You can’t go anywhere in a big box store and not see a Die Hard film with a cover that looks like an ugly Christmas sweater. For as long as I remember, this is a quintessential action film of all time. It wasn’t until later that some critics and viewers declared that this film is the best Christmas film of all time. It always perplexed me how exactly an action film with blood and high intense thrills represents Christmas. With that, it’s now one of my favorite films of all time. SPOILERS will be in the review.
1. Story
Plot wise, the film is very simple. John McLane played by Bruce Willis, travels to Los Angeles to see his wife. He is a police officer who lives in New York City. Holly played by Bonny Bedella works in the technologically advanced Nakatomi plaza. They visit when the company throws a Christmas party.
Meanwhile, terrorists storm the building led by Hans Gruber played by Alan Rickman. He and along with others crash the party and hack the vault to steal money from the CEO Joseph Tagaki played by James Shigata. As the terrorists take over, John hides from them, using the shafts to navigate the building and slowly pick off the extremists.
As that’s going on, he uses the radio from the dead killers to voice for help. He contacts a police office named Al played by Reginald VelJohnson. John updates Al on his progress and soon a wave of police and FBI attempt to storm the building. As McLane fights back the international rebels and attempts to get his wife back from Hans.
A lot of people including myself didn’t realize that this film is based on a book. It’s astounding how many great films are based on books. The novel “Nothing Lasts Forever” by Roderick Thorp is a sequel to the book “The Detective”. The film is loosely based on the book and some moments such as lines and scenes of action are lifted from the book.
I feel that the only complaint is the stuff that happens in the news channel. I feel that since the events that's happening in the Nakatomi plaza, the whole scenes with the snobby reporter go nowhere since we know what's going on. Like we have three things happening, do we really need this of all things to break the action? It's a small complaint and I love the comeuppance the snobby newscaster gets in the end.
2. John McLane
As I mentioned in the Lethal Weapon review, the 1980s were littered with tons of action movies. It became clear that John McLane was different from his contemporaries like Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone. He isn’t muscle bound or incredibly gifted as a shooter. McLane is just a regular guy caught in between an extraordinary circumstance.
He manages to hold his own against the terrorist. What I really like is just him talking to Al about what’s happening inside the building. John doesn’t sugarcoat anything and is just an honest person. His overall bluntness when he’s talking to the 911 dispatch or the police chief is never exaggerated since they have no clue what he’s dealing with.
The absolute best moment is when he finally meets Hans. Throughout the film, McLane and Gruber talk on the radio and Hans being annoyed when the American keeps interfering. When both of them finally meet in person, Hans tries to act like a hostage. John goes along with it and gives Hans a pistol. When he points the gun to our hero, Gruber fires but its empty. McLane knew Hans was full of shit.
3. Best Christmas Movie?
So, yeah how exactly is Die Hard the best Christmas movie? Any countdown and any Blu Ray release always tie it with the holiday. Yes, it does take place around Christmas since the action takes place at night in the morning of the actual day. I just see it as a prime example of a great action movie. I think it’s blown up since it has to be agreed upon that I would want to see an action movie take place in other holidays.
4. What Makes it Good
Everything feels grounded and authentic in the film. There’s never a moment where the action takes you out of the movie. There’s real stakes and the action can get gritty. Such as when John is running around barefoot. During one of the shootouts, Hans tells his accomplices to shoot the glass, McLane escapes but has glass shards on his feet.
More so is that John is just a guy. Every explosion that happens around him, he reacts by saying Jesus’ name. When he messed up with his wife, he talks to himself by saying he could’ve done a better job than that. John McLane is just a likeable guy since he is a regular guy. He’s not muscled up and improvising his next move, he’s just a cop. The overall camaraderie when he talks to Al is the best moments since he’s being real. It gives him a humanity that makes him endearing as opposed to John Rambo or anything Schwarzenegger is in.
5. Legacy
As I said earlier, this is considered the best action film and it says a lot since the film is 30 years old. It spawned four sequels but where varying since it’s impossible to replicate the same success as the first one. Die Hard put Bruce Willis on the Hollywood radar as the next action star. Other than the video games and various pop culture merchandising, the film is part of an ever growing genre of action.
6. Overall
With all that said, this film is now one of my favorites. I knew the expectations for the first one is big due to the high popularity it has, and it blew me away. I think the Christmas element is blown to high heaven but as it is, it’s a good action film that happens to take place in the holidays.
Die Hard gets a five out of five.
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