Great Movies- Die Hard

   Thirty years ago today, a barefoot Bruce Willis changed the face of action cinema. If you weren't around the year that Ronald Reagan cleared out the Oval Office for his Vice President/successor George H.W. Bush, you're probably unaware that "Rambo III" was widely expected to rule that summer. The director of "Predator" and the smirking star of TV's "Moonlighting" had other ideas, though. It's difficult to describe how game-changing this flick was to somebody that wasn't there, but this was as big an upset as Hollywood has ever seen. Sly and Arnold were god-like("Red Heat" got out-grossed, too), and Bruce had only made ONE movie(1987's "Blind Date") when he got invited to the most ill-fated Christmas party in history. This wasn't supposed to happen. If "Lethal Weapon" whet our appetites for more human heroes, John McClane came blasting through the window with a firehose tied around his waist, demanding sequels and the total devotion of every red-blooded American male lucky enough to be alive. He sure got it.

   "Die Hard" is among the most recent crop of titles to be selected for preservation by the National Film Registry. I was very pleased to hear that. Join me as I explain in great detail why you should be celebrating the anniversary of this celluloid landmark as enthusiastically as I am. Welcome to the party, pal.

   The greatest action movie of all time started it's life as a proposed sequel to the 1968 Frank Sinatra drama "The Detective"(don't bother). Sinatra played Joe Leland, and crime novelist Roderick Thorp pitted the aging NYC cop against a gang of German terrorists that take over his daughter's office Christmas party in an L.A. skyscraper. But Frank was too old for that sort of "Towering Inferno"-style heroism in the '70s, and declined. The next ten years would find this pitch presented to Clint Eastwood, Burt Reynolds, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sly Stallone, Nick Nolte, Richard Gere and Mel Gibson. None of them wanted to make fists with their toes. The movie gods were smiling when a 32 year old Bruce Willis got the call in the spring of '87, because he IS John McClane(Jeb Stuart and Steven De Souza supplied the rewrites of Roderick Thorp's novel "Nothing Lasts Forever"), one of the most iconic heroes ever gifted to the movie-loving masses.

 

   It's now impossible to imagine another actor taking that first-time limo ride with Argyle(De'voreaux White). Bruce knew that this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to climb the Hollywood hierarchy, and it's always exciting watching a young talent take a huge step forward. I'd watch McClane and his East Coast swag for two hours even if he wasn't killing anybody, that's how real and relatable he is. A flesh-and-blood human being with a failing marriage, he's clearly harboring some resentment toward the ambitions of his careerist wife Holly Gennaro. Bonnie Bedelia just couldn't turn down that big job offer with the Nakatomi Corporation, despite John's old-fashioned ideas about their relationship. Maybe we'll finally get to see them happy one day, in that oft-discussed '77-set prequel.

   Of course, a hero is only as good as the bad guys lined up in front of him. Alan Rickman was an undiscovered Shakespearean theatre actor that had never held a gun before, and he'd have the Best Supporting Actor Oscar(that went to Kevin Kline) for being the epitome of elegant villainy in a more just world. I knew Hans Gruber was a great foil the moment I laid eyes and ears on him at eight years old. He effortlessly oozes menace, and his icy, cultured persona is the perfect contrast to McClane's dirty, working-class disposition.

   Our wife beater-wearing protagonist hears gunfire and sees Euro-trash rounding up Holly's coworkers. He retreats in a panic. He's no fearless muscleman, and I can't stress enough how refreshing this was. How's a barefoot vacationing cop supposed to stop a band of viscous international criminals that leave nothing to chance?

   Don't let his passion for men's fashion fool you. Hans WILL pull the trigger, as poor Mr. Takagi finds out here. This interrogation is preceded by a brief bio of the Nakatomi founder and CEO as we learn about his company's greed across the globe. God, Rickman could have read us the phonebook and made it compelling. Hans needs the code to the vault that contains $640 million as his plans sharply come into focus. He'll have to do it the hard way. "Argyle, please tell me you heard the shots and are calling the cops right now".

   It's my belief that a villain's right-hand man should be a raving lunatic. I don't think Karl cares that much about negotiable bearer bonds. He wants blood. He admits it. This guy's been waiting his entire life to terrorize innocent people at gunpoint on Christmas Eve. Alexander Godunov is one of many colorful supporting players that max out the entertainment value.

   The fire alarm is called off, and John is tracked down on the under-construction upper floors by the phone-line-cutting creep Tony(Karl's brother). I love this scene. McClane doesn't spring into action until he absolutely has no other choice, and he could have just as easily broken his neck in that stairwell tumble. We have our first dead terrorist(Andreas Wisniewski) at the 35 minute mark, and McClane has a machine gun.

"Come out to the coast..."

   There was a period where John McTiernan was among the top ten directors in the world. Fifteen years later, a string of flops and a bizarre wiretapping scandal spelled the end for the talented New Yorker(Wiki it). That was unfortunate, but we're here to talk about "Die Hard", and his total mastery of location and pacing. The whole movie takes place in one endless night, and we spend 95% of it in or around the Nakatomi building. Fox Plaza is a character in the movie, and McTiernan turned this seeming constraint into an asset and a selling point, cranking up the urgency and consequences of his electric cat-and-mouse-game. The claustrophobic setting lends a constant tension as McClane is forced to find creative ways to move around the bowels of the building. There's no going home to rest and regroup. Lord knows he could use a new undershirt.

   The last thing Sgt. Al Powell wants to do is get involved in a high-stakes hostage situation while on his way back to his pregnant wife on Christmas Eve. He's a movie cop, though, so he has to investigate that persistent crank-caller over at Nakatomi. There couldn't be an actual incident taking place that requires police presence on the happiest, most laidback night of the year, right?

  
McClane waxes Heinrich and Marco, and if you can think of a cooler mid-movie moment than the bullet-riddled body of a terrorist psycho being dropped from a skyscraper window onto a car windshield four-hundred feet below, please let me know. After a few hours in hell, John at least has the attention of his West Coast counterparts in the LAPD. Powell is his new best friend, and only real ally on the most harrowing night of his life.

   Chief Dwayne T. Robinson was such an incompetent member of law enforcement, that Ebert gave the movie two stars because of him(Roger was dead wrong, and I interpret his three-and-and-half star review of "Die Hard 2" as an apology). You probably remember Paul Gleason as the dickhead principal in "The Breakfast Club", so he got in two great '80s movies. Dwayne is unimpressed by McClane's derring-do. He could be a fucking bartender for all we know(a pre-fame Willis actually was).

   Hans has his first chat with his mysterious party crasher. A troublesome security guard that thinks he's John Wayne or Rambo. "Yippie-ki-yay, motherfucker" is McClane's response to being called a cowboy whose seen too many movies, and his battle cry throughout the series(the second film contains the best use of the phrase). This memorable exchange is proof that "DH" has a much better script and dialogue than most actioners.

   Those macho L.A. assholes think they can storm right in, completely oblivious to the fact that their heavily-armed perpetrators are prepared for war with an invading SWAT team. McClane makes use of his new C-4 explosives and wipes a few more henchmen off the face of the earth. Dutch DOP Jan de Bont("Speed", "Twister") deserves an honorable mention for his career-making collaboration with McTiernan. The franchise would become synonymous with sick explosions and this scene contains the first three.

   You can add Hart Bochner's Ellis to the list of exemplary side characters. This coked-up yuppie sleazebag would be the villain in any movie that doesn't also feature twelve terrorist-robbers. You just KNOW that he sexually harassed Holly on a daily basis. Ellis thinks he can outsmart Hans with some slick bigshot banter, and gets a bullet in his big head after giving up McClane's identity and getting nothing but a thirst-quenching soda in return.

   Special agents Johnson and Johnson(no relation) arrive on the scene to arrogantly assess the situation. Robert Davi is in charge now. These guys can live with losing 25% of the hostages in a gung-ho chopper "rescue" effort, just in case you needed another reason to distrust the government. Bad guys wear suits. Remember that.

   John and Hans meet face-to-face when Gruber decides to check on the status of his detonators himself. He fakes an American accent and pretends to be an escaped hostage at the first sight of McClane, a clever example of the character's ingenuity. John isn't stupid, though. Bill Clay? Gruber's goons show up for some serious gun-blazing when he drops the ruse. McClane manages to cap one more of his associates before Hans and Karl shoot the glass. Even the most poker-faced viewers wince at the thought of our hero running off that office floor barefoot with another serious handicap.

Ouch.

   McClane picks bloody shards of broken glass out of his mangled feet in a bathroom, and displays a vulnerability that we just don't see in this genre. This is an important scene, that further separates "Die Hard" from all of it's pale pretenders. John knows he's been a jerk, and tells Al to find his wife when it's over and tell her that he's sorry. He doesn't think he's making it out of there. Chuck Norris, Steven Seagal and JCVD couldn't emote like this if their lives depended on it. Neither could Arnie, with all due respect. Willis was a fantastic actor when he wanted to be. Just when it seems like John is tossing in the towel, he ties his filthy shirt around his left foot, and soldiers on. What was Hans doing upstairs?

   Theo(Clarence Gilyard), the crew's unusually calm computer hacker, lucks out when the FBI's attempts to shut off the power inadvertently opens the vault that Hans has been salivating over. After they blow up everything and cruise away in an inconspicuous ambulance hidden in the parking garage, those buffoons outside will spend months sifting through the rubble while Gruber is on a beach earning 20%.

   We can't forget about Dick Thornburg. First, William Atherton tried to put the Ghostbusters out of business. Now, he's threatening Holly's nanny with deportation and shoving a microphone in front of six year old Lucy McClane because beating channel 5 in the ratings take precedence over basic human decency. This nasty newsman was deplorable enough to be invited back(by director Renny Harlin) for 1990's "Die Hard 2".

   McClane is forced to throw down with Karl, after realizing that the roof is rigged to explode. A bullet is just too easy(although John takes one in the shoulder), and Karl is eerily confident in his ability to best our hero in hand-to-hand combat. He seems to have the prerequisite martial arts background, but McClane attacks like a wild dog with all the energy that he has left. You can feel the desperation and hatred on both sides in a literal fight to the death, and the late Michael Kamen has to be considered one of the more underrated composers(he also scored all four "Lethal Weapon" movies). Btw, the Asian candy thief(Al Leong) that tortured Martin Riggs gets his comeuppance.

   Cary Grant ran away from a crop-duster in 1959's "North by Northwest". Three decades later, Bruce Willis raised the bar considerably. McClane jumping off that flaming rooftop with a firehouse tied around his waist is right up there with Indiana Jones running away from a boulder. The sheer awesomeness of it needs no explanation, nor does his bad-ass re-entry through a window that just doesn't want to break. I love this movie so damn much.

The magic of miniatures. No CGI.

   Hans has his most important hostage as utter chaos rains down outside. McClane's battle-scarred body is bathed in so much blood and sweat that he looks genuinely scary. He only has two bullets left, and the other one is for that Huey Lewis-lookalike that manned the lobby desk until the cavalry showed up. I hope you're not still kidding yourself about James Bond, Jason Bourne or Ethan Hunt. Only one man can withstand this much pain and laugh in the face of the evil bastard that caused it.

Happy trails, Hans.

   Al Powell gets to be the hero in the closing moments, when it turns out that Karl's crazy ass survived the earlier carnage. He draws the gun he told John he'd never be able to use again after the mistake he made as a rookie(he shot a kid). Reginald VelJohnson's innate likability in the most popular film of the year, should been enough to insure a full-fledged movie career. Instead, sitcom stardom beckoned in '89, and he spent the next ten years battling an even more loathsome villain- Steve Urkel. I'm sure Al helped make John's eventual transfer to the L.A. police department as smooth as possible, since Holly will never even think about a divorce(or will she?). Future filmmakers, take note- minor characters matter.

   Needless to say, Bruce Willis wouldn't ever be a studio's last resort ever again. He spent much of the '90s attending Planet Hollywood openings with Sly and Arnold, and appearing in more movies than anyone that isn't an obsessive film fan could possibly keep track of. Naturally, that included "Die Hard 2", which super-producer Joel Silver ordered into production after the original tripled it's budget at the U.S. box office and dominated the rental charts(it also helped that "Lethal Weapon 2" turned out great). I always enjoyed getting caught up with McClane, until he blew up half of Moscow as an invincible 56 year old with his CIA agent son, but I swore I wouldn't get into any of that. His first adventure will forever be held up as a perfectly constructed piece of popcorn cinema. I'm part of the growing movement to have it declared the greatest Christmas movie, on top of it's '80s action supremacy. Or I could just put it a lot more simply- "Die Hard" is one of the world's greatest films.