DIE HARD
dir: John McTiernan
" 'Now I have a machine gun. Ho ho ho.' " - Hans Gruber
Brief Synopsis
A New York cop who has come home to visit his family in Los Angeles for Christmas finds himself at odds with a group of terrorists who have taken an office building hostage on Christmas Eve.
Why It's Here
If there is a better Christmas movie out there, please tell me. No, seriously. Nothing is more suiting for the Christmas cheer than John McClane shooting up an office building full of terrorists, putting a Santa hat on his first victim and saving the day while the movie ends with a Christmas carol. It just puts me in the Christmas spirit.
"Die Hard" doesn't just introduce one of action's most famous heroes, John McClane, it also introduces one of the most famous villains, the lovably sinister Hans Gruber, played by the awesome Alan Rickman. Few films introduce such influential characters to the world all at once. "Die Hard"s staged action is one-of-a-kind. It's awesomely tense with McClane sneaking through hallways and ventilation shafts, at every moment at risk of being caught. The film shows both the terrorists and McClane's perspectives, showing the confusion on both sides about what the hell is going on. Set all in one night, and telling the most intense one man army story perhaps ever put to film, call me the master of hyperbole, I don't even care at this point. "Die Hard" is simply a fundamental and essential action film. It's gloriously straight-forward with great characters, intense situations from all sides, even more so when the police become involved and their added confusion, and the wickedly graphic blood splatter in the film. Oh, did I mention that the film also is responsible for introducing one of the most famous catch-phrases in action film history along with several other memorably cheesy lines? Yippee-ki-yay mother fucker!!!
"Die Hard" doesn't just introduce one of action's most famous heroes, John McClane, it also introduces one of the most famous villains, the lovably sinister Hans Gruber, played by the awesome Alan Rickman. Few films introduce such influential characters to the world all at once. "Die Hard"s staged action is one-of-a-kind. It's awesomely tense with McClane sneaking through hallways and ventilation shafts, at every moment at risk of being caught. The film shows both the terrorists and McClane's perspectives, showing the confusion on both sides about what the hell is going on. Set all in one night, and telling the most intense one man army story perhaps ever put to film, call me the master of hyperbole, I don't even care at this point. "Die Hard" is simply a fundamental and essential action film. It's gloriously straight-forward with great characters, intense situations from all sides, even more so when the police become involved and their added confusion, and the wickedly graphic blood splatter in the film. Oh, did I mention that the film also is responsible for introducing one of the most famous catch-phrases in action film history along with several other memorably cheesy lines? Yippee-ki-yay mother fucker!!!
Memorable Moment
"Ho, Ho, Ho. Now I have a machine gun."