MoeFOH's Movie of the Week... Week #39...

[MoeFOH]

MoeFOH's Movie of the Week 🎥

Each week we're going to spotlight a movie... be it a classic, new release, hidden gem, or outright turd... and open it for discussion: i.e. post up your favourite quotes, clips, memories... or dive deeper and give us a critique on why you think it's great, overrated, or a complete train wreck... And finally score it for us...  

All contributors go into a monthly prize draw for a 3-cigar sampler! 

PM me with suggestions if there's a movie you want to nominate for next week's discussion. 

 

Week #39: Die Hard

Moe says: "I could talk about industrialization and men's fashion all day, but I'm afraid work must intrude."

Bona fide contender for best Xmas movie ever. Oh, and action flick. 

Wiki says:

Die Hard is a 1988 American action film directed by John McTiernan, with a screenplay 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. 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. Reginald VelJohnson, William Atherton, Paul Gleason, and Hart Bochner feature in supporting roles.

Stuart was hired by 20th Century Fox to adapt Thorp's novel into a screenplay in 1987. His finished draft was greenlit immediately by Fox, which 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–$35 million budget and almost entirely on location in and around Fox Plaza in Los Angeles.

Expectations for Die Hard were low; some marketing efforts omitted Willis's image, ostensibly because the marketing 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, and is also often named one of the best Christmas films. It 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.

Over to you!

How do you rate it out of 10? 

Post up favourite clips, quotes, etc... 

[MoeFOH]

 

[Nevrknow]

Contrary ( at the time ) to what others thought, my belief was Rickman stole the show. His talent range proved incredible in the years to follow. To me anyway.

[Ken Gargett]

rickman was fantastic. always. much missed. but this film also kicked bruce willis from a tv bit of a clown (moonlighting) into a star (bit like pierce brosnan and bond taking him from remington steele).

i often think that this is seen as a christmas movie because so many christmas movies are so quickly forgettable. 

cracking film, though. 

[BigGuns]

Top 3 all time.  Actually just rewatched it for the 4859327624536478594763524567289456th time two nights ago...'tis the season and all.  Definitely a Christmas movie, as the holiday plays a key role in the plot, is mentioned numerous times, and has carols sprinkled throughout the soundtrack, including the sendoff into the closing credits.  I'm too lazy to look it up and confirm, but I believe this was Rickman's first appearance on the silver screen, and quite an entry it was!  Along with catapulting Bruce Willis onto the A-list, spawning a successful sitcom for a twinkie loving trigger happy cop, and introducing one of the best coked-out DB's of 80s film (Hans, boobie, I'm your white night!!!), this is a timeless classic that launched a whole genre of films that is still successful today.  Die Hard on a bus...Die Hard on a plane...Die Hard at sea....  Can't possibly get enough of this and look forward to reading everyone's comments, even those that vehemently argue it is not a Christmas movie.

Just went back and read Steve's original post (just skimmed it the first time)...forgive some of the repetition

[Ken Gargett]

Just now, BigGuns said:

Top 3 all time.  Actually just rewatched it for the 4859327624536478594763524567289456th time two nights ago...'tis the season and all.  Definitely a Christmas movie, as the holiday plays a key role in the plot, is mentioned numerous times, and has carols sprinkled throughout the soundtrack, including the sendoff into the closing credits.  I'm too lazy to look it up and confirm, but I believe this was Rickman's first appearance on the silver screen, and quite an entry it was!  Along with catapulting Bruce Willis onto the A-list, spawning a successful sitcom for a twinkie loving trigger happy cop, and introducing one of the best coked-out DB's of 80s film (Hans, boobie, I'm your white night!!!), this is a timeless classic spawned a whole genre of films that is still successful today.  Die Hard on a bus...Die Hard on a plane...Die Hard at sea....  Can't possibly get enough of this and look forward to reading everyone's comments, even those that vehemently argue it is not a Christmas movie.

Just went back and read Steve's original post (just skimmed it the first time)...forgive some of the repetition

this came out just after i left london to travel, give or take. rickman had become quite a famous stage actor in London, especially with the Royal Shakespeare Co. this was his first film. 

[BigGuns]

1 minute ago, Ken Gargett said:

this came out just after i left london to travel, give or take. rickman had become quite a famous stage actor in London, especially with the Royal Shakespeare Co. this was his first film. 

That's what I recall...thanks for the confirmation

[M1B]

The quintessential action flick - 10/10. And I agree with @BigGuns, it is most definitely a Christmas movie.

Sent from my SM-G996U1 using Tapatalk

[Dozerhead]

Perhaps the greatest Christmas movie of all time.

[helix]

10/10 imitated never duplicated. HOHOHO.

[MPhillips]

Great film 10/ 10. Rickman was great and is missed. 

[Boxer31]

Definitely a 11/10 and a Christmas movie. Best ever Christmas action movie - overall it’s in running with Christmas Story, Christmas Vacation, Trading Places. Bad Santa just a notch behind. 

[riderpride]

When i wear a name tag at an event, i am one of:

1 Bill Clay

2 Bob Sacamano

3 St John (Sinjin) Smythe

In that order. Rickman was brilliant. Comedic and intense. 'I read about it in Forbes' has me in stitches each time.

Cheers

 

 

 

 

 

[JohnS]

Die Hard actually set down a new template for action films. For example, think about the plot of the highly successful film, Speed released around 5 years later or so.

[Ford2112]

10 stars. Everything about it is great.

[Edicion]

What a great action movie this is. Thanks for reminding me to watch it again soon. 

10 Yippee-ki-yay / 10

[Chucko8]

Off to see this next Thursday at an outdoor cinema as luck would have it! It’s a 10!!

[Doctorossi]

Always a good time- I think I'll give it an 8.

[Cigar Surgeon]

First of all, 10/10 movie.

There's a really fascinating docuseries that talks about how Bruce Willis being cast in the action role was aggressively argued against by the studio. At the time action heroes were Arnold, Jean-Claude, Dolph, not an 'every man' and studios didn't think audiences would respond.

 

 

[Tdm_86]

10/10, must have seen it about a gazillion times. 
 

[VictorEremita]

Never seen it 😬

[Dozerhead]

15 hours ago, JohnS said:

Die Hard actually set down a new template for action films. For example, think about the plot of the highly successful film, Speed released around 5 years later or so.

 

I agree. This movie set s new standard and was not formulaic in the least. Not something you can say for it's numerous sequels. 

Also, it just isn't Christmas until you see Hans Gruber fall from Nakatomi Plaza.

[MoeFOH]

8 hours ago, Chucko8 said:

Off to see this next Thursday at an outdoor cinema as luck would have it! It’s a 10!!

Brilliant! Somewhat envious of this. Enjoy, mate! 

[MoeFOH]

4 hours ago, VictorEremita said:

Never seen it 😬

Whoa... get on, stat!  

[VictorEremita]

I'll give it a go sometime soon!

... I mean, I was three years old when it came out.