DIE HARD (1988)
Tagline : It will blow you through the back wall of the
theater!
I remember pretty vividly when this movie came out. I was in my Junior year in
high school and I am pretty sure I saw this thing on a VHS tape after my dad
taped it off cable. I saw a ton of movies that way. I remember being pretty
blown away as was anyone who saw this flick back then. DIE HARD had become the
action movie of all action movies. It rivaled the popularity of any action
flick either Stallone or Schwarzenegger had done which was quite an achievement
for a dude best known for the TV show Moonlighting before this. The movie
grossed $20+ Million more domestically than PREDATOR and $30+ Million more
domestically than RAMBO III. Both movies came out a year earlier. One other
thing I should say before I dig into this review. I have had multiple dreams in
my lifetime about Bruce Willis (who plays John McClane) chasing me. For some
reason in my dreams Bruce Willis hates my guts, which is strange because I
really like him as an actor.
In this one a NYPD cop John McClane (as I mentioned, played by Bruce Willis)
reluctantly goes on a Christmas vacation to visit his wife Holly (played by Bonnie
Bedelia who is still acting as of the writing of this review). Holly works for
this super rich company called the Nakatomi Corporation and her company is
having a giant Christmas Eve party at the company’s un-finished headquarters “Nakatomi Plaza”. This group of really grumpy dudes wants something from the building so
they decide to take over with enough fire power to pretty much jack stomp
anything that gets in their way. The group is led by Hans Gruber (played by
Alan Rickman who is to this day considered one of the greatest cinematic villains
in history), who gets tired of John McClane screwing up every plan he has. So
the rest of this damn movie is them trying to kill McClane whose most trusted
line to the outside world is a cop that just wanted some donuts (played by Reginald
VelJohnson one of the most beloved actors ever). John also isn’t wearing shoes
for any of this, so just be aware of that, because he’s gonna try to save his
wife, save the day, and maybe bum a pair of steps off a bad guy.
The direction, acting and cinematography in this movie is about as spectacular as it gets. There isn’t a single role in this movie that is wasted or under performed. The action sequences do take a bit of time to get going but once they start it feels like the viewer can’t help but wonder how McClane is ever going to get out of this alive. The relationship between McClane and Sgt. Al Powell (the cop I mentioned earlier played by Reginald VelJohnson) is so genuine it kinda drives this movie into a zone you don’t see with a lot of action movies. It feels realistic to a point and you are really rooting for John to figure this all out. The movie was also unique at the time given that it 97% of the movie happens in a giant sky rise building. A few interesting tid-bits about this thing : Bruce Willis had to wear fake feet during certain scenes where he was running on glass. He is actually also more German than the actors playing the German terrorists in the movie. Willis was born in 1955 in West Germany. His real mother is German.
I wish I could find an issue with this movie but I really can’t. I think there might be a few uses of the term “gd” which I hate, but given that this is a secular flick and a lot of writers are idiots, I just overlook it, unless it’s out of control and it appears they forgot there are many ways to express that the character is pissed. I watch this thing every Christmas so for me it’s a Christmas movie in the movie line up regard. Of course not in the “real meaning of Christmas” regard.
I give DIE HARD a 7 out of 7. Even to this day almost every action flick is measured against this thing, including the other films in the DIE HARD cannon.
GRAPHICS
Please check out the link below by clicking on the picture.
Because no one should die buttonless. Until next time.
Comments
Post a Comment