Still regarded as the quintessential action movie twenty five years on

Rating: 10/10 (25 June 2013)

STAR RATING: ***** Saturday Night **** Friday Night *** Friday Morning ** Sunday Night * Monday Morning
As Christmas Eve looms in Los Angeles, New York detective John McClaine (Bruce Willis) arrives to meet his estranged wife Holly (Bonnie Bedilia) at the Nakatomi Plaza. All is going smoothly enough, until a group of terrorists lead by Hans Gruber (Alan Rickman) seize control of the building and take everyone inside hostage-all except McClaine, who takes the terrorists on at their own game, in a deadly duel to the death.
The 80's was the decade where the last of the great big ideas were brewing, where the studios thought big and delivered bigger, where concepts became franchises and true artistic integrity became a distinct after thought. That's not to say most of the ideas weren't truly inspired, and didn't have the potential to become big investments. Trouble is, the last year in that decade is now very nearly twenty five years ago, leaving the time period itself very much as a thing of the ages. But it is now twenty five years since Die Hard burst on to the scene, and to it's credit, is still hailed by many after all that time as the definitive action film which set the standard by which all others are measured and of which countless imitations have been made. If nothing else, watching it again will wash the memory of that Godawful new film released earlier this year out your mind and remind you of the joyful, exhilarating spectacle that inspired the series in the first place.
Bruce Willis made his name with this role, making it all his own and putting his stamp all over it as the cynical, gnarly detective who proves a one man battle machine for the villains he's engaged with. The massive appeal here is almost certainly his presence as an every-man the average, predominantly male action fan could probably relate to, having been force-fed the impossible image through-out the 80's of the muscle bound, mumbling killing machine they could never live up to. McClaine is totally believable as a resourceful but bewildered man of the law thrown in to a situation he wasn't expecting, while Rickman as his adversary is restrained, jovial but also utterly cold and ruthless, determined to see his plan through to the end. Between them, they are a brilliantly twisted double act.
Some ideas are so good, and are executed so faultlessly, they deserve to become profitable institutions, spinning off with other versions and sequels, being imitated many times and still holding a special place in everyone's heart twenty five years on. Die Hard is full of explosive, exciting action, is brilliantly written, with great characters, fine dialogue and even finer set pieces. And all that aside, it's just great fun. It's success really speaks for itself. *****