Now this is an action flick!

Rating: 8/10 (22 January 2015)

I have no reasonable explanation as to how I got to the age of 24 without seeing Die Hard. I finally watched Die Hard last Christmas and I have to say that I found it incredibly entertaining! 80's action films are usually corny and cheesy, Die Hard did have its one liners and many cliché moments but it had so much more than that. It has depth, it has characters that you care about, characters that you can connect to and genuinely tense moments that don't feel forced. Die Hard is set in a multi storey office tower, it's Christmas Eve and an office party is in full swing. John McClane (Bruce Willis) is visiting his wife there as the office is held hostage by terrorists looking to get rich and get out. John McClane is out of the terrorists sights as they gather the hostages and takes it upon himself to bring them down one by one, on his own. Die Hard is essentially an 80's style, adrenaline fuelled game of cat and mouse. A dozen terrorists against an off duty cop, 30 floors up in a half renovated tower block!
I am not the biggest fan of Bruce Willis but I must say I did like him in Die Hard, it is by far his strongest performance and he certainly plays to his strengths. Alan Rickman gives a fantastic performance as Hans Gruber, the leader of the terrorist group. He is intense and intimidating and has a real presence when he is on screen. He isn't your stereotypical villain and I think this is what makes his performance so special.
You must remember that this is an 80's action flick so expect the cliché scenarios, the one liners, the explosions and the 'as if you could do that' moments. This is probably one of my favourite 80's action films and I would recommend it to anyone who likes this genre (but to be honest you have probably seen it countless times already)
9/10