Die Hard
May 9, 2008
On July 15th 2008. We can celebrate the 20th anniversary of the greatest action film of all time. Die Hard. The movie that catapulted Bruce Willis to super stardom and immortality still holds up today against all the wanna be’s with heavy special effects and computer graphics. No one has ever been able to capture that perfect blend of action, comedy, suspense, and most importantly acting. Although there have been many good, and some great action films in the last 20 years, none of them hold a candle to the all time great (it even spawned it’s own genre of film) Die Hard.
John McClain (Bruce Willis) comes to L.A. from New York on Christmas eve. to attend his wife’s office Christmas party. A whole squad of Terrorists have also come to the party, but for different reasons. While arguing with his wife Holly (Bonnie Bedelia) John is starting settle in when the bad guys show up. The film goes from zero to sixty in a flash. The rest is pure cinema magic. John tries to stay alive against the smartest group of bad guys ever seen in movies until then. He must rescue his wife, save the hostages and stay alive with no shoes on against an army. Some of the best dialogue and acting in any action movie ever. The best villain in action movie history in Hans Gruber (Alan Rickman). For the young people that may not have seen Die Hard yet, buy it, borrow it, rent it. It is still the gold standard by which all other action movies are measured.
Plot: Perfect, it was the first action movie to use the fish-out of-water genre. take a unlikely, average guy and put him in extraordinary situations. unprepared, not winning, just surviving long enough on his wits and guts. Always in danger of being caught or killed with everything working against him and he barley makes through. He was every man, any man, not a super hero. Just a guy in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Acting: Superb. Willis’s best until the Sixth Sense. This is one the rare times when everyone is perfectly cast and takes the role home. Even the supporting cast is great. The small parts are good. It’s hard to find flaws in a movie that even pokes fun at itself a few times. very violent, very funny, and put lots of the actors involved in the film on the map.
Final Word: If you’re over 30 and haven’t seen it? What the hell? where have you been? That’s a tragedy…. For anyone else, get it now. It will always be at the top of my list of What-to-watch.
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