Die Hard

I watched a movie called Die Hard, directed by  John McTiernan, released in 1988. It stars Alan Rickman, Bruce Willis, Reginald Vel Johnson and Bonnie Bedelia. The story is that John McClane, an off duty New York City police officer, played by Willis, goes to visit his wife, played by Bonnie Bedelia, in Los Angeles at a giant building, where they are having an office party. Meanwhile, Hans Gruber, played by Alan Rickman, and a number of other terrorists take over the building to rob it, using the hostage situation as a front, and they don’t know about McClane, who has to rescue everyone. That is the movie in a nutshell. It’s a pretty interesting movie in that it stars Bruce Willis as the reluctant action hero who actually BLEEDS and barely makes it through the film alive, not to give anything away. Bruce Willis at the time seemed unlikely as an action hero when compared to guys like Arnold Schwarzenegger and he was coming around with Moonlighting, a tv detective comedy with Cybil Shepard.
This is also one of those movies where Christmas is part of the story, meaning that it has a little bit to do with how they are coming together as characters. There is even a jingle bell sound as part of the soundtrack and the last song is “Let It Snow”, which is out of place in some ways. I recently found out that it was based on a book, Nothing Lasts Forever by Roderick Thorp, released in 1979. I haven’t read the book so I can’t give you information on how they are different. The music, done by Michael Kamen, is well done and adds quite a bit to the action, like a good action film soundtrack should do (unlike a few action films using hit singles of the time, making the movie dated in one way or another). The acting by Willis is superb and believable. Alan Rickman is perfect as a German terrorist as he brings a lot of sneakiness and ruthlessness to the role that is a perfect match for Willis as a villain. Gruber is possibly one of the best movie villains of all time. I like him in this movie almost as much as McClane. Being that this is his film debut, he has screen presence that almost dominates the entire movie. Holly Generro, John estranged wife, played by Bonnie Bedelia, is a strong female character as she stands up to Hans and maintains a cool demeanor through the ordeal of being hostage. You can see how John would be attracted to her and how they would also be estranged in some ways, as they are both headstrong.
I grew up watching this movie (to the point where I can randomly quote it from time to time) and I think it was the first one where I heard so much profanity or variation of. I loved it though as a kid and I still love it now. It is an underrated Bruce Willis action film (along with Hudson Hawk, which no one seems to like except me) and the movie really gives you a sense that given extreme circumstances, people can rise to a challenge. I realize McClane is trained as a cop but he fought terrorists so that’s slightly different in some respects.
A classic.
(just as an aside, I bought this movie for a friend yesterday and the cashier, who was at least in her 40’s asked: “is this the one with the broken glass?” I said yes and she said that freaked her the hell out when she saw it back in the day. That’s the kind of staying power that movies have and this one has)