Die Hard
Die Hard is a 1988 American action film directed by John McTiernan and written by Jeb Stuart and Steven E. de Souza based on the 1979 novel Nothing Lasts Forever by Roderick Thorp. It stars Bruce Willis, Alan Rickman, Alexander Godunov, and Bonnie Bedelia, with Reginald VelJohnson, William Atherton, Paul Gleason, and Hart Bochner in supporting roles. Die Hard follows New York City police detective John McClane (Willis) who is caught up in a terrorist takeover of a Los Angeles skyscraper while visiting his estranged wife.
This article is about the 1988 action film. For other uses, see Die hard.Die Hard
- Gordon Company
- Silver Pictures
- July 12, 1988 (Avco Theater)
- July 15, 1988
132 minutes[1]
United States
English
$25–35 million
$139.8–141.5 million
Stuart was hired by 20th Century Fox to adapt Thorp's novel in 1987. His first draft was greenlit immediately, as the studio was eager for a summer blockbuster the following year. The role of McClane was turned down by a host of the decade's most popular actors, including Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone. Known mainly for work on television, Willis was paid $5 million for his involvement, placing him among Hollywood's highest-paid actors. The deal was seen as a poor investment by industry professionals and attracted significant controversy towards the film prior to its release. Filming took place between November 1987 and March 1988, on a $25 million to $35 million budget and almost entirely on location in and around Fox Plaza in Los Angeles.
Expectations for Die Hard were low; some marketing materials omitted Willis's image, ostensibly because the publicity team determined that the setting was as important as McClane. Upon its release in July 1988, initial reviews were mixed: criticism focused on its violence, plot, and Willis's performance, while McTiernan's direction and Rickman's charismatic portrayal of the villain Hans Gruber were praised. Defying predictions, Die Hard grossed approximately $140 million, becoming the year's tenth-highest-grossing film and the highest-grossing action film. Receiving four Academy Award nominations, it elevated Willis to leading-man status and made Rickman a celebrity.
Die Hard has been critically re-evaluated and is now considered one of the greatest action films of all time. It is considered to have revitalized the action genre, largely due to its depiction of McClane as a vulnerable and fallible protagonist, in contrast to the muscle-bound and invincible heroes of other films of the period. Retrospective commentators also identified and analyzed its thematic concerns, including vengeance, masculinity, gender roles, and American anxieties over foreign influences. The film produced a host of imitators; the term "Die Hard" became a shorthand for plots featuring overwhelming odds in a restricted environment, such as "Die Hard on a bus". It created a franchise comprising the sequels Die Hard 2 (1990), Die Hard with a Vengeance (1995), Live Free or Die Hard (2007), and A Good Day to Die Hard (2013), plus video games, comics, and other merchandise. Deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" by the United States Library of Congress, Die Hard was selected for preservation in the National Film Registry in 2017. Due to its Christmas Eve setting, Die Hard is also often named one of the best Christmas films, although its status as a Christmas film is disputed.
Plot[edit]
On Christmas Eve, New York City Police Department (NYPD) Detective John McClane arrives in Los Angeles, hoping to reconcile with his estranged wife, Holly, at a party held by her employer, the Nakatomi Corporation. He is driven to Nakatomi Plaza by a limo driver, Argyle, who offers to wait for McClane in the garage. While McClane washes himself, the tower is seized by the German radical Hans Gruber and his heavily armed team, including Karl and Theo. Everyone in the tower is taken hostage except for McClane, who slips away, and Argyle, who remains oblivious to events.
Gruber is posing as a terrorist to steal the $640 million in untraceable bearer bonds in the building's vault.[a] He kills executive Joseph Takagi after failing to extract the access code from him and tasks Theo with breaking into the vault. The terrorists are alerted to McClane's presence, and one of them, Tony, is sent after him. McClane kills Tony and takes his weapon and radio, which he uses to contact the skeptical Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD). Sergeant Al Powell is sent to investigate. Meanwhile, McClane kills more terrorists and recovers their bag of C-4 and detonators. Realizing Powell is about to leave, having found nothing amiss, McClane drops a terrorist's corpse onto his car. After Powell calls for backup, a SWAT team attempts to storm the building but is counterattacked by the terrorists. McClane throws some C-4 down an elevator shaft, causing an explosion that kills some of the terrorists and ends the counterattack.
Holly's co-worker Harry Ellis attempts to negotiate on Gruber's behalf but is killed by Gruber when McClane refuses to surrender. While checking the explosives on the roof, Gruber encounters McClane and pretends to be an escaped hostage; McClane gives Gruber a gun. Gruber attempts to shoot McClane but finds the weapon is unloaded, and he is saved only by the intervention of other terrorists. McClane escapes but is injured by shattered glass and loses the detonators. Outside, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agents take control. They order the power to be shut off, which, as Gruber had anticipated, disables the final vault lock so his team can collect the bonds.
The FBI agrees to Gruber's demand for a helicopter, intending to send helicopter gunships to eliminate the group. McClane realizes Gruber plans to blow the roof to kill the hostages and fake his team's deaths. Karl, enraged by the death of his brother Tony, attacks McClane and is seemingly killed. Gruber sees a news report by Richard Thornburg on McClane's children and deduces that he is Holly's husband. The hostages are taken to the roof while Gruber keeps Holly with him. McClane drives the hostages from the roof just before Gruber detonates it and destroys the approaching FBI helicopters. Meanwhile, Theo retrieves an escape vehicle from the parking garage but is knocked out by Argyle, who has been following events on the limo's CB radio.
A weary and battered McClane finds Holly with Gruber and his remaining henchman. McClane surrenders to Gruber and is about to be shot but grabs his concealed service pistol taped to his back and uses his last two bullets to wound Gruber and kill his accomplice. Gruber crashes through a window but grabs onto Holly's wristwatch and makes a last-ditch attempt to kill the pair. McClane unclasps the watch, and Gruber falls to his death. Outside, Karl ambushes McClane and Holly but is shot dead by Powell. Holly punches Thornburg when he attempts to interview McClane. Argyle crashes through the parking garage door in the limo and drives McClane and Holly away together.
Other cast members include Gruber's henchmen: Bruno Doyon as Franco, Andreas Wisniewski as Tony, Joey Plewa as Alexander, Lorenzo Caccialanza as Marco, Gerard Bonn as Kristoff, Dennis Hayden as Eddie, Al Leong as Uli, Gary Roberts as Heinrich, Hans Buhringer as Fritz, and Wilhelm von Homburg as James. Robert Davi and Grand L. Bush appear as FBI Special Agents Big Johnson and Little Johnson, respectively, Tracy Reiner appears as Thornburg's assistant, and Taylor Fry and Noah Land make minor appearances as McClane's children Lucy McClane and John Jr.[10]
Stunts and designs[edit]
Stunts[edit]
The perception of film stunts changed shortly before production of Die Hard following a fatal accident on the set of Twilight Zone: The Movie (1983), and a push was made to prioritize a film's crew over the film itself.[59] Even so, Willis insisted on performing many of his own stunts, including rolling down steps and standing on top of an active elevator.[12][44] The first scene he shot was his leap from the top of Nakatomi Plaza with a firehose wrapped around his waist. The stunt involved a 25-foot (7.6 m) leap from a five-story parking garage ledge onto an airbag as a 60-foot (18 m) wall of flame exploded behind him. He considered it to be one of his toughest stunts.[12][27] The explosive force pushed him towards the edge of the airbag and the crew was concerned he had died.[12] Stuntman Ken Bates stood in for Willis when his character is hanging from the building.[60]
Reception[edit]
Critical response[edit]
Initial critical reviews of Die Hard were mixed.[43] Audiences reacted more positively; polls by the market research firm CinemaScore found that audiences gave it an average rating of "A+" on an A+ to F scale.[83]
McTiernan's direction was praised.[2][84][85] In the Chicago Tribune, Dave Kehr wrote that McTiernan's "logical" direction created a sense of scale in the film that made it seem more significant than its content.[84] The scene in which the terrorists take over the building was described as a "textbook study" by Kevin Thomas, providing a strong introduction to both McTiernan's abilities and De Bont's cinematography.[2] De Govia's set design was complimented by Kehr as "ingenious".[84] Ebert praised the stunts and special effects.[86]
Critics were conflicted over Willis's performance.[5][84][87] Many considered Die Hard Willis's breakout role, reviving his faltering transition from television to film star, and demonstrating his leading-man status and comedic range.[2][5][88] Kathy Huffhines and James Mills considered Willis's performance an evolution of his Moonlighting character David Addison with less sexism and more masculinity. Huffhines wrote that the performance improved as Willis hewed closer to his own working-class background.[89][90][91] Reviewers including Terry Lawson and Paul Willistein believed that despite expectations, Willis had been well cast, bringing a necessary vulnerability and sense of humor to a contemporary hero; one who displays remorse, fear, and indecision without being overly macho or comedic, and delivers dialogue that other action stars could not.[92] Marke Andrews argued that this vulnerability was essential to creating tension because audiences care about the character's fate.[93] Some reviewers felt that Willis's strongest talent—his comedic ability—had been woefully underutilized.[87][94]
Writing for The Washington Post, Hal Hinson complimented Willis's "grace and physical bravado" that allowed him to stand alongside the likes of Stallone and Schwarzenegger. Conversely Vincent Canby said he lacked "toughness".[85][87] Reviewers generally agreed that Willis's dramatic acting was unimpressive or limited; Jay Boyar believed his abilities were perfect for McClane, although Kehr criticized him as only a television-level star.[84][95][96] Richard Schickel said Willis's performance was "whiny and self-involved", and that removing his undershirt by the film's denouement was the totality of his acting range. He acknowledged it was difficult to perform when acting only against special effects.[97]
Rickman's performance was praised.[f] Caryn James said he was the film's best feature, portraying "the perfect snake",[3] and Hinson likened his work to the "sneering", malevolent performance by Laurence Olivier in Richard III (1955).[87] Kehr called Gruber a classic villain who combined the silliness of actor Claude Rains and the "smiling dementia" of actor George Macready.[84] Canby said that Rickman provided the only credible performance, and Roger Ebert—who was otherwise critical of the film—singled it out for praise.[86] Critics routinely praised Bedelia's performance and lamented that she was underused, in favor of McClane's and Powell's relationship.[g] Schickel highlighted a scene in which McClane confesses his sins to Powell before rescuing his wife, robbing their marital reunion of meaning.[97] Ebert and Schickel both felt that only McClane's and Powell's characters were developed.[87][97] The film's success was credited to the remote relationships built between Willis, Rickman, and Veljohnson, by Mike Cidoni.[91] Huffhines and Mills credited the performances with anchoring the film.[89][100][90] Ebert focused his criticism on the police captain (portrayed by Gleason), citing the character as an example of a "willfully useless and dumb" obstruction that wasted screen time and weakened the plot.[86] Thomas commended the casting of several minority actors.[2]
The action and violence were criticized by many reviewers.[h] Kevin Thomas said the film had plot holes and lacked credibility. He believed it was the result of a calculated effort to please the broadest possible audience, and concluded that it had squandered its potential as an intelligent thriller for "numbing" violence and carnage.[2] Canby offered a similar sentiment, suggesting the film would appeal only to audiences that required a constant stream of explosions and loud noises. He described it as a "nearly perfect movie for our time", designed to appeal to audiences Canby described as "kidults"—adults with the mindset of children.[85] One violent scene, in which Powell saves McClane by shooting Karl, was singled out. Schickel believed it to be a cynical scene that undermined the humanity formed between McClane and Powell, by having Powell find redemption for his own mistakes through violence. Hinson believed the audience was deliberately manipulated into cheering for the act.[2][87][97] Writing for The New York Times, James said the film offered fun escapism while relying on action clichés, but Hinson countered that despite the relentless thrills, the film was not enjoyable.[87]
Reviews identified allusions in Die Hard to films such as The Towering Inferno and The Poseidon Adventure (1972), Alien (1979), Aliens, and RoboCop (1987).[i] Kehr said Die Hard emulated Alien and RoboCop by developing a humorous and sentimental design that perfected the action genre, but in doing so it lacked a personality of its own.[84] Writing for the Poughkeepsie Journal, Cidoni felt Die Hard made previous action blockbusters such as Predator, Missing in Action (1984), and Rambo look like "tupperware parties".[91]
Die Hard was one of several 1988 films labeled "morally objectionable" by the Roman Catholic Church, along with The Last Temptation of Christ, Bull Durham and A Fish Called Wanda.[101] Robert Davi saw the film with Schwarzenegger; Schwarzenegger was positive, but did not like Davi's character narrative, saying, "You were heroic! And now you've turned into an idiot!"[47]
Post-release[edit]
Home media[edit]
Die Hard was released on Video Home System (VHS) cassette in January 1989.[104] It was a popular rental, debuting as the third-most rented film on the early February rental charts, rising to number one the following week.[105][106][107][108] It spent six of its first seven weeks in release at number one until it was replaced by A Fish Called Wanda at the end of March.[105][109] By 1997, it was estimated to have earned $36 million from rentals.[110]
Die Hard was released on DVD in 1999 as part of a collection with its sequels Die Hard 2 (1990) and Die Hard with a Vengeance (1995).[111][112] It was released separately as a special edition DVD in 2001, including commentary by McTiernan, De Govia, and Edlund, and deleted scenes, trailers and behind-the-scenes images.[113][114] It was released on Blu-ray in 2007.[115] Die Hard: The Nakatomi Plaza Collection was released in 2015, collecting all five Die Hard films on Blu-ray in a container shaped like Nakatomi Plaza.[116] For its 30th anniversary in 2018, a remastered 4K resolution version was released on Ultra HD Blu-ray; the set also includes a standard Blu-ray and digital download. A limited-edition SteelBook case version was also released.[117]