 |
| The explosive poster for John McTiernan's Die Hard |
QUICK REVIEW:
Die Hard is a classic within the action genre, the sole masterpiece from New York-born master director John McTiernan (Last Action Hero (1993)), one of the all-time great action directors with such other credits as Predator (1987), The Hunt for Red October (1990) and Die Hard: With a Vengeance (1995).
John McClane is a tired New York City cop, who is going to his estranged wife Holly's place of work in Los Angeles, a major corporate complex, to reconcile. But when the company's Christmas party gets overtaken by German terrorists, their only hope is this weary city cop, who is loose in the building.
Bruce Willis (Looper (2012)) is a tough-guy messiah, as he whoops the Krauts in Die Hard. Funnily enough, he only got the part because several prestige action stars had turned down Fox's offer for the role. Willis at the time was mostly known for his comedic work in Moonlighting (1985-89)), and there were heavy doubts whether he could be turned into an action star. Perhaps as a way to negate these doubts, he was paid a hefty 5 mil. $ to play the part. And, boy, did he become John McClane. The film spurred a huge franchise as well as a long, explosive action star career for Willis.
Die Hard works for many reasons: Its story and characters are exciting; the script by Jeb Stuart (The Fugitive (1993)) and Steven E. de Souza (Commando (1985)) is based on the 1979 novel Nothing Lasts Forever by Roderick Thorp (The Detective (1966).
The action scenes are totally hardboiled, the suspense eminent. Alan Rickman (Help! I'm a Fish (2000), voice), in his big screen feature debut, creates one of the all-time great heavies in Hans Gruber, and Willis' humor is also a huge part of the film's lasting greatness.
Die Hard is smartly written, flawlessly, spectacularly executed, uninterruptedly thrilling, - and a Christmas season classic as well. One of the best action films of all time.
McTiernan has been involved in a very lengthy legal case (2006-14) involving wiretapping, the FBI and jail time. He is now finally free and in pre-production with a new project called Red Squad.
Related post:
Top 10: The best action movies and TV-series reviewed by Film Excess to date
Top 10: The best adaptations reviewed by Film Excess to date
 |
| Alan Rickman as Hans Gruber in John McTiernan's Die Hard |
 |
| Bruce Willis as John McClane in John McTiernan's Die Hard |
Watch the trailer for the film here
Cost: 28 mil. $
Box office: 140.7 mil. $
= Big hit
[Die Hard entered #3 in the States, where it ended up making 83 mil. $ (59 % of the total gross.) It was well-received critically as well and has since come to be regarded as one of the best films of the action genre ever.]
What do you think of Die Hard?
What other films rank as all-time bests in the action genre in your opinion?
No comments:
Post a Comment