Die Hard

Rating: 10/10 (16 June 2005)

From director John McTiernan (Predator) comes the first of the highly popular action thriller films with the star of Moonlighting (in his third film, after two failures). It is Christmas Eve, and John McClane (Bruce Willis) has arrived in Los Angeles to see his wife Holly Gennaro McClane (Bonnie Bedelia) who along with his kids he has not seen for six months. Her promotion is what brought her from New York to LA, and she had to move to work in the Nakatomi Plaza, a 40 story building. She has to do a speech at the party going on, and she leaves the room saying she'll be back, and a few minutes later, a group of German terrorists led by mastermind Hans Gruber (Alan Rickman) and his right-hand man Karl (Alexander Godunov) enter the building and take everyone on the 30th floor hostage. John manages to get away and hide in the upper building, still under construction, and the terrorists have no idea he is there. Hans takes Holly's boss Joseph Yashinobo Takagi (James Shigeta) and demands he give him the computer code to open the building's safe to steal $640,000,000 in bearer bonds, and Takagi is killed when he refuses, which John witnesses. Technology expert Theo (Clarence Gilyard Jr.) is told to start working on getting the safe opened, which he thinks will take a couple of hours, John meanwhile is trying to alert the LAPD, because the phone lines have been cut. Once the police are there, they prove incompetent under the command of arrogant deputy chief Dwayne T. Robinson (The Breakfast Club's Paul Gleason), and only Sergeant Al Powell (Reginald VelJohnson) on the walkie talkie supports him, so John has to save the hostages alone. There is one part where John meets Hans face to face, but he believes for a tiny while he is a hostage, because he puts on an American accent. Eventually, John manages to help the hostages, stop the robbery, and confront Hans who is holding his wife#s bracelet, but he does fall to his death eventually. Also starring De'Voreaux White as Argyle, William Atherton as Richard Thornburg, Hart Bochner as Harry Ellis, The Living Daylights' Andreas Wisniewski as Tony, Licence to Kill's Robert Davi as Agent Johnson and Grand L. Bush as Agent Johnson. Filled with fantastic action and stunts (some done by Willis himself), great acting, a humorous, wise cracking and admirable hero in the wrong place at the wrong time, a cunning villain, and the great catchphrase, "Yippee-ki-yay, mother f***er", this is an essential action thriller. It was nominated the Oscars for Best Sound Effects Editing, Best Visual Effects, Best Film Editing and Best Sound. Bruce Willis was number 35 on The 100 Greatest Movie Stars, Hans Gruber was number 46 on 100 Years, 100 Heroes & Villains, and the film was number 39 on 100 Years, 100 Thrills. Outstanding!