(Yippe-ki-yay, mo-fo…)
CAST: Bruce Willis, Alan Rickman, Bonnie Bedelia, Alexander Godunov, Hart Bochner, Reginald Veljohnson, Paul Gleason, Robert Davi, William Atherton, James Shigeta.
DIRECTOR: John McTiernan
WARNING: Some SPOILERS and explosive fish-out-of-water antics straight ahead…
“Only John can drive somebody that crazy…”
- Holly McClane (Bonnie Bedelia)
In the summer of 1988, a movie starring a then-TV star came out and did some unexpectedly killer business at the box-office. The film’s stunning success created a whole new sub-category in the crowded Action Genre. The film was titled DIE HARD, the TV star was Bruce Willis (hot off MOONLIGHTING), and the sub-genre it spawned was the “Action Film Confined To One Location.”
This sub-genre fed off all the elements within DIE HARD, to include: (1) a hero (or heroine) who is an outsider; (2) a location that is fairly small, such as an office high-rise, airport, ship, hotel, national park, airplane, etc.; (3) criminals or terrorists attempting to conduct a heist; (4) circumstances that lead the baddies to overlook the hero - therefore giving him a chance to plot against them; and (5) ineffective authority figures who force the hero to act alone.
Lots of films aping this premise have been released in the wake of DIE HARD’s success. Some have been good (AIR FORCE ONE, SPEED), others above average (CLIFFHANGER, PASSENGER 57), others just okay (BROKEN ARROW, UNDER SIEGE, SPEED 2), while most others aren’t even worth talking about or even listing. Needless to say, DIE HARD remains at the top of heap, having started the whole trend and set the rules.
Our hero is NYC cop John McClane (Bruce Willis), who arrives in sunny L.A. just in time to spend Christmas Eve with his estranged wife, Holly (Bonnie Bedelia), and their kids. John is shuttled directly from the airport to Holly’s office tower, the Nakatomi Plaza, where she and her colleagues are having one rather dull-looking Holiday fete. Just to prove how weird Los Angelenos are supposed to be, a male guest plants a kiss on John’s face. To which John responds, “Fuckin’ California.” Oh, get over it, John. You’re lucky I wasn’t in the room. I would’ve poured Tequila all over your chest and licked it off.
To make matters worse, Holly is still obviously annoyed at his objection to her having moved from the Big Apple to La-La Land to pursue career opportunities. After a brief argument in her office, Holly is called away to give the annual Christmas speech to the partying troops. Leaving John to walk around her office in his undershirt while making fists with his bare feet. Don’t ask. Trust me - there’s an explanation.
Unfortunately (or make that “fortunately” - for John anyway), right at that moment, a group of Euro-terrorists swarms into the Nakatomi Plaza to announce they are taking the building hostage. They are led by the ultra-suave Hans Gruber (Alan Rickman), who looks like a CEO fused with a GQ cover model. While Hans and his henchmen are busy herding the guests - including Holly - in the main room, John ducks into the stairwell and books it for a higher floor. To regroup and strategize, presumably. Or maybe jerk off. Who knows...
Hans, unaware that his troops have missed a hostage, confronts the head of the Nakatomi Corporation, Takagi (James Shigeta), and demands the access code to the company vault - or else. Puzzled as to why he’d need this, Takagi does the stoic Japanese thing and says that Hans will just have to shoot him, because he will never reveal the code.
Not exactly one of the top three answers on the board, according to FAMILY FEUD and one hundred people surveyed. Not even close.
Anyone surprised that Takagi doesn’t make it to the end credits, or even close, needs to go back to watching Saturday morning cartoons. Understandably, Holly is just a tad upset about this. Still, I wouldn’t be so bent out of shape about it, since this means she runs the company now. Go, sister.
Anyway, on the higher floors, John is desperately trying to notify the authorities that the Nakatomi Plaza has been overrun with Euro-pretty-boys with guns. Sadly, the emergency operator treats him about as seriously as she would a couple of giggling teenage boys trying to pull off an obscene phone call. Even when she finally sends a cop named Al (Reginald Veljohnson) to check on the “emergency,” this representative of L.A.’s finest seems to be more interested in how many Twinkies he can scarf down while strolling from his car to the building’s front doors.
Fortunately, the terrorists decide to finally earn their pay. They shoot up Al’s car when John manages to toss a dead terrorist out of a high window. To keep him from spilling the beans. Fortunately, Al survives and calls for back-up. Soon, what looks like all of California’s law enforcement personnel converges on Nakatomi Plaza for what looks like to be one hell of stand-off.
And our hero John is caught right in the middle. Merry Christmas…
Will the terrorists succeed? What are they really after? What is Hans master agenda? Will John be able to stop it? Will Al be able to help? And what happens when Hans realizes that Holly is married to John? Will he use her to try to flush him out? Will John go for it, considering his wife’s last words to him before being taken hostage weren’t exactly the nicest? Is that really Bruce Willis with all that hair?
I like him better bald. More manly, you know?
BUT, SERIOUSLY: I’ve talked about films that have been “game-changers” before, basically movies that have changed a genre - or created a refreshing new category within one. Before DIE HARD came along, action films were very different. They were more concerned with explosions and fireworks. What they were skimpy on were thrills and suspense. DIE HARD created the “Action Film In A Confined Location” sub-genre, and it did so by fusing elements of the “Suspense-Thriller” genre with the more kinetic elements of the “Action” genre.
Indeed, DIE HARD is almost Hitchcockian in its execution. It’s got several tropes that are present in most Alfred Hitchcock’s films: (1) an ordinary protagonist thrust into an extraordinary scenario; (2) a suave and urbane villain whose cultured exterior belies a vicious interior; and (3) ineffective authority figures who force the protagonist to rely on his (or her) own wits and resourcefulness to overcome the bad guys. That’s the crucial thing that many of the DIE HARD clones missed: they were so busy trying to copy DIE HARD’s action elements that they forgot that it is essentially a thriller wrapped in an action movie.
Fortunately, director John McTiernan cut his teeth on some very good thrillers before taking on the directorial reigns of DIE HARD. He proved himself a masterful visual and technical storyteller with NOMADS (1985) and PREDATOR (1987), and he proves it again with this movie. McTiernan knows how to imbue even quiet moments with a sense of unease. Indeed, the first fifteen minutes of DIE HARD contains no action, but instead focuses on drawing vivid pictures of John, Holly, Takagi, Hans, and the rest of the players. Even so, McTiernan creates an almost subliminal sense of dread in these scenes - a sense of “something is about to happen.” That’s the mark of a gifted storyteller.
McTiernan’s cast does him proud, too. I’ve always been fond of Bruce Willis. Unlike a lot of folks who write him off as smart-alecky jerk, I’ve always been able to discern a soft interior in most of his performances. It’s never more apparent than in this film. Willis creates a wonderfully human character in John McClane. This guy just wants to get over his jet lag and spend time with his family. Instead, he gets thrust face-first into a nightmare - one that involves his wife.
What’s interesting about John is that he is no super-hero. Unlike Steven Seagal and his Superman character in the ridiculous UNDER SIEGE, Bruce Willis paints John McClane in complex shades of sarcasm, humor, strength, insecurity, terror, tenderness and - finally - steely determination. He does everything he can do to alert the police as to what is going on at the Nakatomi Plaza. He only fights back when he has to, and rises to the occasion only when all other reasonable options have been exhausted. This role made Willis a big-screen star, and deservedly so. That’s my boy.
As for Bonnie Bedelia, she makes the most of her somewhat limited role as John’s wife, Holly. She spends most of her time trying to calm the other hostages, but does get some nice scenes with both Willis and Alan Rickman as Hans Gruber. The scene where she confronts Hans after his murder of Takagi is a master class in how to level someone with very few words. Although Holly is not as actively involved in the action like other heroines, she is never passive or a victim.
Speaking of Rickman, his portrayal of Hans Gruber has gone down in history as one of the most memorable villains of all time - and rightfully so. The things is Hans doesn’t fit the typical mold of a bad guy. He is smooth, dapper, debonair, sexy, handsome, and intelligent - with a wry humor that is always close to the surface. In fact, he could be the hero of his own movie. The only problem is his intentions are unlawful. By inverting what we expect to see from a villain, Rickman created the new template for how villains would be portrayed in future action movies. In fact, anytime I watch a movie and the bad guy is portrayed as a smooth, gorgeous, intelligent model-type, I immediately think, “The Hans Gruber/Alan Rickman Effect.”
As for the rest of the cast, they all match the expertise of the leads and their director. These combined talents result in a classic film that has many imitators, but no successors. The problem with the rip-offs is they forget that DIE HARD is more of a thriller than an action film. As a result, the booms and bangs may be present, but the suspense and thrills are noticeably absent. Unlike DIE HARD, which combined all these elements beautifully.
So… forget the rip-offs. Go for the real thing.
