Revisiting films, with KRK: Die Hard (1988)

Director: John McTiernan
Screenplay: Steven E. De Souza, Jeb Stuart (based on the novel by Roderick Thorp)
Cast: Bruce Willis, Alan Rickman
Music: Michael Kamen
Time: 132 minutes
Bottom-line: Could well be the definition of “action film”

As a tribute to actor Alan Rickman who passed away recently, I review what I consider to be his magnum opus, Die Hard. This 1988 action film set a benchmark for countless action films to come, and its impact on film-goers is mind-blowing!

Christmas Eve: NYC Police Detective John McClane (Willis) arrives at Nakatomi Plaza, LA to meet up with his ex-wife Holly (Bonnie Bedelia). Just before the events are about to commence, a group of men arrive in a truck. They are later found be twelve terrorists, led by Hans Gruber (Rickman). While all the guests are held hostage, McClane alone escapes with nothing but his gun. Gruber demands the executive, Takagi, to give the codes to the vault. With thirteen men against one cop, and hundreds of lives in danger, what does the cop do to save possible save everyone? The odds are against John McClane... but that’s the way he likes it.

Willis as McClane

With an impossible task in front of him of protecting the people against the terrorists, it is going to take a ridiculous amount of stunts, action and luck for things to go McClane’s way. So, requirement #1 before watching Die Hard ¬ assume anything and everything is possible; after all, fortune favours the brave! The story does not give much of a build-up to the plot; we are thrown almost immediately into the action. One action sequence follows another, as we are caught in the battle of wits and guns of McClane and Gruber and co. It is almost like a real time story, with the entire “adventure” taking place over few hours on Christmas Eve.

Die Hard features the best terrorist villain I have seen in Hollywood films, and probably one of the most popular villains of all time. Alan Rickman, - this being his first movie - couldn’t have made a better entry into cinema! With his cold voice, menacing stare and ingenious planning, his character Hans Gruber is a class apart. Bruce Willis does an amazing job, playing the superhero cop, and in the process becoming synonymous with the name John McClane (though the other Die Hard films he starred in did not even remotely close to matching this one). With several punch lines, dry humour and tremendous charisma, Willis takes this thriller to a whole new level!

Rickman as Gruber

The action in this film has no bounds, but that’s what makes the film a classic. Look out for the scene where McClane catches the attention of the cop by throwing out a corpse, and the scene where Gruber pretends to be a hostage. In fact, the impact Die Hard has had on action films is so much that there is a list of action films that are just a version of this one – Speed (Die hard on a bus), Under Siege 2 (Die Hard on a train) and so on... in my opinion the next “action” film that has come close to competing with this 1988 film is The Matrix, released 11 years later.

So with terrific acting, humour, drama and 40 stories of sheer adventure, Die Hard is a holiday classic that will remain unmatched for its action. Though Alan Rickman’s most popular role is that of Severus Snape in the Harry Potter franchise (2001 – 2011), I will remember him as the man who played Hans Gruber.