Die Happy

Rating: 9/10 (9 May 2009)

Despite its flaws, 'Die Hard' remains as one of the best action films of all time. I've seen this movie dozens of times, and really enjoyed its sequels (aside from part 2, a la 'Indiana Jones 2.') This absolute classic set all the standards, or in better terms, clichés. So, if you watch this today, you might recognize a lot of the scenes, dialogue, "surprises," but real "die hard" fans will see this started it all. Much like 'Halloween' really was the birth of the slasher film (others will dispute, but it really was Michael Myers that started the trends.) Unfortunately for the copy-cats, 'Die Hard' had an excellent villain (Rickman) and supporting cast. In addition, and most importantly, it had Bruce Willis who was, I've read, the bottom of the barrel choice of the producers and yet, contributed the most depth of ANY HERO of these 'Die Hard' rip offs. He had great lines, depth, realistic approach, was vulnerable, and simply human. As stated, despite its flaws (the white-to-green wife beater was solely a distraction and the fact two main characters seemed to just ride off in the sunset – yes, it was part of the storyline, but surely unrealistic to the rest of the "it could really happen" plot) 'Die Hard' was nearly perfect, and this was thanks to nearly perfect performances from Rickman and Willis. Not to mention the continuous and great action sequences. Basically, on Christmas Eve, Willis flies into LA from NYC to make good with wife only to help hostages during a heist. Only thing I would've done differently in Willis' role was, when he had the police on the secret radio, was to threatened the President. I'm sure that would've brought more than just the police. And $.74 gas? Wow, I love the 80s!