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DIE HARD (1988)

Director: John McTiernan

Stars: Bruce Willis, Alan Rickman, Bonnie Bedelia, Reginald Veljohnson

20TH CENTURY FOX

Review: Nathan Lawrence

THE LOWDOWN

JOHN McCLANE (Bruce Willis) is an everyday New York cop flying in to Los Angeles in the hopes of a Christmas miracle that will mend things with his estranged wife Holly (Bonnie Bedelia). She’s in upper management at the Nakatomi Corporation and is allowing herself a night off from the kids to kick it old school at the Christmas party on the 30th floor of the still-under-construction Nakatomi Plaza.

Before John and Holly can explore the perks of post-separation nookie, a mob of faux terrorists led by Hans Gruber (Alan Rickman) crashes the party with gunshots, German accents and enough gear “to orbit Arnold Schwarzenegger”. McClane escapes the initial kerfuffle by the skin of his bare feet, leaving him with the arduous task of being the man on the inside versus a gaggle of heavily armed goons.

NUTS AND BOLTS

Even before the cameras started rolling, Die Hard was a powerhouse of potentiality: John McTiernan, fresh off the awesomeness of Predator; up-and-coming action star Bruce Willis; and Alan Rickman in his debut feature. The film is based on a novel by Roderick Thorp called Nothing Lasts Forever, and although many key elements made it into the original script, McTiernan insisted on several changes to make the flick less dark and more entertaining. One of the film’s more subtle instances of breaking the ‘fourth wall’ is in Hans Gruber’s whistling of Beethoven’s Ode to Joy—a piece of music featured heavily. Composer Michael Kamen was initially opposed to ‘bastardising’ the work, until McTiernan cited its use in A Clockwork Orange: touché.

DVD EXTRAS

The Blu-ray version is surprisingly devoid of additional content, with director/production designer commentary and personal scene selections being the only decent extras. The Definitive Edition, on the other hand, sports some really fantastic additions. These include a variety of commentaries and a whole second disc filled with special features, such as humorous out-takes, the script and some behind-the-scenes footage.

VERDICT

It may take 18 minutes before the first shot is fired, but from then on Die Hard is one of the finest action flicks of the late ’80s—a time when an M-rated movie could still entertain you with boobs, bullet wounds and blood.