The Gold Standard of Action Movies

Rating: 10/10 (29 November 2000)

Die Hard was the prototype for all "modern" mainstream action movies that came after it. But rarely does the prototype remain the best of its class, as this film has.
I feel it is the best of the "action" genre for several reasons. The main one being the use of realism cues throughout the movie that have the effect of pulling you into the story and making the characters seem more "real." For example: the "terrorists" speak German to each other (sometimes); a swat team member gets pricked by a bush while rushing the building; one of the thugs grabs a candy bar as he waits for them the rush; and finally, the main hero runs around in a tee shirt and bare feet after being caught by surprise. All of these seemingly irrelevant scenes serve to make the characters seem more human (as opposed to movie stars) and make the story more real and believable to the viewer.
In addition, Bruce Willis does his best acting of his career. This one is a classic!