Off the Cuff Reviews Die Hard (1988)

You know, sometimes when they're right, they're right. When you've got millions of people all praising something to the ends of the earth and you think 'It couldn't possibly live up to the hype'. You fool. Die Hard (1988) is f***ing incredible, and that's a direct quote from me right as the movie ended. This might just have become a new Christmas tradition for me. Starring Bruce Willis as John McClane, Alan Rickman as Hans Gruber, Alexander Godunov as Karl Vreski, Bonnie Bedelia as Holly Gennaro, Reginald VelJohnson as Sgt. Al Powell and De'voreaux White as Argyle.

Die Hard (1988)

I think one of the best elements of this movie is its simplicity. Terrorists hijack a building, one man has to stop them. Pretty cut and dry when you put it that way. It's deceptive, though, as there's a lot going on here. There's twists and turns, you're piecing together the bad guys' plan, learning about McClane and the rest of the cast, wondering how in the hell McClane can stop them. And it's all so easy to follow because of, once again, its simplicity. Because there really are no subplots, everything about the movie and everything you see is funnelled into the A-story, and there are no missed beats. If you see something on screen, even for a split second, chances are it will make its way into the narrative in some way. It's one of the most tightly written movies I've ever seen; they honestly do not waste a single frame. The sharpness of the writing even shows up in the dialogue itself and, yes, the movie is endlessly quotable, we all know this, but even the smaller character interactions are word-perfect.

Reginald VelJohnson as Powell

Talking of the characters, holy s***, I don't think I've ever seen a character-driven movie with better characters than this. Because, yeah, when your premise is as standard as something like this can be, you want and, really, need your characters to be unique and memorable as hell. To no one's surprise, I remember so much about so many characters in this movie. Like I said before, every character interaction serves to educate you on someone's past or personality, it makes the smaller moments when the action isn't full-blast gripping all the same. Talking of the action, yeah, it's perfect, what more can I say? When your first action scene already starts at 10, you'd think there'd be nowhere to go from there, but nope. It just keeps escalating and escalating. To ridiculous degrees? Maybe, but when it's this entertaining, I'm not complaining. Nothing here broke my immersion, at the very least, I could buy pretty much all of what I was getting. It's easy to see why Bruce Willis became the action star after this movie was released.

Bruce Willis as John McClane

Talking of Bruce Willis, good God, he's perfect. For as a**holish a character as he starts out, he's so damn likeable. Willis brings this effortless charisma to the role, and it helps keep the audience on his side when he starts killing people later on. John McClane is such a f***ing awesome character. For this 'man's man' action hero, he's surprisingly down-to-earth and goofy at times. I like that he doesn't really have a plan, he's just winging it for the most part, trying to save as many people as possible and, ideally, not die in the process. I just love these stories where this, all things considered, regular guy is going to put himself through hell and push himself beyond his limits to achieve his goals and save the day; John McClane represents the human spirit of determination. I'd be remiss if I didn't mention Reginald VelJohnson as Sgt. Powell. I absolutely adore the friendship that's built between the two over the movie, and Powell himself is a surprisingly layered character. I didn't expect him to get the arc that he gets, and it's really awesome to see. Argyle is criminally underused, but he was great when he was there. I also love the romance between McClane and Gennaro. It's one of the most real depictions of a romance I think I've seen on film. Their interactions, their chemistry, their arguments, the way you can see they truly love each other but there's one small thing getting in the way, that's real s*** right there, and Bonnie Bedelia doesn't miss a beat with this performance.

Bonnie Bedelia as Holly Gennaro

It's been a while since I've devoted an entire paragraph to a villain in one of these reviews, but here we go. Hans Gruber is a f***ing kickass villain. Alan Rickman plays him perfectly, first of all. With such a cunning, calculated character, it would be easy to make him come across as a one-note, generic villain, but Rickman nails the little idiosyncrasies, the eyebrow raises, the hint of amusement and awe at McClane's actions; it's subtle, but it's there, and brings the character to another level for me. Also, I love how organised these villains are. Their plan is ingenious, and is another example of the brilliant writing at play. I also quite like how Gruber is, at times, an even match for McClane, if not better. When you've got one of these 'one man vs the world' stories, the villains can often come across as pathetic due to how their plans unravel, but Gruber manages to stay one step ahead of McClane on multiple occasions, and vice versa. This little tug-of-war between hero and villain are always the most interesting dynamics. Finally, and this is a small touch but very effective, the fact that we get to see the terrorists as actual people and still have us on McClane's side when he's killing them is something I didn't expect. Like I said, it's a small touch, but the fact that we get to see them mourn and crack jokes to each other and even be a little silly on occasion; it humanises these guys in a way that isn't necessary for this kind of story, but just goes one step further in showcasing the amount of time, thought and care went into crafting this film.

Alan Rickman as Hans Gruber

Die Hard (1988) is a masterpiece, and is absolutely essential viewing if you're one of the poor sods who hasn't seen this movie before. Me, I was one of those poor sods until today. Merry Christmas, me. 10/10.