TIN hats on everyone, I'm about to talk about an unpopular vote taken by the British public.

It was always going to be a divisive issue. One which seemed like it should have a really obvious answer, and one which both sides were utterly convinced they were in the right.

In the end, the debate was settled after 52 per cent of those polled voted - in my opinion - the wrong way.

That vote, in case you hadn't guessed yet, was carried out by YouGov earlier this month to determine whether the British public considered Die Hard to be a Christmas film or not.

Die Hard, for you poor unfortunates unlucky enough never to have seen it, is the story of New York detective John McClane who travels to California to visit his estranged wife's Christmas party (see - that's the first clue), and ends up taking on a small army of bad guys led by the late, great Alan Rickman - who created one of cinema's greatest ever villains in his very first Hollywood role.

To recap, the film takes place on Christmas Eve, at a Christmas party, and the music includes Ode To Joy, Let It Snow and Run DMC's Christmas In Hollis. It's a battle between good and evil, where a youthful (ish) Bruce Willis saves the day, and goes home with his wife to open presents around a Christmas tree with their kids.

There's not an ounce of fat on the script, the performances are all top notch, it's brilliantly shot, and while subsequent sequels transformed an increasingly grumpy Willis into a caricature superman - a million miles away from the shoeless, scared and vulnerable dad who finds himself in the wrong place at the wrong time - the brilliance of the original remains undiluted.

It also includes the timeless taunt "now I have a machine gun, ho ho ho", which is exactly the sort of thing I imagine Santa might say if he was leading a one-man campaign to save his elves from terrorists who broke into his workshop and held them hostage.

Yes, it's violent, and yes, it takes place in a sunny American state, but the odds are surely tipped in the favour of it being a festive favourite. Perhaps not one that's suitable for all the family, though a variety of television edits have watered down the language and violence over the years to allow earlier showings - "Yippee ki-yay, Kemosabe", indeed.

YouGov asked just under 5,500 British adults whether they thought Die Hard was a Christmas movie, and found just 30 per cent believed it was. 18 per cent said they did not know one way or another, and 52 per cent said it wasn't.

Tellingly, those who were more likely to claim the adventures of John McClane were a bona-fide festive delight were in the age bracket of 25 to 34 (44 per cent), with those aged 35 to 44 (42 per cent), close behind, and the majority of those who were convinced of its placement in the pantheon of great Christmas movies - along with It's A Wonderful Life, Miracle On 34th Street and Muppets Christmas Carol - were male.

Now, I get it. We're never all going to think the same way, and entitled to our own opinions. And yes, there are bigger things to be worried or angry about these days, but I'm sick of being worried and angry about them, so I figured a lighthearted column about the greatest Christmas film ever made would be a good way to distract myself, and you, for a little while.

My point is, at this time of year it's nice to escape for a couple of hours with one of the most satisfying films of the 1980s.

This year, as always, I'll spend a couple of hours wrapping presents while the battle of Nakatomi Plaza plays out in front of me, and maybe that's why I feel so strongly about it. It's a couple of hours of calm in among the chaos of Christmastime.

But whether you agree with me or not, and whatever your Christmas tradition is, I hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoy mine, and wish you all the best for 2018.