Back in the
1980s, John McTiernan was on a bit of a role coming right off an action
classic, Predator. The following year, he made an action film called Die Hard
which to this day is one of the all time great action films and definitely one
of the more revolutionary pieces of action films. Very few films could floor
someone so much upon a re-watch than Die Hard; it really is such an action
classic that needs to be viewed by all fans of films.
Die Hard has
one of the most simplistic premises to a movie, making it all the greater. A
police officer, John McClane (Bruce Willis) coming down to the Nakatomi Plaza
for Christmas to stay with his wife finds that the plaza gets under attack by a
group of terrorists lead by Hans Gruber (Alan Rickman) who take all the people
hostage in an attempt to rob $600 million. The only thing they forgot to get
was McClane who must, with the help of a friend through a phone stop these
terrorists as he runs around the Nakatomi Plaza.
The best thing
about Die Hard is not the amazing villain, the great action, easy and relatable
story or even the great pacing and fantastic tension but quite simply, John
McClane himself. I myself consider him the most endearing hero of all time,
next to Indiana Jones. John McClane possesses all the traits that make you love
a movie character so much. He is an average schmuck, like ourselves and is not
by any means a superhero (like Die Hard 4 makes him). He runs through trouble
with his family and gets put in perilous situations to the point where he maniacally
starts talking to himself. “C’mon John, think, think!” Bruce Willis’ fantastic
and even charming performance as John McClane ensures that every fan of movies
loves McClane. There is nothing greater in a film than to have an endearing
hero, Die Hard nailed that aspect with perfection!
A fantastic
hero is useless without a fantastic villain he can go against and Die Hard once
more, nailed that aspect! Hans Gruber is simply, one of the greatest villains
ever put to film. When you have one of the greatest heroes and one of the
greatest villains of all time, the film itself is sure classic. Hans Gruber is
brilliantly portrayed by Alan Rickman. He was intense, he was hilarious and he
was extremely clever always outsmarting John McClane. What could’ve come off as
an incredibly boring and stereotypical villain actually ends up being one of
the most entertaining and chilling villains, who whenever he is on screen,
either freaks you out or makes you laugh. His two greatest lines, “Now, I have
a machine gun…Ho..Ho..Ho!” and his imitation of McClane’s
“Yipee-kiyay—Motherfu*ker” are incredibly hilarious and are possibly, the two
most iconic quotes from the film. Hans Gruber makes for a fantastic villain,
not just through Rickman’s great performance or his big brains and wit but also
from the fact that his intentions right throughout the film are perfectly
clear. He pursues the codes to open the vaults at the plaza in order to steal
the money and use the detonators to blow up the plaza, ensuring that trails
aren’t left behind. “Now, bring me my detonators!”
If there’s any
nitpick I have with the film, its possibly that the start feels rather slow,
like a slow burn. However, it does introduce characters nicely but if it were
possibly a bit faster or shorter, it would’ve probably been greater but my
guess is, that from the start being slow makes the overall film feels
incredibly fast paced. By the end of the film, you completely lose track that
you are watching a film and have lost complete track of time. It’s as if you
are lost in McClane’s world just like you’d be lost in space in Star Wars or
Middle Earth in Lord of the Rings. The overall film is incredibly fast paced,
providing nail bitingly intense action sequences that even upon re-watch hold
up perfectly! The movie’s action scenes aren’t big and bombastic like in the
Rambo sequels but directed and even filmed extremely realistically, providing
for ultimate tension. Even if the ending is predictable early on, how the hero
will survive, throughout the course of the film you come to a point where you
are completely uncertain about McClane’s fate. That there, is brilliant writing
and directing. Another nitpick
I have is possibly me is the tiniest of criticism I can use.
Some of the lines
such as the Arnold Schwarzenegger reference or the Rambo reference could
possibly have been left out but then again, they did not affect the course of
the film nor even the scene. The script is so sharp and entertaining that the
only thing I had trouble accepting 100% were those few lines. That is easily
forgotten when compared to other brilliant lines such as McClane’s trademark
line or some of the words uttered by Hans Gruber.
Possibly the
only REAL issue that I had with this masterpiece is Holly Gennero/McClane.
There is nothing annoying about her character and she herself, is a relatable
person but she at times, seems to be played out too much of a “damsel in
distress” Not that it is a bad thing but her character seems the typical damsel
in distress such as the Leia of Die Hard. Again, her character isn’t an issue
and in fact, her relationship with her husband is done brilliantly. I loved
that scene early on where John types Holly’s name but only finds her name under
the surname ‘Generro’ and I love how by the end of the film, it is contradicted
when she tells Al that her name is indeed ‘Holly McClane’
The other
incredible aspect of this film is the character of Al Powell, who McClane
befriends during a communicator. This is one of the greatest offscreen bits of
chemistry I’ve ever seen and throughout the film, the way their friendship
falls in place is perfect. The character of Al is such a likeable guy, from the
very first scene that he is involved in to the last. I particularly loved that
scene where Al states that he accidentally shot a kid with a gun one day in the
dark, and since then out of regret has never fired a shot with his gun. That, I
thought was an incredibly powerful scene which also contradicts by the end of
the film. Reginald Val Johnson did a tremendous job playing Al, who comes off
as one of the most likeable sidekicks. I guess Joel Schumaker should have
watched Die Hard before making Batman & Robin.
Everything that now needs to be said about Die Hard has been said, it is one of my all time favourite films now and is one of the all time great action films. A true art that has been praised to death as the greatest action film and one of the best films of the 1980s, and indeed of all time. Die Hard is exciting, fast paced, has a fantastic villain and an endearing hero and has quite possibly, some of the greatest lines ever said
Grade- 10/10
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