Die Hard Review — Bruce Willis and Alan Rickman Shine in this Classic (original) (raw)
Updated Dec 19, 2023, 4:30 PM EST
Chase Hutchinson is a longtime editor and writer with more than a decade of experience in journalism. His work has appeared in a variety of publications including IGN, i-D, The Stranger, The Wrap, The Inlander, The Seattle Times, and The Boston Globe. With a deep foundation of knowledge on everything from blockbuster fare to arthouse film, he is never not looking for the next exciting cinematic vision to explore. He is an expert in everything from horror franchises like Saw and Scream to big sci-fi like Star Wars as well as smaller scale genre stories like The Beast. He has covered several film festivals for Collider including the Cannes Film Festival, the Toronto International Film Festival, the Sundance Film Festival, the Fantasia Film Festival, and the Venice Film Festival. He is also a member of the Seattle Film Critics Society. You can find him on Twitter and Bluesky at @EclecticHutch.
Summary
- Die Hard is a lean and scrappy action movie that never sets a foot wrong, with Bruce Willis delivering a magnificent performance.
- The film's practical sensibility makes it enduring, with explosions and fights grounded in realism and quieter moments adding depth.
- Alan Rickman delivers a delicious and dynamic performance as the terrifying yet charming villain, adding to the film's greatness.
Since the advent of the moving picture, there have been many great action movies. They have challenged what was possible in film and thrilled us in exciting new ways. However, how many of them can say they had a fresh-faced Bruce Willisfighting and swearing his way through a tower during the holidays? In this regard, there is only one: Die Hard. A lean and scrappy work of action cinema that never sets a foot wrong even as its central character crashes through everything in his path as he fights to stay alive, it remains as magnificent as one could ever hope such a work to be. Even more than that, it is a perpetual reminder of the iconic status that the now-retired Willis has and will always hold in the history of the medium.
The story is a simple one, but this is by no means a detriment, as it thrives off the joyous manner in which it executes all of it. The film’s unlikely hero is John McClane (Willis), who has traveled to Los Angeles from New York in the hopes of rekindling his relationship with his wife, Holly (Bonnie Bedelia), from whom he has grown apart. Though he doesn’t like flying and is generally uncomfortable with the whole situation, he still wants to do everything he can to make it work. However, his trip doesn’t go quite as planned as life has other curveballs in store for John that will threaten him, Holly, and everyone else at the holiday party at the Nakatomi Plaza. Shortly after his arrival, the hypnotic Hans Gruber (Alan Rickman) and a group of well-trained operatives take over the entire building. They move with speed and efficiency, getting everything under control without anyone able to stop them. That is, except for John, who will have to piece together what it is they want and sabotage their plot before it's too late.
Die Hard
Release Date
July 15, 1988
New York City policeman John McClane (Bruce Willis) is visiting his estranged wife (Bonnie Bedelia) and two daughters on Christmas Eve. He joins her at a holiday party in the headquarters of the Japanese-owned business she works for. But the festivities are interrupted by a group of terrorists who take over the exclusive high-rise, and everyone in it. Very soon McClane realizes that there's no one to save the hostages -- but him.
Cast
Bruce Willis, Alan Rickman, Alexander Godunov, Bonnie Bedelia, Reginald VelJohnson, Paul Gleason, De'voreaux White, William Atherton, Hart Bochner, James Shigeta, Bruno Doyon, Andreas Wisniewski, Clarence Gilyard Jr., Joey Plewa, Lorenzo Caccialanza, Dennis Hayden, Al Leong, Gary Roberts, Hans Buhringer, Wilhelm von Homburg, Robert Davi, Grand L. Bush, Bill Marcus, Rick Ducommun, Matt Landers
Runtime
132 minutes
Director
'Die Hard' Is Big, But It Always Stays Grounded
While we live in an era where action spectacle is only getting bigger and bigger with special effects opening up new doors, all that makes Die Hard so enduring is its practical sensibility. The presentation ensures that everything feels real and grounded even as the story reaches new heights. There are explosions and fights galore, though a lot of it is just about a barefoot man running around trying to fight back in a situation where he is vastly outgunned. When it gets loud, it really gets loud, but the engagement comes from all the quieter in-between moments as well. Die Hard relies on Willis to carry the story and my goodness does he do so.
Related
The True Story Behind the Making of 'Die Hard'
Creating the action classic was as rough-and-tumble as the story itself.
Though there are a whole host of classic catchphrases that have become memorable such as “Yippee-ki-yay, motherfucker” or “welcome to the party, pal,” it would be nothing without Willis's performance to bring them to life. His gruffness and snark are what make it all work. He is both a charismatic cowboy and a lonely man, swept up in a crisis that threatens the person he cares about more than anything in the world. We are placed in the hands of Willis, and we believe every single moment of the performance as he determinedly carries us along. His comedic timing is impeccable, and his delivery is unparalleled, making for a frantic yet fun ride as we watch him find his way through predicament after predicament. That he can do this while also hitting all the emotional notes in a more confessional scene remains underrated.
Alan Rickman Is One of the All-Time Great Villains
However, one would be remiss to not also note the delicious and dynamic performance of the late great Rickman. There is perhaps no greater villain who manages to be equally terrifying and charming simultaneously. Just the way he savors every line strikes fear as we are mesmerized by him simply sitting in a chair on the radio. Not only that, but he can turn on a dime like in the scene where McClane thinks he has caught him. However, thinking quickly since neither has seen the other’s face, Gruber puts on an act where he fools our hero. There is always fun to be had in seeing an actor play someone who is then also acting and Rickman is just utterly delightful in how he does this. It is both comedic and unsettling, as we can see in his eyes that he is just waiting for his moment to drop the act to strike.
He has such a poise to him that the moments of brutality where he blows people away without a second thought hit hard. Though we feel every aspect of how calculated he is, the cold cruelty underneath it is so finely tuned that it remains persistently chilling. While many may remember the actor for his turn in the Harry Potter series, Severus Snape has nothing on the menacing magnetism of Gruber. Rickman inhabits the character so completely and thoroughly that you feel as though he may reach out through the screen to grab you by the throat. He makes him into a slippery force of nature who always keeps us guessing.
There are a scattering of sideshow moments that take us out of the action and lack the same panache of the rest of the experience, but when it builds to its show-stopping conclusion, that is all forgotten. While the film's legacy has often been reduced to conversations that go back and forth about whether the film should be counted as a Christmas movie, the real truth is this: Die Hard is a marvelous movie to watch any time of the year. Top to bottom, it is endlessly entertaining and well-crafted with outstanding work from all involved. No matter how much action movies have continued to grow, this will always be the cinematic elder statesman that can scrap with the best of them. One only wishes they could find a way to turn back the clock to see it when it first hit theaters to bottle up the sublime feeling of seeing such a stunning work with a crowd for the very first time.
Rating: 10/10
Die Hard is available to rent on Amazon in the U.S.