Directed by:
John McTiernanCinematography:
Jan de BontComposer:
Michael KamenCast:
Bruce Willis, Bonnie Bedelia, Alan Rickman, Paul Gleason, Reginald VelJohnson, Alexander Godunov, William Atherton, Hart Bochner, James Shigeta (more)VOD (5)
Plots(1)
Bruce Willis plays McClane, a tough cop trapped inside a Los Angeles skyscraper where terrorists have taken his estranged wife and her colleagues hostage. Armed with only a revolver and his own cunning, McClane launches an all-out assault, mowing the terrorists down one by one. (Home Box Office)
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Reviews (10)
A classic of the action genre. It’s brilliant, but it’s undeniable it was the first. Even Bruce Willis as the main hero was something new at that time and basically defined a new era of modern action heroes. From that moment on, there was no longer a 100-ton machine with machine guns in both hands eliminating hundreds of villains without a scratch. Now he had to be a cool likeable character who often paid for his recklessness with a drop of blood. John McTiernan, the director, was probably under the influence of some drugs because later (especially now), he would make one trash after another and he will probably never be able to return to the quality of his first films, neither in terms of form nor content (a genre pioneer).
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Die Hard is the ultimate action blockbuster. I saw it when I was just a little kid and I remember thinking how cool Bruce was. And then I didn’t watch it again until fifteen years later, forgetting quite a lot of scenes. I thought that this wouldn’t do, so I came back to this movie. When I was little, I couldn’t fully grasp my own emotions, but now I know that I fell in love with John McClane back then.
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A textbook example of quality, entertaining action cinema. John McClane might just be the coolest American action hero ever. He’s blowing up bombs, emptying clips like there’s no tomorrow, running barefoot over broken glass, crawling through air ducts, rescuing hostages, smoking one cigarette after another, tossing dead villains onto police cars, and dressing up bodies in Santa Claus outfits. All the while, he never loses his cool and always throws in a quip to lighten the situation. Bruce Willis deservedly stands as an iconic action archetype of the last century. He’s natural, charismatic, and delivers a torrent of legendary one-liners that would make for an epic YouTube compilation. But Die Hard isn’t just the Bruce Willis show — far from it. The supporting cast also shines, especially the brilliant Alan Rickman as Hans Gruber. This is what a perfect main villain should be like. I’ve never been a hardcore fan of action movies and probably never will be, but films like Die Hard are undeniably fun. It’s rightfully considered one of the most iconic movies of all time.
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What is the best thing about Die Hard? Bruce Willis! If anyone from the anonymous lineage of action characters had appeared in the main role, it would have been completely forgotten and no one could enjoy John McClane as the archetypal example of the reluctant hero. John McTiernan also manages to present the action in a completely uncolored way and fearlessly builds the atmosphere of a several-story skyscraper with bloodied feet and a flood of black humor. It's just a shame about a few unforgivable and laughable 80s bits; the rest is undeniable classic.
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The film has an ingenious script, whose basic storyline axis has been done a thousand times, but which has never quite lived up to its quality. Then there’s McTiernan's inventive direction that has drive that is so uncompromising that he actually set the bar so high that no one (including himself) has ever surpassed it. There’s also the Christmas Eve atmosphere when it all went to shit, and Bruce Willis in the role of a lifetime as a tired and determined cop who spouts plenty of catchphrases. All of the aforementioned are the cornerstones of not only this film but of the action genre as a whole, which has never been better on screen since Die Hard. Two hours of ecstasy in the most luxurious packaging that only a dull ignoramus can't love!
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