Yippie kae ye...In my opinion Die Hard is the one aginst which other action movies are rated. It is also the film that made Bruce Willis and ensured his transformation to the silver screen.
Willis is perfectly cast as John McClane a somewhat gung-ho New York City cop with a real attitude against the establishment. Faced with the prospect of spending Christmas alone, without his estranged wife and two children, McClane boards a plane bound for Los Angeles hoping to patch up his failing marriage.
McClane arrives by Chauffeur driven limousine at his wife’s office building, the newly constructed Nakatomi Plaza. While his wife and her fellow co-workers are celebrating the most successful year in the history of the company at a party, our John relaxes and makes the most of the good life. This is quite fortuitous as now enter the villain of the peace Alan Rickman, in the guise of Hans Gruber and his merry men (oh that?s another movie!).
Alan Rickman is cleverly cast as the bad guy, which merely emphasises Hollywood?s love affair with British villains.
Gruber is a style conscious terrorist who uses the masquerade of a political agenda to mask his true intent, i.e. to seek monetary reward! His goal is to steal $600 million in negotiable bearer bonds from the vault in the Nakatomi’s building.
What follows is an epic confrontation between a team of highly motivated well-armed terrorists and a barefoot cop armed with his trusty firearm, rapier-like on liners, gritty determination and of course the American way (the good guys always come out on top).
The relationship between Hans and McClane is well developed through the film and is underlined when McClane bumps into Hans and believes him to be an escaped hostage.
The press almost wreaks havoc on the McClane show by identifying McClane and his family, which nearly causes an issue for Mrs McClane!
The stunts set the standard for the time and well complemented with the earth-shattering explosions that would lead to the destruction of most structures. The director even manages to throw in some token and very oddball FBI guys who wind-up getting whipped by the terrorists.
This is one All-action adventure you don’t want to miss...