How did Red One (2024) pay tribute to Bruce Willis and Die Hard? Explained

Red One (2024) is a newly released action-comedy movie by MGM Studios centered around Christmas. The movie has caught the attention of audiences worldwide owing to its ingenious nod to the action flick Die Hard (1988), arguably one of the most iconic films with a Christmas backdrop.

Both Red One and Die Hard are associated with Christmas, although they have vastly different themes. The holiday plays a central role in Red One, with Santa Claus (J. K. Simmons) being kidnapped by an evil witch (Kiernan Shipka), while his ELF commander (Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson) has to team up with a tracker (Chris Evans) to rescue him and save Christmas.

Die Hard, on the other hand, is a thrilling action movie in which John McClane (Bruce Willis), a New York City police officer, has to fight off a terrorist attack and hostage situation at his wife's Christmas party.

Seemingly, the two movies have nothing in common, with one being based in a fantastic, mythical world and the other being more realistic and crime-oriented. According to Screen Rant, the creators of Red One have paid a tribute to Die Hard in one of the film's closing shots. In this scene, Simmons's Santa crawls through the air vents of a house to deliver gifts, referencing a similar moment from Die Hard. Read along to learn all about it.

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Red One pays tribute to Die Hard as Santa crawls like John McClane through vents

A montage at the film's end focuses on Santa as he employs different tricks to enter and exit houses to deliver gifts to children. One strategy he uses is to army crawl through the air vents of a home.

This is a shoutout to the iconic scene in Die Hard where John McClane has to crawl through Nakatomi Plaza's vents to run away from the terrorist Karl Vreski (Alexander Godunov). This scene also features the memorable line from McClane as he flips open a lighter and says,

"Come out to the coast, have a few laughs"

J. K. Simmons' Santa in the film pays homage to the great actor Bruce Willis through this legendary scene, which is so popular that it is featured in Christmas ornaments for "die-hard" fans of the franchise.

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How is Bruce Willis from Die Hard related to the actors of Red One?

Bruce Willis Speaks At The 2009 Frank Sinatra School of the Arts Graduation (Image via Getty)

The tribute to Die Hard might have emerged from the love that Johnson and Red One director Jake Kasdan has for the movie. Reportedly, Kasdan referred to Die Hard as a "great" movie that "stands up any time of year."

Johnson has been a long-time admirer of Bruce Willis' action movies and has claimed that they inspired him. As Johnson said to CinemaBlend in 2018,

“I wanted to make a film that paid homage and respect to the classic action movies that inspired me and entire generations — Die Hard to Towering Inferno to The Fugitive”

Johnson has also worked with Bruce Willis in the 2013 film G.I. Joe: Retaliation, where the two developed a close friendship. While promoting the movie, Johnson praised his co-actor, saying,

"Bruce Willis is the ultimate man's man... Bruce and I have been buddies for a long time."

Notably, Bruce Willis has also shared the screen with another member of the Red One cast. Willis played a lead role in The Jackal (1997), which also starred J. K. Simmons.

Although Bruce Willis has retired from acting after his diagnosis of aphasia in 2022, Red One's nod to his iconic Die Hard scene is bound to create a sense of nostalgia while also paying tribute to Willis' amazing and memorable career in Hollywood.