A Classic Christmas Movie
It's the mid-Eighties, the action movie genre is starting to get stale. Every year, we get more, and more of buff oiled men fighting other buff oiled men (No homo). Although towards the end of 1988, not only the action genre, but the Christmas movie genre would be changed forever. Die Hard is a phenomenal Christmas-Action movie about John McClane (Played by Bruce Willis), a average man, who also happens to be a cop from New York. He travels to California in hopes of reconnecting to his wife, Holly (Played by Bonnie Bedelia) during Christmas time. It won't be that easy though as twelve terrorists take over the building, and it is up to John to save the day.
Christmas Eve, John arrives at the Los Angeles Airport, and is surprised when he finds that his wife's boss had got a limo ride for him. The limo driver introduces himself as Argyle (Played by De'voreaux White), and he has to be one of the most funny characters in the film. Rather surprising how well this movie can blend drama, action, and comedy like this. Much rather then sit in the back with the nice luxuries, John sits in the passenger seat, and has a nice conversation with Argyle. Upon arrival at the Nakatomi Plaza building, Argyle agrees to wait down in the garage just in case John manages to win back Holly, then he can drive the two home. John goes up to where the business party is, and finds Holly. At first the two seem to get along fine, but then their discussion turns into an argument. Meanwhile back down in the lobby, the start of something big is happening.
While John is in the bathroom, the party is suddenly taken over by a group of terrorists armed to the teeth with artillery. John manages to slip away however, and hides out in the stairwell trying to figure out what to do. The leader of the group, Hans Gruber (Played by Alan Rickman), interrogates Joseph Takagi, the executive of the company for the code to the vault within the building. Takagi doesn't comply however, and ends up being shot, and killed by Hans. John is unfortunately witness to the gruesome scene. After that, he is almost caught by one of the terrorists, but after a fight on the stairwell the terrorist's neck is snapped as they tumbled down the stairs. John steals the dead man's gun, communicator, and pack of cigarettes. John decides to use the communicator to contact the police, but before that he sends the body up the elevator with a warning painted onto his shirt. Our hero then makes it up to the roof where he is able to contact the police. Though the police don't take him seriously, and only send in one man to do a quick drive-by investigation.
Hans sends two of his men to attack John, only for them both to be killed. Meanwhile back down at the lobby, one of Hans men is disguised as a security guard, and manages to convince the officer that nothing is wrong. Though as the officer goes to leave, John drops the corpse of one of the men onto his car, this alerts the officer enough to call in backup. This is actually the beginning of a friendship between John, and the officer Al Powell (Played by Reginald VelJohnson). On the communication device, Hans confronts John, attempting to intimidate him. though that doesn't work as John decides to present himself like a hero from a old western movie. This is also the moment where we get one of the most famous lines in movie history, "Yippee-ki yay motherfucker". Back down on the ground, the police, and SWAT finally show up. Though ironically they only make things worse. A news reporter also shows up trying to cash in on the dangerous scenario.
Back with the hostages, Ellis, a cocky business man, and co-worker of Holly decides to try, and negotiate with Hans. Ellis reveals John's name to Hans, and Ellis tries to convince John to give them the detonators, and they'll all go free. That doesn't happen however, and Ellis is shot, and killed. To make things worse since the police are also on the same communication channel, the police chief accuses John of letting him die even though John did all he could to save Ellis. John decides to head up towards the roof to check the explosives, and actually comes face-to-face with Hans. Though Hans attempts to trick John into thinking that he is also one of the hostages. John is able to easily see through the trick though, thanks to his experience as a police officer in New York. Although in a twist, Hans was anticipating this, and brought backup. Luckily John is able to take them out easily, but gets injured during his escape. Since he has no shoes on, he was forced to walk on glass to reach safety, leaving him severely bleeding, yikes.
While John is tending to his wounds he talks with Powell about family. John tries to tell Powell that if he doesn't make it, he wants him to tell his wife that he is sorry, but Powell replies that he can say it himself as long as he doesn't give up. The FBI arrive now, and using their authority they shut down the power to the entire block. Hans also demands that they provide helicopters to load the hostages onto. The truth though is that, the bad guys are planning on blowing up the roof when the helicopters arrive in order to fake their deaths to get away with their crime. Though of course it would kill the hostages in the process. Meanwhile back on the ground, the sleazy news reporter tracks down John's family home, and interviews his kids. When the kids show up on the news, Hans finds out that Holly is John's wife from the picture on her desk. The terrorists now force the hostages up onto the roof, but Holly is taken by Hans to the vault to be used as bait in order to kill John. It is during this part that we learn, they aren't exactly terrorists, but much rather petty thieves who are after the $640 million dollars stashed away in the vault.
Knowing that the people are in danger, John heads up to the roof to save them. Along the way John is almost stopped by one of Hans strongest men, who funnily enough in real life is a ballet dancer. After a long fight sequence John is able to defeat buff dancer. He makes it up to the roof where all the hostages are huddled together, one of Holly's friends tells him that Holly was taken by Hans. Despite being in danger though, the people are not listening to John to get off the roof, so he forces them by shooting his gun into the air to scare them back down. The helicopter crew however misunderstand the situation, and think John to be one of the terrorists, and begin shooting at him. In order to escape, we get one of the coolest scenes in this movie. John wraps a fire hose around himself, and takes a leap of faith off the top of the building just as it blows up, taking out the helicopter along the way. After successfully making back inside, John goes to confront Hans.
John makes it to where Hans, and Holly are. Hans manages to convince John to give up his machine gun in order to spare Holly, but turns out John had a hidden pistol with him, and uses it to kill one of his men, and wound Hans. Hans crashes through a window, but doesn't fall yet as he is holding on by Holly's watch. Slowly he readies his gun for one last shot, but John is quick, and manages to unhook Holly's watch causing Hans to fall to his death. The couple walk out of the building celebrating their victory. The occasion is cut short though when it turns out that the buff ballerina is still alive, but Powell puts a stop to it by shooting him. John, and Powell embrace each other (No homo). Now as John, and Holly make their way through the crowd, the reporter tries to interview them only to get punched in the face by Holly. Argyle also manages to get out of the garage, and just as promised he drives them home. The credits roll as our couple kiss, and Christmas music plays in the background. Truly the greatest holiday film yet.
Die Hard holds up pretty well. It isn't a perfect movie that's for sure, but it is easy to understand the cultural significance of this movie. I feel like Die Hard helped pioneer the new norms of action films. Average Joe heroes, drama, and a good splash of comedy. This Christmas classic gets a 5 out of 5 paws up.
Christmas Eve, John arrives at the Los Angeles Airport, and is surprised when he finds that his wife's boss had got a limo ride for him. The limo driver introduces himself as Argyle (Played by De'voreaux White), and he has to be one of the most funny characters in the film. Rather surprising how well this movie can blend drama, action, and comedy like this. Much rather then sit in the back with the nice luxuries, John sits in the passenger seat, and has a nice conversation with Argyle. Upon arrival at the Nakatomi Plaza building, Argyle agrees to wait down in the garage just in case John manages to win back Holly, then he can drive the two home. John goes up to where the business party is, and finds Holly. At first the two seem to get along fine, but then their discussion turns into an argument. Meanwhile back down in the lobby, the start of something big is happening.
While John is in the bathroom, the party is suddenly taken over by a group of terrorists armed to the teeth with artillery. John manages to slip away however, and hides out in the stairwell trying to figure out what to do. The leader of the group, Hans Gruber (Played by Alan Rickman), interrogates Joseph Takagi, the executive of the company for the code to the vault within the building. Takagi doesn't comply however, and ends up being shot, and killed by Hans. John is unfortunately witness to the gruesome scene. After that, he is almost caught by one of the terrorists, but after a fight on the stairwell the terrorist's neck is snapped as they tumbled down the stairs. John steals the dead man's gun, communicator, and pack of cigarettes. John decides to use the communicator to contact the police, but before that he sends the body up the elevator with a warning painted onto his shirt. Our hero then makes it up to the roof where he is able to contact the police. Though the police don't take him seriously, and only send in one man to do a quick drive-by investigation.
Hans sends two of his men to attack John, only for them both to be killed. Meanwhile back down at the lobby, one of Hans men is disguised as a security guard, and manages to convince the officer that nothing is wrong. Though as the officer goes to leave, John drops the corpse of one of the men onto his car, this alerts the officer enough to call in backup. This is actually the beginning of a friendship between John, and the officer Al Powell (Played by Reginald VelJohnson). On the communication device, Hans confronts John, attempting to intimidate him. though that doesn't work as John decides to present himself like a hero from a old western movie. This is also the moment where we get one of the most famous lines in movie history, "Yippee-ki yay motherfucker". Back down on the ground, the police, and SWAT finally show up. Though ironically they only make things worse. A news reporter also shows up trying to cash in on the dangerous scenario.
Back with the hostages, Ellis, a cocky business man, and co-worker of Holly decides to try, and negotiate with Hans. Ellis reveals John's name to Hans, and Ellis tries to convince John to give them the detonators, and they'll all go free. That doesn't happen however, and Ellis is shot, and killed. To make things worse since the police are also on the same communication channel, the police chief accuses John of letting him die even though John did all he could to save Ellis. John decides to head up towards the roof to check the explosives, and actually comes face-to-face with Hans. Though Hans attempts to trick John into thinking that he is also one of the hostages. John is able to easily see through the trick though, thanks to his experience as a police officer in New York. Although in a twist, Hans was anticipating this, and brought backup. Luckily John is able to take them out easily, but gets injured during his escape. Since he has no shoes on, he was forced to walk on glass to reach safety, leaving him severely bleeding, yikes.
While John is tending to his wounds he talks with Powell about family. John tries to tell Powell that if he doesn't make it, he wants him to tell his wife that he is sorry, but Powell replies that he can say it himself as long as he doesn't give up. The FBI arrive now, and using their authority they shut down the power to the entire block. Hans also demands that they provide helicopters to load the hostages onto. The truth though is that, the bad guys are planning on blowing up the roof when the helicopters arrive in order to fake their deaths to get away with their crime. Though of course it would kill the hostages in the process. Meanwhile back on the ground, the sleazy news reporter tracks down John's family home, and interviews his kids. When the kids show up on the news, Hans finds out that Holly is John's wife from the picture on her desk. The terrorists now force the hostages up onto the roof, but Holly is taken by Hans to the vault to be used as bait in order to kill John. It is during this part that we learn, they aren't exactly terrorists, but much rather petty thieves who are after the $640 million dollars stashed away in the vault.
Knowing that the people are in danger, John heads up to the roof to save them. Along the way John is almost stopped by one of Hans strongest men, who funnily enough in real life is a ballet dancer. After a long fight sequence John is able to defeat buff dancer. He makes it up to the roof where all the hostages are huddled together, one of Holly's friends tells him that Holly was taken by Hans. Despite being in danger though, the people are not listening to John to get off the roof, so he forces them by shooting his gun into the air to scare them back down. The helicopter crew however misunderstand the situation, and think John to be one of the terrorists, and begin shooting at him. In order to escape, we get one of the coolest scenes in this movie. John wraps a fire hose around himself, and takes a leap of faith off the top of the building just as it blows up, taking out the helicopter along the way. After successfully making back inside, John goes to confront Hans.
John makes it to where Hans, and Holly are. Hans manages to convince John to give up his machine gun in order to spare Holly, but turns out John had a hidden pistol with him, and uses it to kill one of his men, and wound Hans. Hans crashes through a window, but doesn't fall yet as he is holding on by Holly's watch. Slowly he readies his gun for one last shot, but John is quick, and manages to unhook Holly's watch causing Hans to fall to his death. The couple walk out of the building celebrating their victory. The occasion is cut short though when it turns out that the buff ballerina is still alive, but Powell puts a stop to it by shooting him. John, and Powell embrace each other (No homo). Now as John, and Holly make their way through the crowd, the reporter tries to interview them only to get punched in the face by Holly. Argyle also manages to get out of the garage, and just as promised he drives them home. The credits roll as our couple kiss, and Christmas music plays in the background. Truly the greatest holiday film yet.
Die Hard holds up pretty well. It isn't a perfect movie that's for sure, but it is easy to understand the cultural significance of this movie. I feel like Die Hard helped pioneer the new norms of action films. Average Joe heroes, drama, and a good splash of comedy. This Christmas classic gets a 5 out of 5 paws up.
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