The Action Masterpiece that Redefined the Genre

Rating: 10/10 (19 September 2007)

This is the action movie that redefined the genre, spawned a host of imitations, and launched Bruce Willis to international super-stardom. He also redefined the action hero, along with Mel Gibson. John McLane (Willis) comes to L.A. to spend Christmas with his family and try to reconcile with his wife, Holly (Bonnie Bedelia), who took their children there to advance her career. Why is it that when a woman breaks up her marriage to advance her career it's admirable, but if a man does it, he's an insensitive JERK? (Personally, I see this as a prime example of feminist/liberal hypocrisy. Then they have the nerve to accuse MEN of having double standards!) Anyway, he goes to meet her at a Christmas party at her office, and gets mad at her when he finds out she's using her maiden name. As he's berating himself in the private room for starting an argument with her, a gang of thieves come in, kill all the guards, cut off all outside communications, take everyone at the party hostage, and try to get the head honcho, Joseph Takagi (James Shigeta), to give them the access code to the security vault so they can steal $650 million worth of bearer bonds. When he tells the ringleader, Hans Gruber (Alan Rickman), that he doesn't know the access code, which changes every day, Hans blows his brains out, with John hiding in the room watching. We soon come to know that Hans has the most dangerous combination of traits, high intelligence and total amorality. He then proceeds with his plan, which is to PRETEND to be terrorists, because he's studied the FBI's terrorist response plan, and intends to use it to help them break into the security vault. I'm not going to reveal much more of the plot. Instead I'm going to discuss how Bruce changed the character of the action hero forever, and showed great acting ability in the process. Previously, action heroes had generally been portrayed as fearless one dimensional characters who were so tough they could go through anything and anybody who stood in their way with hardly a scratch. To give them credit, both Arnold and Sly tried to give some of their characters added depth, but neither of them had really developed the range to be convincing at that stage of their careers. Bruce broke the mold by portraying John McLane as a normal guy who happened to be a police detective caught up in an abnormal situation. At first he's frightened and tries to get some outside help, but when he realizes the thieves are controlling all outside communication, he uses his brains to become the "..fly in the ointment. The monkey in the wrench. The pain in the a$$." to both disrupt the thieves' planned timetable and get them angry. Because he knows that the angrier he makes them, the less clearly they'll be able to think, and the more they'll concentrate on trying to kill him instead of sticking to their plan. He also knows this'll give him the chance to whittle down the opposition. He also shows vulnerability, fallibility, frustration, pain, anguish, and determination. He also uses a good deal of profanity, but it's never gratuitous. He uses it to control his own fear and to put his enemies even further off balance. I understand that Bruce ad-libbed many of his one-liners.
Finally, I've only seen one other commenter that got the real point of this movie. John McLane's primary motivation through all of this is LOVE! All he wants is to get himself and his wife out of the situation alive so they can go home to their children. So the real point of this movie is that true love truly does conquer all! What real man doesn't hope somewhere in his heart that if HIS woman were in such deadly danger that HE would have the love and the courage of John McLane? That's what lifts this movie head and shoulders above all the mindless action movies, and makes it not just a guy movie, but a movie a guy can watch with his best girl, and tell her that he loves her enough that HE would run barefoot through broken glass to save her life if he had to. That's why I consider this movie a masterpiece and rate it at 10/10. Yippie-ki-yay, motherf#&%er!