Die Hard

Die Hard (1988) Starring Bruce Willis and Alan Rickman Directed by John McTiernan

Of all the shoot-'em-up movies out there, there is a distinct pattern. Usually the hero gets thrust into a situation and just shoots his way out. I just summarized probably 90% of the action-thriller genre. Then a movie comes along that we still look to 17 years later as a standard setter. That's Die Hard.

In 1988, Bruce Willis was not an action hero. He was still in the middle of that quirky television series Moonlighting. Many thought he would not make the adjustment from goofball comedian to action hero. He surprised us all.

The first time I saw this movie was on video with my dad late one night. We truly did not expect much and I think my dad thought he would be asleep in less than an hour. When my dad stayed up for a movie, that tells you it's got to be good. (To digress, three of Dad's favorite movies of all time are The Guns of Navarone, Where Eagles Dare, and Zulu.)

Starting with an extremely plausible explanation as to why the bad guys take over the building, our good guy Bruce Willis finds himself in a situation I had played for years with my action figures. He is alone in a building with gun-toting maniacs with only his wits to survive. This movie has two things about it that makes it stand up above the rest: 1. You believe every single thing that happens, down to the dialogue and 2. Every single little thing is set up perfectly.

Yes, some of the dialogue seems macho and stilted. But it comes off. The bad guys are all believable, especially Alan Rickman as the best bad guy I think I have ever seen. They don't pull punches, they shoot when they need to, and their motives never change. This was the start of really good bad guys, where the bad guy almost becomes a protagonist in a way, moving forward his side's agenda. When bad guy meets good guy, the tension is thick, almost suspenseful. If Hitchcock had directed a giant action thriller, this would have been it, and that says a lot for McTiernan.

However, most of the fun of this movie with repeated viewings is the way that every little thing gets set up. The very beginning has a passenger tell Willis about relaxing after a flight by taking off his shoes and making "fists with your toes on the carpet." He then has his shoes off when the bad guys take over. Eventually, the bad guys shoot the glass because they know this and Willis has to get his feet all cut up. Then Willis talks on the radio to the cop to end yet more human relevance to the actions of the movie. It's all set up, and it flows. There are many such instances and under repeated viewings, these things seem to shine, as sort of a maze to pick your way through. One viewing has you following different directions. And it all comes down to one great conclusion, Roy Rogers style. Even when Bruce Willis blows the "smoke" from his gun after the final shootout with the bad guys, it's not stupid. It flows after two hours worth of dialogue to set it up.

Die Hard is the standard in this genre and it's because of the subtleties that surround the action. Yes, there are big explosions and plenty of shooting. When Willis jumps off the roof tied only to a fire hose, it is one of the most awesome stunts, I think, conceptualized in a movie. Too many action flicks just have fighting and shooting without the heart that Die Hard has. Even Die Hard 2: Die Harder and Die Hard with a Vengeance are just pale little comparisons. Die Hard 4.0 is scheduled for next year according to IMDB, but it just can't be the same. This movie had everything working for it, catapulting the career of Bruce Willis, giving the great talent of Alan Rickman a real vehicle to showcase his incredible acting, and fantastic old-fashioned stunts.

I can watch this movie over and over again and it always gets an A+.