Extremely
thrilling and heart-pounding, this 1988 classic action movie launched a
multi-million-dollar franchise starring Bruce Willis as the lead. Spanning over
25 years, the latest addition to the series, A Good Day to Die Hard, was
released in 2013. This movie boasts an exceptional cast, superior storytelling
for its time, and an unforgettable villain in Hans Gruber (Alan Rickman).
Rickman, known for iconic roles like the Sheriff of Nottingham in Robin Hood:
Prince of Thieves (1991) and Severus Snape in the Harry Potter series,
delivered a performance so compelling it’s almost surprising how Gruber
ultimately lost.
No other lone-hero action movie has stood the test of time like Die Hard. This first installment in the series was nominated for four Academy Awards, including Best Sound Editing, Best Film Editing, Best Sound Mixing, and Best Visual Effects. Bruce Willis’s portrayal of John McClane received widespread acclaim, solidifying his place as a Hollywood action star. Growing up, my friends and I were obsessed with McClane’s iconic catchphrase, “Yippee kai yay, motherfucker,” which was even recognized in AFI’s 100 Greatest Movie Lines.
The movie’s plot
and script are adapted from Roderick Thorp’s 1979 bestselling novel Nothing
Lasts Forever. The story follows John McClane, a New York City police officer
who unwittingly finds himself in the middle of a heist while visiting his
family in Los Angeles. The heist is led by Hans Gruber, who uses the pretense
of a terrorist attack to take over a skyscraper and steal $640 million in
bonds. What Hans didn’t count on was McClane being in the building—a man
willing to risk everything to stop him and his crew.
One drawback of
the movie is the portrayal of the Deputy Chief of Police, whose character feels
frustratingly incompetent. Thankfully, his screen time is limited, making it
easy to focus on the main story.
Die Hard was a
massive commercial success, earning over $140 million on a $28 million budget.
The screenplay, written by Steven E. de Souza (Commando (1985),
and Die
Hard 2: Die Harder (1990)) and Jeb Stuart, contributed significantly to
the film’s enduring legacy.
For me, this is
one of Bruce Willis’s best movies—second only to The Sixth Sense. If you’ve
already seen it, I say, "go watch it again."
The franchise
also includes Die
Hard 2: Die Harder (1990), Die
Hard: with a Vengeance (1995), Live
Free or Die Hard (2007), and A
Good Day to Die Hard (2013).
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