Die Hard (John McTiernan, 1988): USA

Reviewed by Byron Potau. Viewed on DVD.

With so many inferior sequels dragging it through the gutter it is easy to forget how much fun the original Die Hard was.  Before Rollerball and The Thomas Crown Affair remake director John McTiernan was one of the best at serving up delectable action packed cinema that managed to satisfy our hunger for heart stopping action without sacrificing either character or story, while still keeping a foot on believability.  Sure it is a bit farfetched, but not so much as to elicit too much of an “Oh come on!”

N.Y.P.D cop John McClane (Bruce Willis) flies out to Los Angeles to join his wife Holly (Bonnie Bedelia) and kids for Christmas.  He has not seen either of them for six months since his wife left for L.A. for a job opportunity that has panned out quite well for her.  So John meets up with her at her high rise office building where the company’s Christmas Party is taking place.  Before they can reconcile a group of thieves posing as terrorists seize the building looking to steal six hundred million in the building’s vault.  John manages to elude the thieves, but is without his shoes.  It is one against twelve as McClane attempts to foil the thieves plans and save the hostages, all while circumventing the ineptness of the L.A.P.D. and the F.B.I.

The action is consistent and thrilling, but what makes this a great action film is its attention to character.  Director John McTiernan is not afraid to spend a little time letting us get to know the characters a little so we can care about them when stuff starts happening to them.  Though he has too many one liners like “Welcome to the party pal!” or “Now I know what a T.V. dinner feels like,” Bruce Willis does a good job with John McClane.  However it is Alan Rickman’s stellar performance as lead bad guy Hans Gruber that drives the film.  Rickman gets to speak German, fake an English accent, and basically chew scenery while executing hostages, barking orders, and battling McClane all while staying relatively cool and collected.  Even rooting against Gruber you cannot help but like him a little bit.  There are also many smaller characters to enjoy as well as the films tongue in cheek sense of humor as you watch one of the classic action films of the eighties.

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Published:
12.05.08 / 5am
Category:
DVD, Films