DieHard

Die Hard (1988)

Oh man, my first review as a professional and I was handed a classic. Man, what have I gotten myself into? If I fail, no more professional reviewer position for me, and if I succeed, there will be hacks. What to do, what to do?! What the hell, I have no salary to lose, so let me introduce you John McClane, NYPD.

Oh yes, it’s Die Hard!

Christmastime has rolled around again. McClane flies out to the former orange groves to join his recently successful wife, Holly, at Nakatomi Plaza to fix their marriage. Therapy will have to wait, when a group of Euro-trash terrorist and a black computer nerd storm the building to make a statement on greed. John escapes and does the unthinkable for an action hero, calls for help.

Meanwhile, the terrorists plan to steal the money for all their revolutionary brethren around the Big Blueberry called Earth. John finally succeeds in raking in Carl Winslow to aid him in his fight to rescue the hostages and save Holly.

I just paraphrased heavily for this classic, but I do not want to spoil anything that Die Hard offers. Thrills, chills and Urkel’s foil, this film have everything you could want in an action film. But, it wouldn’t work without the man to hold it all together, Bruce Willis. He was mostly known as David Addison and the creator of The Return of Bruno, but an action star? Stallone was an action star. Schwarzenegger. Van Damme. All action stars, but a former bartender from Jersey earning a cool $5,000,000 for something he has never done?

I mean sure, he punched John Laroquette and forced him to Moonwalk (He hates that shit by the way) in Blind Date, but man did he earn the hell out of that check. He is the archetype for the modern action hero: Strong, scared, dark sense of humor, and vulnerable, he is one of the best, if not the best action stars. Period.

And without a great villain, what good would the hero be? Just imagine Dorothy without the Wicked Witch of the West. It would be a damn boring film, but Alan Rickman’s Hans Gruber matches wits with McClane, giving us terrific banter, great chemistry and making film history.

Even though the rest of the cast does well (Reggie Vel Johnson was overlooked by the Academy that year), it would be for pat without the tense, sharp direction by John McTiernan, a terrific script, and the destruction of Fox Plaza to make for the best popcorn experience ever made.

Just watch it, you’ll thank me.

4 out of 4

Reviewed by Jake Scarberry.