The Plato/Beatles of Action Movies

Rating: 10/10 (29 March 2004)

Die Hard might as well be the only action film ever made. It encompasses and surpasses every action film that came before it, and every action film that came afterwards is little more than footnotes to it.

The peculiar sort of reality that Die Hard brings into existence so vividly and viscerally has been stretched, grown, shrunk, reflected, sped up, slowed down, and everything in between, but if you don't see the distinct footprint of Die Hard in everything from Men in Black to Brotherhood of the Wolf you just aren't looking hard enough.
Maybe, maybe Terminator 2 managed to carve itself out some territory with its alienating relentlessness and action-interpretation of the passage of generations, but inside the action movie genre, pretty much everything else that's familiar is in or from Die Hard.
It's a definite sign that this movie is essential to the culture and literature of film that it can be watched alongside any contemporary action movie without seeming muted or outdated, without seeming antiquated or technologically backward. If Die Hard hadn't done the set pieces it had done, and some contemporary movie came along and did them, they'd still be considered brilliant and fresh. Of course, if Die Hard hadn't done them, it is unlikely another action movie would have come along at all, and we'd still be stuck watching cops in suits squinting into the camera and the occasional spy movie or western to fulfill our action fix.

Thankfully, though, we have Die Hard, and if you have not seen it yet, and have ever enjoyed any action movie ever, you're pretty much obligated to see this movie, and you're almost certain to enjoy it.