime Video's top-streamed movie charts, per FlixPatrol. It's been occupying that spot for the past couple of days, as of this writing. So, why are people streaming the 1988 Bruce Willis action classic now? Because, for a great many people, this is a Christmas movie. Case in point, Prime Video's top 10 chart also includes holiday favorites like "Jingle All the Way," "Almost Christmas," "Frosty the Snowman," and "The Holiday."

I'm not here to have the tired debate as to whether or not director John McTiernan's all-timer of an action flick is indeed a Christmas movie. I have personally argued that "Die Hard" is thematically a Christmas movie, as opposed to merely being a movie that takes place on Christmas. It's an exhausting debate that isn't really worth having anymore. What is worth acknowledging is that "Die Hard" remains one of the best movies ever made, regardless of the genre. 36 years later, people still seek it out, as they should.

"Die Hard" centers on John McClane (Bruce Willis), a hardened New York cop who's visiting Los Angeles on Christmas Eve to spend time with his estranged family. Enter Hans Gruber (Alan Rickman), an expert thief, and his merry band of gun-toting criminals, who proceed to violently crash the business party that John and his wife Holly (Bonnie Bedelia) are attending in order to steal the Nakatomi Corporation's fortune, which is locked within a state of the art vault. The only thing standing in their way? A shoeless cop who wants to save his wife. If I may? Hell yeah.

This is the film that turned Willis into not just an action hero, but also a movie star in general. Let's not forget that, amazingly enough, this was Alan Rickman's first film as well. With his performance, he gave us one of cinema's greatest villains. On top of all that, the film gave rise to a five-movie franchise, although the original "Die Hard" remains by far the best of the bunch. In any event, it's not just a bullet-proof work of cinematic perfection that satisfies every time, it's also an important film that helped launch careers and generate a property that lasted decades.

In 2024, watching the film takes on new meaning. Willis retired from acting in 2022 after being diagnosed with aphasia, which means the man behind McClane (who also starred in multiple other classics, ranging from "Pulp Fiction" to "Looper") is no longer making movies. So we, unfortunately, no longer get to watch this film and wonder what Willis will do next. Rather, we must marvel at everything he gave us, including this cherished two hours of high-octane excellence.

"Die Hard" is streaming now on Prime Video, or you can grab the movie on 4K, Blu-ray, or DVD via Amazon.