with great characters, witty dialogue, and truly riveting action sequences, "Die Hard" continues to hold its place today as the most influential action-thriller of all time

Rating: 9/10 (3 July 2009)

When it comes to the most influential and popular action films ever made, the 1988 smash hit "Die Hard" is a title that is practically guaranteed to be mentioned. This high-tech action thriller, based on a very good novel by Roderick Thorp, is a classic in its own way on account of the fact that it has revolutionized and influenced generations of action-buddy movies and is still mimicked and studied to this day. Apart from spawning three sequels, "Die Hard" is also a source of the most memorable lines in movie history, it introduced the great Alan Rickman to the screen, and unlike say "Commando" (1985), is a believable action movie with only a handful of moments were disbelief needs to be suspended.
Bruce Willis stars as a New York police officer visiting his alienated wife (Bonnie Bedelia) and his children for Christmas. When he arrives at a party held in his wife's company's towering skyscraper and the building is overrun by what appears to be a West German terrorist attack, Willis evades capture and begins a one-man war with the enemies all the while trying to rescue his wife and communicating with the LA police through Reginald Veljohnson on the ground.
Now, right from the start, this is a classic idea. What kind of action movie-lover is not attracted to the concept of not only a one-man war against terrorists, but also this battle being held in a claustrophobic skyscraper? But "Die Hard" is so much more than just an original action thriller. It's equipped with eye-popping special effects, truly riveting action scenes, and what's more, it's populated by well-realized, thoroughly developed characters with problems and goals, and full of very classic and original lines of dialogue.
The main thing I really liked about "Die Hard" was the Bruce Willis character, who does not become Arnold Schwarzenegger or Rambo once pitted against these terrorists. Rather, Willis is rather cowardly, spending most of his time running away from the terrorists as opposed to charging them head on in that same campy style that we've seen frankly too many times. And the great human touch is how Willis plays a troubled character, who before being caught up the battle, was trying to rekindle his relationship with his family, and ultimately proving to us that he's not very happy with his life or himself. He oftentimes talks to himself, sarcastically commenting on his mistakes and errors, and overall, you get a very sympathetic person with a good heart, but a poor way to expressing himself, and yet fights at his fullest to survive to end of the day.
But arguably the greatest performance in the film goes to Alan Rickman at the lead 'terrorist' in the film. Before this, Rickman had only been seen on the stage as an actor until the producers of "Die Hard" saw him perform and knew that he would be perfect casting as Hans Gruber. Rickman is very adept at playing devilish and frightening characters, finding just the right note every time to generate fear and suspense, such as this great scene where he gives a hostage three seconds to provide him with what he wants or else.
So we have a great hero and a great villain. As for the rest of the cast, they don't stand out as far, but with witty dialogue and realistic performances, they also aid in the film's entertainment. There is one weak point to the film, one that Roger Ebert noted in his shockingly negative review, at that relates to the Paul Gleason character, an LA deputy chief unwilling to believe that Willis is not a terrorist. Gleason did, I think, as fine a performance as he as an actor could have done with the material, but some of his dialogue, meant to produce laughs, turned out as rather unnecessary and annoying and it may have been better to ultimately eliminate the character from the script. But eventually, he tones down, and does not stop the film cold in its tracks.
And of course, we cannot leave out the action sequences. Director John McTiernan utilized the loudest blank cartridges Hollywood could produce to great what he called "exaggerated realism" and worked many months with the sound department to create boomingly loud shots. And the pyrotechnics crew is due enormous credit for creating the feeling that bullets really are clattering about the walls of the skyscraper or tearing through human bodies. Many times in films, we see blood spurt, but it doesn't generate the feeling that bullets are striking. In "Die Hard", the violence is choreographed so well that it simply cannot be put down as unrealistic. There are also some incredible stunt sequences with only a handful of moments that require us to suspend our disbelief.
And ultimately, that's the genius of the film. It's a story that we can believe. It's not Rambo with nothing but the improbable taking place. It's a sly, witty, realistic and sometimes dramatic action-thriller that is just as intense and riveting today as it was in 1988 and better than most or all of the big-class mimickers that have been released since.