Great Film: Die Hard
You'll "Die Hard" with this action-lover's action movie
One could claim that 1988's "Die Hard" is one of the most influential
action movies ever made because it basically revolutionized one of the
most copied (but never matched, at least in terms of quality) formulas:
a loner, by some unique twist of fate, battles it out with an "x"
number of terrorists in an enclosed environment.
By the time that "Die Hard" was released, the action movies were most
often dominated by the likes of Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sylvester
Stallone, and Chuck Norris. Star Bruce Willis, whose only notable
credits at the time were television's "Moonlighting" and 1987's "Blind
Date," which was released the year before, was the unlikeliest of them
all.
Willis was a wild card - an unlikely choice for the role of our hero
"John McClane" - since he didn't have any action credits on his resume'
and let's face it: Bruce Willis just didn't have the bulging biceps
required for a role like this. But that's the beauty of his performance
in this movie: he's an everyday guy, caught in a not-so-everyday
situation.
On Christmas, McClane's estranged wife Holly (Bonnie Bedelia) invites
him from New York all the way out to Los Angeles to spend the holidays
with the family. But it requires him to make a stop at the Nakatomi
offices, which is having an after-hours Christmas party. Riding for the
first time in a limo, he's introduced to the suave driver, Argyle
(De'voreaux White), who gives him some pretty useful advice on trying
to win over the wife.
At Nakatomi, things of course get off to a rough start for McClane, as
he gets into an argument with the wife and is left to wallow in his
misery. However, those problems are about to take a backseat to the
real "party" - twelve terrorists, led by Hans Gruber (all-purpose bad
guy Alan Rickman, perfectly cast) - seize control of the building and
proceed to rob the Nakatomi building of its assets, most of which
include negotiable bonds and other valuables. But they didn't count on
the "fly in the ointment" (pain in the a**) to make things hell for
these so-called party crashers.
Certainly one of the best known action movies ever, "Die Hard" did
receive the scorn of critics upon its 1988 summer release, but the
audiences sung a completely different tune.
The film was most often praised for the production, with the brand-new
Fox Plaza office tower serving as the fictional Nakatomi building. It
was also praised for the energetic and skillful direction of John
McTiernan, whose most notable credit was the action-sci-fi thriller
"Predator," which was released the year before and starred Arnold
Schwarzenegger.
Bruce Willis was the perfect actor for this performance, since he
brings the wit and vulnerability to a role like this one. If Stallone
or Schwarzenegger were in this movie, I'm sure the effect would have
been a lot different.
Personally, I think "Die Hard" is one of the greatest action movies
ever, up there close to my favorite action movie of all time, "Raiders
of the Lost Ark." Like Indiana Jones in that film, "Die Hard" had an
Everyman cast in the role; McClane, like Indiana Jones, wasn't a
larger-than-life musclebound grotesque: he was a real guy that you
cared about, who got hurt, and had real feelings.
That's why I think both of these movies have sort of stood the test of
time as becoming what they are best known for today: action classics,
and they're here to stay, ladies and gentlemen.
10/10
Cast
- Officer John McClane played by Bruce Willis
- Holly Gennaro McClane played by Bonnie Bedelia
- Sgt. Al Powell played by Reginald Veljohnson
- Deputy Police Chief Dwayne T. Robinson played by Paul Gleason
- Argyle played by De'voreaux White
- Richard Thornburg played by William Atherton
- Harry Ellis played by Hart Bochner
