Action movies in the 1980s are primarily revolved around tough, built and muscular men such as Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sylvester Stallone and Chuck Norris to helm an action project. We had a bevy of action-packed films that moviegoers have been worshipping as action idols such as Rambo, The Terminator or even Commando. But, people were getting a bit tired of the cliched stereotype of a muscular superhero bombing and shooting people and looking like the "kid who is the worst because every player misses shooting him".
Die Hard opens the doors for different types of action movies in which the person against all odds takes on a group of European villains with machine guns trying to steal money. And, I'll get to that aspect of the in-depth analysis as to why mostly everybody, in particular, action fans, loves the character played by Bruce Willis. But, it's a whole bevy of genres that many people will dial down into. Plus, tracing back to how this movie open the doors for different types of action movies, well, you will have entertaining rip-offs of future movies that will get you into a good mood after a rough day. However, this movie is the perfect action product to catapult your mood into a greater mood in the end.
NYPD cop John McClane (Bruce Willis) travels to Los Angeles to meet with his family for the holidays. While he is on the way to Nakatomi Plaza via limousine driven by Argyle (De'Voreaux White), his estranged wife, Holly (Bonnie Bedelia) is expecting John but he has not met her arrangements as according to plan. John arrives and meets Holly's co-workers, including both her boss, Mr. Takagi (James Shigeta) and an sleazy, cocaine-obsessed executive, Ellis (Hart Bochner). Both Holly and John get into an argument as John gets disgruntled because Holly used her maiden name in the Japanese corporation.
As John freshens up in Ellis' office, a group of armed terrorists halt the party and seize the partygoers and take them as hostages except for McClane as he barely escapes the party floor while barefoot. McClane escapes into the same floor that both the terrorist leader, Hans Gruber (Alan Rickman) and his comrades, including his main henchman, Karl (Alexander Godunov), isolate Takagi to explain that Gruber and his team are "crashing the party" to steal $640 million in bearer bonds stored in the Nakatomi vault. Gruber kills Takagi after not giving out the codes and instructs his men to drill through the vault's multi-locked system. However, the last lock is impenetrable.
McClane draws the group's attention by killing many of Gruber's men, acquiring cigarettes, firearms, fake identities, the radio, a bag of C-4 explosives and the detonator. Using the radio, McClane calls the LAPD. The LAPD thinks it is a prank call but as the firearm's noises persuade the officers to take off their headphones, they send Sergeant Al Powell (Reginald Veljohnson) to inspect the plaza. Dismissing it as a false alarm, while he leaves, McClane drops a dead body onto his car and Gruber's men shoots the car, causing it to wreck. The building is quickly surrounded by the LAPD force and later the FBI.
SPOILER ALERT!
In the 1980s, it was a macho era or an era that had main characters generated with testosterone. But, John McClane, even though he is a manly character, has some fears or flaws. He is vulnerable to flying (it is implied in the first movie but it is said in the second movie) because he is afraid of heights. He quickly says a prayer before jumping off the Nakatomi Plaza as the roof's detonators explode causing the FBI's helicopter to crash and allowing McClane to jump off attached to a fire hose and landing onto another floor full of glass while barefoot. I mean, you have to give props to him because he is tired, alone and injured, most noticeably with a foot injury because he stepped on so much glass. (Face it. Even when he kills a henchman, John cannot even find a shoe that fits his size.) Even though he is a great action hero, many action fans adore John McClane because he is an average policeman stuck at the wrong place at the wrong time, facing situations, cursing and overcoming great odds. It is relatable to the work place when you are frustrated in the real world but it is gutsy inspiration.
Also, there are two themes that is vital to this movie: duty and greed. Duty and greed are played into both the protagonist and antagonist beautifully. John McClane is obligated to save the people, most importantly, his wife, in Nakatomi Plaza because he is foremost, a police officer that is willing to do his job the right way but also taking some risky chances like sending a computer with a C-4 explosive down an elevator shaft, which would most likely kill a lot of people. But, Gruber and his team were capable to execute their plan by seizing the whole Nakatomi building because he was driven by greed. And, in addition, because of his business experience, Ellis' snarky attitude is already driven by greed. But, what happens to both of them? They both get killed for their sins. Gruber gets killed by the dutiful cop who is not looking for glory even though Gruber says McClane is like Rambo.
It is odd to have this movie set on Christmas Eve in Los Angeles. But, the festive background works as McClane sends down Karl's brother's corpse with a Santa hat on down the party level with a message saying "I have a machine gun. Ho-ho-ho." The holiday theme works because it plays down with the scummy and hot environment of Los Angeles but it also builds on McClane's redemption to become a better husband to his wife but also a better father to their two children. It is a family tale with a hint of romance. But, I have to say, if you want to argue that this is a Christmas movie. It is a Christmas movie: a hard-core Christmas action flick. The whole movie does not have to be too jolly but it does have a Christmas-sy ending, in a way.
Obviously, Bruce Willis was such a great fit into the character that they made 4 more Die Hard movies. I like Die Hard 2, have grown accustomed to Die Hard: With a Vengeance, even though it has a different finale that felt like an anti-climax and Live Free or Die Hard was fun. The fifth movie, A Good Day to Die Hard, is unbearably bad. However, none of them match the first action classic, not because of its structured narrative or action stunts that is crafted by the director, John McTiernan. It is because this movie has one of the best and most cunning villains of all time, Hans Gruber. It is a shame we lost the great actor, Alan Rickman, last year because he had a suave personality and brooding but powerful on-screen and on stage. But, he also brings out emotional depth onto his characters: most notably in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 or even one scene in Love Actually where he confesses that he cheated on Emma Thompson's character.
If you are a hard core action fan, you cannot resist Die Hard. But, the movie brings back the old-school tradition of how to film an action movie. Nowadays, action movies have the necessary requirement to be filled with special effects. Most of the movie has minimal special effects and it is basically great stunt work with some great shootouts. Action directors may have to look back at this movie today as to how an action film should be crafted and how to create interesting characters and a good storyline. But don't copycat it like Sudden Death, Under Siege, Speed, Olympus Has Fallen, White House Down, Air Force One, Passenger 57 or even The Rock and Daylight. However, half of the movies are solid, entertaining films. What I'm trying to say is that because of this movie and John McClane as a character, it solidifed the true action genre into having an average everyday character overcoming great odds by doing his or her duty. Well, the one person may have to take chances.
Comments
Post a Comment