The definitive action movie
- Review By:
- tpb
- Date:
- January 1, 2009
- Movie:
- Die Hard
- Director:
- John McTiernan
- Released:
- 1988
- Good Guy:
- John McClane
- Played By:
- Bruce Willis
- Bad Guy:
- Hans Gruber
- Played By:
- Alan Rickman
- MPAA Rating:
- R
- Family Friendly Ages:
- Not for kids
This is the action movie standard to which all action movies are held here at Preposterone.com. Die Hard has it all: Humor; great characters; excellent storytelling; non-stop suspense, thrills, and action; great fight scenes; high-tech weaponry and pyrotechnics; over-zealous federal agents who commandeer the over-zealous local police; a sweet reconciliation/love story; and, to top it all off at the end, the hero rides off into the sunset, as a paper snowfall and Dean Martin's version of The Christmas Song wrap the credits.
Bruce Willis, as John McClane, is witty, vulnerable, capable, and altogether lovable as the New York City cop who shows up at his estranged wife's company Christmas party in Los Angeles. As he freshens up in the executive washroom on the 30th floor of the Nakatomi Corporation's highrise in downtown LA, Alan Rickman, as Hans Gruber, is shown driving into, and methodically taking over, the building; dispatching his thugs to their respective, insidious tasks; scoping out the overthrown environment; and corralling the party-goers into a frightened band of hostages. Rickman is despicable, immoral, duplicitous, and ultimately outstanding as the mastermind behind the outrageous terrorist charade. His vanity and his greed drive his emotions as he proudly lists his accomplishments and wealth of knowledge while cold-heartedly eliminating anyone who doesn't give him what he wants. The chemistry he and Willis share when baiting and trapping each other is nothing short of perfect. Willis/McClane is no invincible, automaton hero either. He emotes fearfully while wrapping himself in a lifeline fire hose before rappelling down the side of the building; he laughs gleefully and bounces up and down on the balls of his feet like a little kid, at the potential arrival of the authorities; and he points out his own deficiencies and inabilities then curses angrily at his explosive over-reactions. He starts out in his clean white t-shirt, arguing with his wife, and walking around on the carpet barefoot making “fists with his toes”, and ends up bloodied and filthy in a green-grey t-shirt, limping down a flaming, crumbling hallway, greeting his hostage wife with a loving, voice-cracking “Hi honey”. The final showdown between McClane and Gruber brings the movie full-circle with references to early scenes and a horrific and unambiguous end to the Bad Guy.
On top of all this main character excellence, however, is a supporting cast of terrific individuals who offer so many of Die Hard's memorable lines. Bonnie Bedelia as McClane's fearless wife (“After all your posturing, all your speeches, you're nothing but a common thief!”); Hart Bochner as the self-important and misguided Ellis (“I can gim'to'ya”); Reginald Vel Johnson as the affable, almost-sidekick Sergeant Al Powell (“Things he said! Like bein' able to spot a phony id.”); Paul Gleason as the ambitious and inept middle manager Deputy Police Chief Dwayne T. Robinson (“Jesus Christ, Powell. He could be a bartender for all we know!”); Clarence Gilyard, Jr. as Theo, the techie terrorist (“The police have themselves an RV”); Richard Atherton as Richard Thornberg, the unscrupulous news reporter (“Tell me you got that!”); and Alexander Gudonov as Karl, the bad guy who refuses to die (“I don't want neutral. I want dead.”). This is the action movie to end all actions movies. Go see it. Give it a week or so, then watch it again. No problem, it stands up well to repeat viewings.
Best Action movie ever made, imo.