Excellent

Rating: 10/10 (29 December 2004)

'Die Hard' - a near perfect action movie, and one of Hollywood's most influential modern-action movies. The movie follows a simple formula, a formula which has been repeated over and over again since 'Die Hard': A cop finds himself in the middle of a terrorist plot, with many hostages involved and no escape.
In this case, John McClane (Bruce Willis), a New York city cop, has flown to California to spend Christmas with his family and try to fix up his relationship with his estranged wife, Holly Generro McClane (Bonnie Bedalia). Holly works for the Nakatomi Corporation, and her boss has invited John to the office Christmas party, and he just happens to be out of sight when European terrorists take the party goers hostage. With John locked in, and the police locked out, its up to John to save the day.
Simple plot formula aside, the movie is well written and well directed. The way the story progresses is great, and should keep anyone interested all the way through. The actors are great, 'Die Hard' still easily being Bruce Willis' best movie. He isn't some dumb, macho cop who shoots first and asks questions later - he is smart, and despite his brave front, he is just as scared as the hostages. Credit to Alan Rickman too, for bringing the villain Hans Gruber to life. 'Die Hard' easily outshines director John McTiernan's other great efforts in 'Predator', 'Hunt for Red October' and 'Last Action Hero'.
All that and I still haven't mentioned the action yet. Running over two hours, 'Die Hard' is a bit long for a regular action movie, but this no regular action movie. Sometimes there will be action-free periods of time as the plot further develops, but the film is still action packed, and features some very cool action sequences, and the obligatory action one-liners are gold.
'Die Hard' - an excellent action movie - 10/10