“Die Hard” Review
A Review by Victor DeBonis
SPOILERS AHEAD!!!!
About 35 years have passed since its original release back in summer 1988, and “Die Hard” still holds strong not only as an action film but as one of the “gold-standard” examples in the genre. In recent years, it has also joined the likes of “Gremlins” “Tokyo Godfathers” and other films that are regarded as alternatives for what to view during the Christmas season itself.
Debates have continued as the decades have gone by about whether it works as a Christmas movie or not. I personally vouch for the former. There might not be snow in the movie (The setting is in Los Angeles, after all), but the atmosphere of the inside of the Nakatomi building office floor is covered from head to toe with green plants and vibrant red and green decorations and Christmas-themed music that perfectly capture the feeling of the holiday. Appropriate music for the time, such as “Jingle Bells” and “Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow” is whistled, sung aloud, and performed by strings to depict the spirit of the occasion. It takes place on Christmas Eve. So, in the same way that “Batman Returns” doesn’t necessarily contain a holiday-themed message but still visually paints a portrait of a tale clearly existing during the holiday and works as a great “Christmas film” with the spirit prominently shining, “Die Hard” works in a similar manner with how it establishes a vivid atmosphere suitable for the narrative and the time in which people view it.
Putting aside the idea of its place as a movie for the season, I can’t stress enough the influence that it has had on the action genre as a whole. You can look at, say, “Executive Decision” as “Die Hard on a plane” or “Under Siege” as “Die Hard on a submarine.” The premise of an armed hero taking down terrorists or enemies in a trapped environment is a brilliant one, and all of the elements work superbly in keeping the audience’s interest and providing a unique, cinematic thrill ride.
John McTiernan directed this film, and his vision allows for plenty of moments that bring an impressive sense of scale to the surroundings and depicting the action in a raw, gripping manner. The hero of the movie, John McClane (played to terrific effect in a star-making turn by Bruce Willis) will frantically pace in an abandoned floor when he’s trying to determine how to alert the cops, and the camera will display a wide shot of him being (for the moment) alone in this intimidating floor set with wood and dangerous construction equipment that will come in handy, soon. In times through which the hero is scavenging his way through hidden rooms, the camera will either pan to the side or carefully move around just enough to follow him and the enemies that he’s shooting or brawling against.
McTiernan possesses knowledge of when to keep the camera steady enough to allow a tense or quiet moment to sink in and when to guide it to follow along with the main hero and the uncomfortable, violent path that he takes to somehow stay alive and save the trapped people inside (and himself, of course). The camera practically has a life of its own that literally keeps close to the characters but knows when to create enough space or rest to deliver tension or visualize two opponents engaged in combat. Impressive explosions happen in the film, and they’re distanced between tight cat-and-mouse chases with bullets involved and some excellent hand-to-hand brawls.
The shootout scenes are entertaining for their rattling gunshots and their creative use of the environment (ie: McClane shooting underneath a long table) to. However, the hand-to-hand battles are hard to beat because they’re filmed with the two opponents throwing punches or kicks that echo with a heavy thud and do excellent at voicing the impact of each painful blow. McTiernan previously filmed the original “Predator” movie and would go on to direct “The Hunt for Red October” and “Die Hard with a Vengeance” (a film that definitely deserves more appreciation within the franchise) and his grand sense of scope and knack for illustrating visual tension and thrills would continue without ever truly fading away.
The actors also bring plenty of life to roles that could’ve been forgettable but are made vastly memorable with their presence. William Atherton brings the same paranoid madness that is trying to disguise itself as intelligent that he did with his EPA agent in “Ghostbusters” to this journalist with less-than-professional work ethics. Clarence Gilyard, Jr (who sadly passed away this year) plays the technological geek working for the bad guys, and he is a blast to watch as he hops around with his shoulders when there’s an explosion or is kicking machinery to further disable the surveillance system while singing “Dah-dah-dahhh!” Yet, he still speaks bluntly when he’s asked if he can disable a system, as though he hates that his skills were even called to question. Bonnie Bedelia portrays John’s wife with a no-nonsense demeanor that is never overexaggerated or done to annoying effect. There aren’t as many scenes that directly show her as one would imagine, but she shows heated thoughts about her husband being away from her all the time but still carries an apparent concern and love for him and their less-than-stellar marriage.
In my opinion, the role of the film that definitely deserves more recognition than it receives is probably Officer Al Powell as wonderfully performed by Reginald VelJohnson. His introduction to the movie presents him as a cop who is a bit naïve, but VelJohnson brings a believable heart to his character and a rich mix of emotions. When the cops and FBI agents arrive, there are close-ups of him gazing with shock, anger, and confusion to perfection, and he stands tall as the right representative of someone witnessing a ton of madness and bad moves around him but is at a loss of what else to do in his position.
As awesome and memorable as several of the lines in the movie are (“You didn’t hire me for my charming personality…” “It’s Christmas season. It’s the season of miracles…” “This IS Christmas music!”) VelJohnson’s conversations with Willis are among my favorite bits in the movie because he delivers his advice and encouragement with the believable humor and concern that two strong friends share towards each other, even if they haven’t known each other very long. Listening to these two interact with each other made me think of buddies or best friends in a war movie who take time in between their gun battles to converse and give each other advice (whether good or bad) to keep moving forward and try to stay alive. The chemistry between Willis and VelJohnson is fantastic, and their discussions in between the mayhem help create quietness and a solid balance between the action and the heart that make this movie unique.
In one of the more underappreciated scenes in the movie, a close-up shows VelJohnson bowing his head in shame before he tells Willis about the same time that he accidentally shot a kid in the line of duty, and all of his guilt and continuing pain comes through with his hunched shoulders and his voice that is momentarily soft and wounded from the mere traumatic memory of that night. What could’ve been an average bumbling cop role is given plenty of humanity thanks to his performance and good writing for his character.
Naturally, we have to talk about the late-great Alan Rickman as the main villain of the movie, Hans Gruber. I’ll just come forth and say it. Hans Gruber is one of my favorite movie villains of all time. Much of that comes from Rickman’s performance. He does deliver orders to his henchmen, and he makes bargains with good souls before they disagree, and he answers with a shot to the head as many film antagonists do. Part of what separates him from other villains of his kind, however, is the way that he speaks. Unlike other villains that may often shout or say cheesy line after cheesy line (fun as those characters are), Rickman mostly speaks in an extremely calm and reserved way with the people that he is surrounded by. There is always this sense to me that his character wants to not be viewed as a run-of-the-mill bad guy. Take, for instance, how Rickman literally scoffs when the leader of the Nakatomi corporation refers to him, face-to-face, as a terrorist. He has moments in which his impatience reveals itself, but he moves and talks with impressive steadiness that is excellent for keeping the audience and the unfortunate victims on their toes of whether he’ll kill someone or just barely let them live. I also love how intelligent this character is without oversimplifying how dangerously smart he is. An example of this is when Gruber temporarily creates a fake name and fake (although just barely passable) American accent on the spot to deceive McClane into thinking that he’s one of the hostages when meeting him, face-to-face for the first time. Similar to any dangerous animal, he does his best to maintain his wits open to his surroundings and will often use it when needed to his advantage in an attempt to outdo his prey.
And, then, of course, there’s Bruce Willis himself as McClane. There’s a reason that many people point to him as one of the most memorable on-screen action heroes ever, and, in my eyes, what separates him from many others, even some of the fun ones, is his vulnerability. When you boil it down, McClane is a regular guy fighting off against forces beyond what even he imagined, and he happens to have knowledge from being a cop to help him a little further with his situation.
In an era filled with muscle-bound action heroes who were able to direct tons of gunfire upon their enemies without too much damage to himself, Willis works well with his strong but not vastly oversized, physical presence and a working-class background that makes him and his path more relatable to the everyman. The guy puts up more than a strong fight to be sure when it comes to his battles, and he probably demonstrates more courage than a number of us would in his situations. Yet, he also talks to himself when he’s alone and frightened out of his mind. He intentionally bumps his head to the side of a door after he’s frustrated with how poorly a discussion with his estranged wife went. I still grit my teeth in an uncomfortable sense when I watch him pull out a piece of glass from running across a floor covered with it. Part of why we root for him, even after repeated viewings of this film time and time again, is that he goes through so much blood and pain and sweat and hurt as all humans would through in this situation, and the uncertainty and weariness demonstrated by Willis establishes him as a genuine human being trying his hardest to survive the most chaotic Christmas Eve imaginable. McClane goes through so much grueling punishment through the Nakatomi building, and it naturally makes us want to see him escape from the building alive and well (enough).
However, Willis is far from someone who gets punched a bunch. He delivers snarky comebacks to the bad guys that make them stumble with how successfully he’s foiled their plan or eradicated one of them. Willis has moments of humor and embraces being a “cowboy” standing against a “Wild West” of European terrorists determined to get what they want but never suspecting that a “pain in the rear” hero, such as himself, would be occupying the same building that fateful night. He brings the perfect blend of charisma and humanity to the role, and it’s easy to see how this performance cemented him for decades to come as one of the go-to action stars.
“Die Hard” sits next to “Terminator 2” “RoboCop” and probably “Fury Road” as one of the finest examples of action movies. The emotions hit at the exact right moments. The actors all bring their talents and power to bring the entertainment value and suspense to another level. Action is filmed to perfection with the right vision and pacing to keep the thrills coming time and time again. I revisit this flick at least once each year (usually, around the holidays), and there’s always something else that I either missed or that I loved that pops up and makes me smile with humor or nod my head with satisfied approval at how well a fight scene or line went. “Die Hard” rarely loses steam, and, decades later, it still seals the deal of why action movie fans return to it every Christmas and any time outside of that.
Welcome to the party, everyone! I guarantee that you’ll have a great time with this exciting, masterfully done movie.
Merry Christmas to all!
A+