A friend rented out a theater the week before Christmas for a big screen viewing of this holiday classic (I dressed up like a minor character Uli) and it was fantastic to get to see this on the big screen once again and with an audience, which I hadn't experienced since high school when I saw it in the theater with my dad back when the movie first came out. The crowd was filled with quite a few twenty-somethings who'd never seen the film before (which seems unbelievable to this old Gen-Xer) but that made it even more fun to experience the film with an audience laughing and reacting to all the right parts in this almost 40-year-old movie! Everyone laughed at Theo and Karl betting in the background whether Mr. Takagi could give up the computer passcode or when Asian terrorist Uli takes a candy bar out of the display case. You could feel the audience squirm as John McClane pulled glass out of his feet. They laughed at all the right parts and cheered at all the right moments. It reminded me of how movies are best enjoyed as a communal experience. When DIE HARD first came out, everyone rolled their eyes at Bruce Willis being an action hero. Up until that point, action heroes were musclebound unstoppable he-men along the lines of Stallone and Schwarzenegger. Sure there were some non-musclebound ones too, like Clint Eastwood or Harrison Ford, but they were certainly not comedians, which is what Bruce Willis was primarily known for at this time. Before DIE HARD, he was really only known for the hit TV series MOONLIGHTING (if you haven't seen it, it's on Hulu right now) and one Blake Edwards comedy (which wasn't a box office hit). The studio originally offered the part of McClane to Stallone and Schwarzenegger, but the film is a classic because of Willis. He made McClane a vulnerable character, who does get hurt and who could be killed. Willis eventually became an unstoppable action hero like Sly and Arnold, which may be lost on audiences watching this film for the first time now, but back then, Willis was just that goofy guy from TV trying the best he could to save people from bad guys.
But I haven't said anything about DIE HARD itself. Everyone knows the story, so I won't summarize it here, but if you somehow have never seen it before, stop what you're doing right now and watch it! Bruce Willis is effortlessly funny, vulnerable, and heroic all at the same time, which is a nice contrast to most action heroes of the 80s who would only wisecrack one-liners and would never dare to be self-deprecating. Though as great as Willis is, Alan Rickman steals every scene he's in as lead bad guy Hans Gruber. He gets some great lines and character touches from the script, like complimenting Mr. Takagi on his suit or when he pretends to be a hostage, but it's Rickman's refined air that elevates the film. The class Rickman brings to his character is a fun contrast to Willis' blue-collar hero. And what a killer supporting cast, that includes Reginald VelJohnson as Sgt. Al Powell, Paul Gleason playing another jerk, this time the clueless Deputy Police Commissioner, William Atherton as a nasty TV reporter, Hart Bochner as a coke-snorting executive, Alexander Gudunov as terrorist Karl, the great Al Leong (you've seen him in just about every iconic 80s action film), Robert Davi & Grand L. Bush as Agents Johnson and Johnson, and De'voreaux White as Argyle, who I don't remember from anything else, but who was apparently in THE BLUES BROTHERS and TRESPASS when I looked him up on IMDB. DIE HARD is a a witty and clever script from Steven E. De Souza and Jeb Stuart, who both mostly write passable dreck unless their films were made by solid directors like Walter Hill (48HRS), Andrew Davis (THE FUGITIVE), or John McTiernan here with DIE HARD, so I'm giving McTiernan credit to making this film what it is. Credit also has to go to ace cinematographer Jan de Bont, who shot such classics as BLACK RAIN, THE HUNT FOR RED OCTOBER, and BASIC INSTINCT, and would later go on to direct himself, with SPEED being his one standout film. Top it all off with a memorable score by 80s mainstay composter Michael Kaman (LETHAL WEAPON, THE DEAD ZONE, ADVENTURES IN BABYSITTING, HIGHLANDER, BRAZIL, etc.) and you have the makings for a classic. Overall, DIE HARD is an absolute 80s action classic, and yes, DIE HARD is a Christmas movie!
But I haven't said anything about DIE HARD itself. Everyone knows the story, so I won't summarize it here, but if you somehow have never seen it before, stop what you're doing right now and watch it! Bruce Willis is effortlessly funny, vulnerable, and heroic all at the same time, which is a nice contrast to most action heroes of the 80s who would only wisecrack one-liners and would never dare to be self-deprecating. Though as great as Willis is, Alan Rickman steals every scene he's in as lead bad guy Hans Gruber. He gets some great lines and character touches from the script, like complimenting Mr. Takagi on his suit or when he pretends to be a hostage, but it's Rickman's refined air that elevates the film. The class Rickman brings to his character is a fun contrast to Willis' blue-collar hero. And what a killer supporting cast, that includes Reginald VelJohnson as Sgt. Al Powell, Paul Gleason playing another jerk, this time the clueless Deputy Police Commissioner, William Atherton as a nasty TV reporter, Hart Bochner as a coke-snorting executive, Alexander Gudunov as terrorist Karl, the great Al Leong (you've seen him in just about every iconic 80s action film), Robert Davi & Grand L. Bush as Agents Johnson and Johnson, and De'voreaux White as Argyle, who I don't remember from anything else, but who was apparently in THE BLUES BROTHERS and TRESPASS when I looked him up on IMDB. DIE HARD is a a witty and clever script from Steven E. De Souza and Jeb Stuart, who both mostly write passable dreck unless their films were made by solid directors like Walter Hill (48HRS), Andrew Davis (THE FUGITIVE), or John McTiernan here with DIE HARD, so I'm giving McTiernan credit to making this film what it is. Credit also has to go to ace cinematographer Jan de Bont, who shot such classics as BLACK RAIN, THE HUNT FOR RED OCTOBER, and BASIC INSTINCT, and would later go on to direct himself, with SPEED being his one standout film. Top it all off with a memorable score by 80s mainstay composter Michael Kaman (LETHAL WEAPON, THE DEAD ZONE, ADVENTURES IN BABYSITTING, HIGHLANDER, BRAZIL, etc.) and you have the makings for a classic. Overall, DIE HARD is an absolute 80s action classic, and yes, DIE HARD is a Christmas movie!