"The former ballet star Alexander Godunov is a conspicuous terrorist, jumping around the set in a basic black costume and flowing blond hair. As the brother of McClane’s first victim, he gets to say things like 'I want blood!' And when McClane realizes he has been too hard on his wife, he radios an unintentionally funny message to Al: 'Tell her that she is the best thing that ever happened to a bum like me.'"
The last paragraph of the 1988 review of "Die Hard," which the NYT just reprinted as part of a series of 10 "holiday movies we consider classics or cult favorites today" that didn't seem as though they were going to attain that status when the original review was published.
I've never seen "Die Hard," by the way. I am watching the complete 10-season series of "Friends," and I do notice the continual references to "Die Hard"...
... but I don't think there's any additional understanding of "Friends" to be gained from actually knowing "Die Hard." It's nice when you're watching a show that makes a lot of references to get the references, but it would be weird to feel that you have to watch all the movies and TV shows and read all the books the Friends mention... though I did care enough about "The One Where Chandler Crosses The Line" to read "The Velveteen Rabbit."
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106 comments:
Die Hard is THE MOST BEST Christmas movie; of ALL TIME
Die Hard has stood the test of generations in our house. Yesterday my twenty-one year old son was wearing a T-shirt that says, “It’s not Christmas until you see Hans Gruber fall from Nakatomi Tower”.
"It’s not Christmas until you see Hans Gruber fall from Nakatomi Tower”.
Dude: Spoiler Alert next time.
I am Laslo.
I consider Die Hard an all time classic of the Scots-Irish never surrender genre. Deplorables love to watch it for the same reason they love Trump playing the part of a lone fighter surrounded by international thieves who never figure out why he is winning.
i want a shirt that reads; "Now I have a machine gun. Ho ho ho."
"Dude: Spoiler Alert next time."
Is saying 'the bad guy dies in the end' really a spoiler?
Here's another spoiler: John McClane gets the girl.
"Dude: Spoiler Alert next time.
I am Laslo."
seriously, Unless you are 8, everybody who is gonna watch Die Hard, has already seen in 10 times.
And YES, it is a Christmas movie.
"Big Johnson: [flying in the chopper to the roof] Just like fuckin' Saigon, hey, Slick?
Little Johnson: [smiling] I was in junior high, dickhead.
--snip--
Dwayne T. Robinson: We're gonna need some more FBI guys, I guess."
"Die hard" is the cult favorite of the fake macho.
Middle-aged #FakeCons love to tweet/argue about whether Die hard is a "Christmas movie" or not.
Its a good movie but overpraised. The FBI guys remind me of Comey.
Ok, class. Everybody raise your hand if you thought Laslo was serious.
Laslo you made me laugh out loud.
When my son first started watching Friends he as tickled at the fact Bruce Willis had cameoed in a few episodes.
Chillblaine:
Oh sure.
“Hello, security? ... Merry Christmas!”
Remember the expression on Gruber's face when he fell? That's real. The director told Rickman that he would be dropped on the count of three, but actually dropped him on two.
"seriously, Unless you are 8, everybody who is gonna watch Die Hard, has already seen in 10 times."
Thanks, now that I know I will never see it, I won't put any time into thinking about maybe seeing it. I was going to program the DVR to catch it so it would be there to possibly be selected, but now I know that would be a complete waste of time.
Here is a good clip of Die Hard being reviewed on the old Siskel & Ebert show. I tended to be more in agreement with Ebert than Siskel, but on this occasion it was 180 degrees. Die Hard is also one of the rare films where the sequel was arguably better than the original, though it obviously hasn't attained anywhere near the cult status of the first film.
How bad are Madison winters? Bad enough to make it seem worthwhile to watch ten seasons of Friends. That's bad.
I can't imagine Althouse enjoying "Die Hard". Its loud, has massive explosions and gun battles, and an obvious plot. It does have a girl, but she doesn't do much.
The battle between Bruce Willis and Alan Rickman (including snarky insults) is the only truly great thing about it.
Die Hard also has the annoying - running faster than bullets trope.
but now I know that would be a complete waste of time.
It's no My Dinner With Andre, that's for sure.
Also, any film that achieves cult status is going to be susceptible to the "overrated" charge. But Die Hard certainly deserves its spot in the cannon since it essentially defined the action genre for at least the next decade and spawned dozens of imitation films.
The snarky, quotable lines is what makes the movie worth watching.
That Ebert Clip shows Roger making a silly point. Of course, the LA Cops are FBI are stupid in order to make Bruce Willis smart.
He's the hero. We can't have be rescued.
He has to be the only guy who can save the day.
Really, just go ahead and watch it. It's exciting, intelligent and witty, with one of the greatest movie villains in what was probably Alan Rickman's most memorable role. It was NOT a typical 80s action film. It set a standard that has rarely been matched since, and has more in common with a classic thriller like The Taking of Pelham One Two Three.
Original Mike said...
The snarky, quotable lines is what makes the movie worth watching.
and
"Ode to Joy"
Concept: a remake of "Die Hard" from 180 degrees, where Hans Gruber is the hero.
He is robbing the building because of the corporation's profiteering from horrible war crimes, say.
He is going to use the money to bring humanitarian relief to the displaced war-crime refugees.
His associates in the plan have all lost members of their families to this war. You know: back-story.
Meanwhile, the Bruce Willis character is a wife-beating homophobic defender of a corrupt system.
But Alan Rickman is dead.
So: who today could pull off the Alan Rickman role?
Extra points if it is a minority actor that isn't Morgan Freeman or Samuel L. Jackson.
I am Laslo.
J. Farmer:
Agreed on Siskel and Ebert.
I assume Laslo was joking about the spoiler alert, but I was surprised how much of the climax was teased in that clip you linked. That review must have come out while the movie was playing, and that was a huge spoiler!
chillblaine,
Sorry if that was cryptic. Was it the Paul Gleason connection that linked these movies for you?
Prof. Althouse:
"now that I know I will never see it, I won't put any time into thinking about maybe seeing it."
Ah, I'm sorry for you. I think Tinderbox at 10:12 puts it well.
One of the great action-adventure movies.
Hans Gruber: All I want for Christmas are... MY DETONATORS!
(Unfortunately, I could only string together 5 clips of the mentions.)
I watched Die Hard and its sequel(s) back in the day. Suffice it to say that it was a totally contrived GoodGuy/BadGuy shoot em'up with a metric ton of meaningless gore. After 30 years, I can't remember much of anything particular about it. Not bad for what it was: watchable but hardly memorable.
@JPS:
That review must have come out while the movie was playing, and that was a huge spoiler!
The show aired in different on different days and time slots because it was syndicated. Just as aside, Ebert briefly dated Oprah and is supposedly the one who talked her into syndicating her show, as their show had just moved from the Tribune company to a syndication deal through Buena Vista.
Watching that show, it is amazing how much of the plot is given away during the reviews, though they were careful not to reveal "twists." But in today's spoiler alert/internet age, it certainly would not fly. It was ironic too given that Ebert in his print material frequently criticized movie trailers for revealing too much of the plot or too many of the good jokes.
FBI agents Johnson & Johnson are the comedic relief.
"Want a breath mint?
I like when they tell the LAPD...
"When we commandeer your men, we'll try and let you know."
No relation, and a generation apart.
"I was in junior high, dickhead."
Atherton is still alive and is an alum of my alma mater, Carnegie Mellon.
"So: who today could pull off the Alan Rickman role?
Extra points if it is a minority actor that isn't Morgan Freeman or Samuel L. Jackson."
Michael B. Jordan. (Creed)
Literate people don't brag about never having read War and Peace, but there's a certain elegance to having never seen Die Hard and being cinematically ignorant.,,....I wonder which movie has had the greatest saturation, the movie which everyone has seen at some time in their life. I'm guessing The Wizard of Oz. The movie which intellectuals would be loathe to admit not seeing is Citizen Kane,
Man am I dumb. Gleason was the deputy police chief. Atherton was the media douche. Two professional assholes for 1 in Die Hard.
Seriously Althouse, when someone lays "Welcome to the party, pal" or "Call me...Roy" on you you're going to be clueless. Are you really willing to risk that?
Atherton played the decency-challenged TV news guy who used the housekeepers illegal immigration status to air the story that revealed to Hans Gruber that Holly Generro was John McClean's wife.
"Look, you let me in right now or I call the INS."
@William:
.I wonder which movie has had the greatest saturation, the movie which everyone has seen at some time in their life. I'm guessing The Wizard of Oz.
My vote would be some Disney animated feature.
The two films that tend to get the most gasps from people when I mention having never seen them are Titanic and Schindler's List.
@EDH:
Atherton played the decency-challenged TV news guy who used the housekeepers illegal immigration...
Damn it, I was just going to bring up that scene.
@Original Mike:
Are you really willing to risk that?
And never mind when she gets a "yippee ki yay motherfucker."
"Seriously Althouse, when someone lays "Welcome to the party, pal" or "Call me...Roy" on you you're going to be clueless. Are you really willing to risk that?"
Not to mention "Fists with your toes."
My area of greatest cultural ignorance is rap music. This has been the dominant musical idiom for the past thirty years, and I don't think I've ever listened to more than two or three songs, and even then inadvertently. There's no reason to believe that rap is deficient to Dixieland, ragtime, or doo wop, so maybe I'm missing out. Anyway the one area of cultural ignorance in which people take the most pride is their ignorance of and opposition to rap music.
which movie has had the greatest saturation, the movie which everyone has seen at some time in their life.
Obviously Fritz the Cat
I've never watched it because I can't handle the gratuitous violence, but I do love to watch the You Tube clip of the final Hans Gruber/McClane moments. Plus, Alan Rickman is irreplaceable - can't think of any other person as Snape or Dr. Lazarus (Galaxy Quest).
My husband agrees that it's not Christmas until he's watched the movie at least once - not difficult this past week.
Happy trails, Hans.
Die Hard holds another modern lesson: The FBI are arrogant and dangerous idiots convinced of their own moral and intellectual superiority, stupidly threatening the hero while their buffoonery is exploited by real criminals. Hmmm . . .
Alan Rickman is irreplaceable - can't think of any other person as Snape or Dr. Lazarus (Galaxy Quest).
The Brit wine snob in "Bottleshock"
Anyway the one area of cultural ignorance in which people take the most pride is their ignorance of and opposition to rap music.
If it wasn't for Rap music, we Never would have had Walk This Way
Now, i've got to get back to the rest of Die Hard. The cop just smashed his twinkies after the body fell on him
John McClane: Don't you got any Christmas music?
Argyle: This *is* Christmas music!
"There's no reason to believe that rap is deficient to Dixieland, ragtime, or doo wop, ..."
Well, like you said, you've never listened to any...
Really, just go ahead and watch it. It's exciting, intelligent and witty, with one of the greatest movie villains in what was probably Alan Rickman's most memorable role.
Rickman was a superb actor, and was great in this role (and Galaxy Quest and so many others) but clearly his most memorable role was that of Snape, the tortured hero of the Harry Potter series.
Regarding Die Hard, I loved the movie when it came out, and still think it holds up. But I agree that one major weakness is the Paul Gleason character (even though he's fine as an actor). The script is way overdone to make him (and virtually all the law enforcement officers except for the magical negro) look like obnoxious idiots. Another trope that I could have done without is the terrorist who comes back from the dead at the very end. Was he faking the whole time, or in a temporary coma?
The next best thing to telling people you haven't seen a must-see movie, is telling them you think a particular "great" movie is overrated. I've made people angry and bewildered when I tell them that "Saving Private Ryan" is overrated. (Not that it's bad. I've seen it three times, and it has some excellent moments. But it's not as great as people make it out to be.) I spent a whole workday afternoon trying to explain to my co-workers that the Academy got it right by naming "Shakespeare in Love" best picture over "Ryan." I don't usually try to provoke people, but that was a lot of fun.
"Rickman was a superb actor, and was great in this role (and Galaxy Quest and so many others) but clearly his most memorable role was that of Snape, the tortured hero of the Harry Potter series."
I haven't seen Harry Potter. Is Snapes a good guy? Hard for me to imagine Rickman as the good guy.
@Andrew:
I've made people angry and bewildered when I tell them that "Saving Private Ryan" is overrated.
I found long stretches of that movie to be unbearably dull. I think it has mostly had an impact because of the technical achievements in its battle scenes. Ryan's just a macguffin.
"I haven't seen Harry Potter. Is Snapes a good guy? Hard for me to imagine Rickman as the good guy."
Not to spoil things, he is clearly an arrogant asshole through all 8 films. Happy? :)
My area of greatest cultural ignorance is rap music.
Lesson 1: Rap is short for "crap."
"Not to spoil things, he is clearly an arrogant asshole through all 8 films. Happy? :)"
Yeah, that works.
@J. Farmer,
Yes, exactly.
Laslo Spatula said...
Concept: a remake of "Die Hard" from 180 degrees, where Hans Gruber is the hero.
Nah, a modern remake of Die Hard would have to star Jane McClain (Jennifer Lawrence), who saves her husband and his co-workers from Hans Drumpf (played by Alec Baldwin)and stops Drumpf from releasing enough carbon into the atmosphere to kill the planet.
chillblaine said...
"It's not Christmas until Dan Akroyd steals a Santa suit and crashes the Duke & Duke Christmas party and starts peeling off rounds."
It's not Christmas until you hear Randy Quaid say; "Shitter's full!"
Known Unknown said...
"Seriously Althouse, when someone lays "Welcome to the party, pal" or "Call me...Roy" on you you're going to be clueless. Are you really willing to risk that?"
Not to mention "Fists with your toes."
Also, don't forget; "Hans! Bubbe!"
Your not supposed to say you don't like Saving Private Ryan because "WWII and Tom Hanks." Personally I think Hanks did far superior work in this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SSl0X4heQBQ
Steve Martin could have played McCain as Inspector Clouseau and you would not have had to change a line. The only competent people in the movie were the terrorists, but the cops won anyway but destroyed the building. Leslie Nielsen could have done it as a Naked Gun movie. But I remember seeing it in the theater with no idea what it even was, and it was great. Same with The Terminator.
On the subject of foreign versions of US shows, I just saw an extended trailer for the Colombian version of Breaking Bad. They seem faithful to the original (lead character is Walter Blanco). The trailer is quite good:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=275&v=PoH2gu7snwc
What made die Hard a great film was the characters. They were well written and very well acted. I especially liked Alan Rickman as the villain, Hans Gruber. He played the character as a very flawed, but funny man. He was well educated, but failed at being sophisticated. He was very intelligent, but had a real dorky side to his personality. By the end of the film Hans Gruber and John McClane, Bruce Willis' character, had an almost, friendship like, relationship.
At what point is it possible to discuss a work without "spoiling" it?
We've had several discussions of To Kill a Mockingbird but no one has been accused of spoiling it. I discussed Harry Potter today..and I'm sure some people think I spoiled it, yet the last Harry Potter book came out 11 years ago, and the last movie 7 years ago.
"Of course, the LA Cops are FBI are stupid in order to make Bruce Willis smart. "
Their behavior reminds me of the police in Broward County recently.
"Literate people don't brag about never having read War and Peace, but there's a certain elegance to having never seen Die Hard and being cinematically ignorant.,,.."
That's because Action Movies aren't art - they're disposable entertainment.
Your not supposed to say you don't like Saving Private Ryan because "WWII and Tom Hanks."
the secret secret of Saving Private Ryan is that All it was, was The Longest Day with newer (not better) special effects. In the whole first part (D-day) part of the movie, it's all pretty much exact scenes from the Longest Day (missing a bunch of scenes).
Even the "what does Bitte Bitte mean?" scene is word for word taken.
Except; Every scene is recast to subtly make america shitty.
In the Longest Day, the ranger really has No Idea what Bitte Bitte means; in Saving Private Ryan, he's laughing as he says it. The whole first day of Saving Private Ryan seems pointless (there's no even any guns), the whole first (and only) day of the Longest Day seems required. In the Longest Day there's plenty (plenty!) of senseless deaths and lack of heroism; but there's plenty of sensible purpose too.
Then, after the first day, Saving Private Ryan goes into lalaland with the mythical private ryan (why?? why didn't they just RADIO his CO?)
There was an essay big a conservative film writer that just Crucified Saving Private Ryan, from a film standpoint. I can't find it online, but here's something kinda close
https://masterheywood.com/2016/10/11/saving-private-ryan-the-only-wwii-film-in-which-the-nazis-are-the-good-guys/
Don't watch it because of Friends, watch it because it is a GREAT movie. Yippe ki yay!!!
"Then, after the first day, Saving Private Ryan goes into lalaland with the mythical private ryan (why?? why didn't they just RADIO his CO?)"
The idea that they would send a ranger squad into hostile territory to bring back "Pvt Ryan" because his time was up - is ludicrous.
As you state, they would simply radio his C/O or inform him the best way they could to send Ryan out of combat and back to a rear.
This is no different than the film "Battleground" where one of the soldier's is sent back to the rear (and ultimately back to the USA) because his wife/mother is deathly ill and he's needed back home.
I have SPR on DVD and only watch it for the first 30 minutes and the last 30. The rest of the movie is crap.
Watching the complete 10 seasons of Friends?
Really?
Ann,
Hie thee to the Redbox, forthwith, and rent Die Hard! It is a classic!
J Farmer said:
Die Hard is also one of the rare films where the sequel was arguably better than the original, though it obviously hasn't attained anywhere near the cult status of the first film.
Um ... no.
I don't think Saving Private Ryan is overrated, because I don't think it's rated that highly by most people. It's certainly not remembered as an all-time great. It's just memorable for the landing sequence.
Shakespeare in Love might have been better than Ryan, but there were at least 10 movies that year better than both. Let's see: The Big Lebowski, Rushmore, A Simple Plan, Run Lola Run, Out of Sight, American History X, Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, There's Something About Mary, A Bug's Life, The Mask of Zorro, Wild Things, Rounders, Dark City, maybe Pleasantville. It was a good year.
Die Hard is a near-perfect action movie. It nails the most important elements: A compelling villain and a hero who's enough of an underdog to get you to root for him. If you remember the movie in context, it was revolutionary to have an action hero be an everyman like Bruce Willis, when the state of the art was Schwarzenegger or Stallone.
Best line: "No fucking shit, lady! Does it sound like I'm ordering a pizza?"
Worst line: Everything by "Bill Clay" in Rickman's extremely dodgy accent. Who says all Brits can sound American at will?
will "Yippee Ki Yay, motherfuckers!" ever replace 'Season's Greetings'?
It's just about the perfect movie to see in a crowded theater when it's new and everybody's seeing it for the first time and being surprised together. Even the cheesiness of some of those surprises doesn't matter then in any very bad way. And it's not all cheesy -- large parts of it are genuinely exciting. But it pioneered that style of action movie where the action is always at climax-level. It's very dunderhead-friendly: no need to wait for exposition, or for the build-up of suspense. And the cleverly deployed sarcasm makes it bearable for non-dunderheads. (Willis's artistry in this regard is really the best thing about the movie, and the only aspect of it I can use the word artistry without ironic-quotes.)
I have no interest in re-watching it, but I understand a lot of fans keep going back to have the same fun again. They've made Die Hard a "classic" in the sense of a perennial commercially viable product. (Not the same sense that War and Peace is a classic.)
You can learn the catchphrases without seeing the movie -- don't get sucked in that way.
i finally found it!
william goldman the dud who wrote Princess Bride! (how's THAT for credentials?)
Destroys saving private ryan, SIX WAYS FROM SUNDAY!
Anyone that thinks it was a good movie owes it to themselves to read what he has to say about it
https://good-stockinvest.com/william-goldman-on-saving-private-ryan/14791/
here's a short teaser from goldman
...make sure he does not die like his brothers. Get him home now and get him home safely. Those are your orders. Go!
That is not a hard premise to set up. In this movie it takes Spielberg thirteen pretentious, operatic minutes. (An amazing length of movie time.) Climaxed when a General reads a letter Honest Abe Lincoln wrote which is sooooo moving, sports fans, it brings tears to the other high officers who are listening to the General.
Sure.
it gets better from there
yes, I strongly object to the die hard sequel, which borrowed elements from walter hill's similar film with nick nolte and powers boothe, but was strongly influenced by the negative reaction, renny harlin got to his very pro American first film,
John McCalin's wife is named "Holly".
If anybody thinks it is not a Christmas movie, I give you Holly Gennaro.
SPR is a good movie, one time. It cannot be a great movie if it cannot be rewatched and similarly enjoyable a second or tenth time. That is my standard for greatness. Die Hard is great. It is fun every time.
Wesley Snipes coulda been black Hans in the Laslo remake. Probably too old now, though.
The actress who plays Holly McClain (née Gennaro) was very good on Parenthood.
Bunny,
Wesley Snipes would be stealing to pay back the IRS.
"But it pioneered that style of action movie where the action is always at climax-level."
I agree, unlike many of the movies that came after, Die Hard does the "non-stop action" thing very well.
Literally, every five minutes someone is shooting, getting killed, talking about killing, threatening someone, or something is being blown up or crashed.
Its hard to fall asleep watching it.
Alan Rickman became Severus Snape because of his role as Hans Gruber.
That alone makes Die Hard important.
So, the very last line was
Argyle: Well, if this was your idea of Christmas, i gotta be here for new years.
And then the final song: Let It Snow
STILL think it's Not a Christmas movie?
People angry about Shakespeare In Love winning the Oscar over SSR griped that it only won because Harvey Weinstein was twisting arms.
so chill? things you don't like are 'garbage', and 'who cares' if someone likes it?
so chill? things you do like people should (have to!) suspend belief or shut up 'why even talk'?
so chill? everybody is 'so fucking stupid', but not you, you're 'great'?
listen to yourself
Interesting they made such a big deal about the greatest generation re this film, but two years earlier when the last world war 2 to run for office, Bob dole, Hollywood went for a much more cynical take in the English patient where a sociopathic Hungarian aristocrat mazi was the pdotagonist.
@gilbar,
Thanks for posting that review by Golding. That perfectly articulates so much of what was wrong about that movie.
"Come out to the coast, we'll get together, have a few laughs...'
You have to see "Die Hard." It's the Genesis of the modern action movie. (And it's actually good!)
Growing up, I remember having the feeling that there would always be something worth seeing at the theater. Didn't know how good I had it!
Now half the theater is always taken up by magic people in tights speaking unmemorable lines gravely.
I just saw this youtube video. Die Hard probably isn't your type of movie, but I thought this was a funny trailer that 20th Century Fox just put out. It has the feel of those homemade, fan, mash up, trailers. (I also saw, just above, that Freeman Hunt likes this Die Hard, too. So it has that.) One thing about these 1980s action blockbusters was that the cinematography was technically perfect. (Not artistically, but technically.) They presented a crisp, clean, symmetrical, well-lit, view of a perfect Los Angeles...and then they blew it up. Think about it, Die Hard, Lethal Weapon, Terminator 2, The One, 48 Hours, Cobra and Beverly Hills Cop all seem to take place in some ideal universe that represented Los Angeles in the 1980s. The movie, The Last Action Hero, actually makes fun of this idea of a fictional, perfect Los Angeles that only exists in the movies. (I lived in Los Angeles in the 1980s, and I can tell you that it was far from perfect.)
here
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