Die Hard [RSC Film Club 38]

[LimeGreenLegend 4,287]

It's taken three years, but we're finally celebrating Christmas at the Film Club with Die Hard thanks to @TheFox2000unit's nomination.  

Directed by John McTiernan (Predator, The Hunt for Red October, The Last Action Hero), Die Hard is a holiday classic about family, friendship and a terrorist takeover of a Los Angeles skyscraper.  Bruce Willis stars as blue-collar New York cop John McClane, in town to visit his estranged wife and kids at Christmas.  But soon after he goes to meet her at Nakatomi Plaza, the skyscraper in which she works, it is taken over by a group of terrorists led by Hans Gruber, played by Alan Rickman in a fantastically hammy scene-stealing performance.  

I don't think we'll get any argument over whether this is actually a Christmas movie here, because it is.  It's at least Christmas adjacent, and is as much about the actual holiday as It's A Wonderful Life.  This deserves to be ranked amongst the all time Christmas classics just for the awesome Run-DMC song Christmas in Hollis.  I'm sure we've all seen this before, but I'm not gonna complain about having to re-watch one of the most entertaining action films ever made.

if this is their idea of Christmas, I gotta be here for New Year's

[TheFox2000unit 226]

Fitting that this is a GTA site.  The Nakatomi Plaza is in Los Santos but better known as the Weasel Plaza which is an obvious play on Fox Plaza where Die Hard was filmed. 

[pete_95973 4,386]

54 minutes ago, TheFox2000unit said:

Fitting that this is a GTA site.  The Nakatomi Plaza is in Los Santos but better known as the Weasel Plaza which is an obvious play on Fox Plaza where Die Hard was filmed. 

My first home in GTA!

[Skorpion 2,527]

I dont think theres much to review for this movie. I mean... its DIE HARD 😄

[djw180 6,990]

I watched this the other night, it was on ITV4. The wife did not want to watch this one with me, she usually does watch our Christmas films. I have never seen it before, always thought it wasn't my sort of thing, and that has now been confirmed, but ....

... it is a good action film. That is a genre I am not into unless they also have a bit of an interesting plot as well. For me this doesn't, it's all about the action and the story is pretty average, which that is fine if action is what you want. The only interesting non-action scenes are those between Bruce Willis and Alan Rickman. I was kind of expecting Alan Rickman to steal the show, but he doesn't, which is good, he's not the star he's the leading support. The action scenes are very good, not too over-the-top as John Maclean has to use his brain to out-wit the thieves not simply relying on charging into a room all guns blazing. The incompetence of the LA police and FBI is quite amusing and I think that aspect of the plot was a bit over done; the people in charge of such a crisis would surely not be so unconcerned with civilian casualties. Given it was made in 1988 I was expecting some decent 80s music, I don't remember any. In fact I seem to recall all the music at the Christmas party was classical! I wonder if that was due to copyright issues and they couldn't get permission to play contemporary music?

Final point, it is definitely a Christmas film. Having now seen it I don't understand those who say it isn't. Not only is it set on Christmas Eve, if you put all the explosions and shooting aside it is basically about a parent trying to get home to spend Christmas with his kids, you don't get much more Christmassy than that.

 

So although it's a film I would never choose to watch, it is good at what it is supposed to be and at no point did I even think about turning it off. A better background story and I'd rate it very highly, but as it is 7/10.

Edited December 29, 2021 by djw180