Die Hard

Hans Gruber: Mr. Mystery Guest? Are you still there?

John McClane: Yeah, I'm still here. Unless you wanna open the front door for me.

Hans Gruber: Uh, no I'm afraid not. But you have me at a loss. You know my name but who are you? Just another American who saw too many movies as a child? Another orphan of a bankrupt culture who thinks he's John Wayne? Rambo? Marshall Dillon?

John McClane: I was always kinda' partial to Roy Rogers actually. I really dig those sequined shirts.

Hans Gruber: Do you really think you have a chance against us, Mister Cowboy?

[Elevator rings as Hans's minions arrive on John's floor]

John McClane: [Quietly, as he backs through a door] Yippee-ki-yay, motherfucker.

I can't begin to tell you how much joy I still derive from that short conversation between villain Hans Gruber and hero John McClane in 1988's Die Hard. Everything that the movie is can be found by analyzing that exchange. The evil German sees McClane as being typical of American culture. McClane is a nobody (in Gruber's eyes) and he feels that McClane is playing a hero because every red blooded male wants to believe that would be them in the role. The dichotomy here comes from the fact that we have seen everything that Gruber has not to that point. McClane is not aSuperman character and everything he is doing comes from thinking and planning. He is not necessarily carefully planning his moves. His only motivation is staying one step ahead of the bad guys that are trying to take the building.

Director John McTiernan was coming off a pretty fun action film in 1987's Predator when he returned to direct this film. The film itself is based on a novel and is brilliant in its simplicity. Today audiences are treated to hero characters that seem mild-mannered until a situation calls for them to be a hero. Then they turn into an all world athlete mixed with a horror movie monster. They operate in the shadows and somehow always have the jump on the bad guys. In this film, it is confined to one building and has a very claustrophobic feel to it. McTiernan films this movie so there are a lot of tight shots on McClane and we get a sense that the walls around him are far more intimate than they appear. It feels like he is trapped in that building and his only way out is to find a way to survive. Not necessarily strap on guns and be a marksmen- but just be good enough.  In fact, the simplicity of the plot was so easy that the running joke in Hollywood pitch meetings to do when describing an action film is to refer to it as "Die Hard on a _____." That is a huge testament to what the creators and the acting parties did here.

This film may not have worked as well though if it didn't have strong actors in the lead roles. Alan Rickman and Bruce Willis are fantastic in the roles they play. They argue with each other but there is always a sense of begrudging respect for the other. Gruber would never admit that he is impressed by McClane wiping out his 12 men by himself but his facial reactions and responses to comments tell a different story. McClane feels it is pretty brazen what Gruber is trying to pull off but being a cop he knows he has a duty to stop him. Everyone else is basically playing stock characters so you need strong forces in the middle pulling the action towards them. I know many criticize Reginald VelJohnson in his role as the cop who talks with McClane throughout the film but I think he works because you need some cop who is sane or else it makes the entire force look stupid and thus has Willis playing off them AND the bad guys.

The story itself is pretty simple. A group of German terrorists take over a building and plan to rob it but must make it look like a terrorist act. McClane is in the building but out of sight when the Germans first show up so they don't know he is there. He spends the film shuffling through the upper floors, offing bad guys, and delivering threatening messages for Gruber.

Other than that, there is not much to say about this film. It is a fun action film with a delicious subtext about what it means to be and American hero. The meaning can be found in that line I quoted at the top. Also, this features a great use of "Christmas in Hollis," by Run DMC. This is a film you need to see if you have not already.