Wonderful stuff

Rating: 10/10 (30 June 2007)

I had heard a whole lot of stuff about Die Hard before I saw it, all of it shining, and yet the movie lived up to every expectation. The acting (especially Alan Rickman's) is note-perfect; the story is taut and thrilling; the screenplay is clever and effective.
Alan Rickman's Gruber has gone down in movie history as the best baddie ever. He is sinister, scary, and smart; you really do wonder how one lonely cop is going to take the guy down. And you even hope, just a little bit, that he gets away with it.
Bruce Willis is great as the everyman hero who must think on his feet, with not one ally in his battle, nothing to use except his handgun and his wits.
The movie stumbles here and there; the movie slows down a bit once the police turn up, and they (and the FBI) stretch credibility with their respective incompetence and callousness--to all but a man.
Still, they don't matter, and neither do the hostages. Everything is peripheral to the central battle between Gruber and McClane, and that is riveting.