Die Hard (1988)

Die Hard is one of the wildest Christmas movies ever made. New York City police officer John McClane (Bruce Willis in what has become his most iconic role, making fine use of his sarcastic edge) arrives in Los Angeles during the holiday season to attempt a reconciliation with his wife, Holly (Bonnie Bedelia, perfectly cast for her quick thinking and placid demeanor). He arrives at Nakatomi Tower in Century City where his wife works as an executive for a Japanese corporation. Unfortunately, John isn’t the only person to arrive at the tower that evening. A group of terrorists, led by the West German Hans Gruber (Alan Rickman, marvelously chewing all the scenery within his range and exhibiting such a sense of glee at playing a villain who is so evil), attack the tower at the same time. Gruber and his cohorts take control of the tower and hold everyone inside hostage except for John, who was changing clothes when the attack began, and the ones they kill to make a point to the rest. John only has contact with one person outside the tower, LAPD Sgt. Al Powell (the great Reggie VelJohnson, getting to have a range of reactions to what he’s hearing and seeing). Gruber claims that he and his cohorts want the release of prisoners from around the world, but that’s a cover for the real plan: they are after millions of dollars in bonds and artwork in the building. Much of the plot of the film is a series of successful steps by McClane to thwart Gruber’s men followed almost immediately by setbacks in foiling their plans. It’s truly an action-oriented film, with scenes involving elevator shafts and unfinished floors in the tower. McClane has to outsmart them, and it’s really you-win-some, you-lose-some for much of the movie. Well, that and explosions. Die Hard is a very special effects-heavy film, and the explosion of a helicopter is especially spectacular, which is saying quite a lot considering how much time was spent to make the effects so effective. It’s also a lot of fun, featuring moments of great comedy, such as the two FBI agents named Big Johnson and Little Johnson, and McClane’s tendency to swear in increasing inventive ways (“yippee-ki-yay, motherfucker” is justifiably famous). And, of course, McClane resorts to throwing one of the bodies of the dead villains out of a window onto Al’s car in order to get the policeman’s attention. It works, by the way. By the time Willis is barefoot and wearing just a soiled tank top and pants, you’ll also think Die Hard deserved a nod for its costume design. When Gruber learns (via the reporting of a particularly unctuous TV personality played by William Atherton) that Holly is McClane’s wife, the tension becomes even greater. At more than two hours in length, the film never loses the viewer’s interest, and it has rightly become one of the most loved and most popular action movies of the 1980s.

Oscar Nominations: Best Sound, Best Film Editing, Best Sound Effects Editing, and Best Visual Effects