The 'DIE HARD' appreciation thread. (1 Viewer)

[Jonesy]

I held a part time job at a theatre when Die Hard was released. The print was accompanied by a note from the director, John McTiernan. It said something like this:

Die Hard is a loud film. It opens loudly. Do not turn it down. It is supposed to be loud.

We watched the movie after hours, not really knowing what to expect, and were blown away.

I wish they'd re-release it in anticipation of the latest sequel. I'd love to see the original back on the big screen.

Jonesy

 

[John Kilduff]

This is one of my favorite 80s movies. It starts out slow, but it gains in speed. By the end, it's head-on non-stop action. My favorite scene was the one of the helicopters flying through the city heading for the top of Nakatomi Plaza.

Oh, and here's something I found on YouTube. It's a recut trailer that turns "Die Hard" into a love triangle between John McClane, Holly McClane and Hans Gruber:

Sincerely,

John Kilduff...

Welcome to the party, pal!

 

[Inspector Hammer!]

God bless that man.

Corey, I agree that while I love Hans, Stuart is my favorite villain of the Die Hard universe as well, what he did in Die Hard 2 was the work of a truly evil and diabolical man.

Yes, Rickman was great as the Sheriff of Nottingham in Robin Hood Prince of Thieves, agreed that it's my second favorite role of his with his role in Galaxy Quest a very close third...

"I won't say that stupid line one more time!"

 

[Tim Glover]

Nobody is better than Alan Rickman's Hans Gruber!!! Nobody!

 

[Dave_Brown]

While kind of out there, my guess was always because he was reading Holly's expression when they showed her kids on the TV. He could tell she was attached to them somehow, figured it was time to turn over the picture, and since he had already come into contact with McClane, once he saw the pic he knew who she was.

 

[MikeH1]

I saw this movie in the summer of 1988 when I was 14 at the multiplex. Had no idea what it was about and neither did my friend, it was a "gamble". And it turned out to be one of our favorites, even to this day.

Too many good parts and favorite lines to even bother starting to name.

 

[CoreyII]

Nice reply Nate, but at this stage in the game, I don't think we need any spoiler tags for Die Hard 2, the movie is almost 20 years old. .

 

[CoreyII]

NOT! Hey Tim, while I'll definitely put Die Hard above Die Hard 2 (only slightly), Renny Harlin damn near suprpassed McTiernan with the sequel. Die Hard is ultimately the better movie, but Die Hard 2: Die Harder had a lot of good things going for it, like Colonel Stuart.

At the end of the day Hans Gruber is just a smooth talking European dude pimping a $2000.00 dollar suit. Colonel Stuart was the living embodiment of good old fashion pure American Evil. Like the Inspector said, the man is truly evil and diabolical, killing all those innocents on board that plane was just plain wrong. As a matter of fact, Colonel Stuart would have been a much better opponent for John Rambo than John McClane.

As I mentioned before, I prefer the Thinking Brute, which is why I prefer Jason Issacs villain in the Patriot as opposed to Joaquin Phoenix's Commodus in Gladiator, which was relased about a month before the Patriot. I knew once Maximus got his hands on Commodus the joke was over.

Now Issac's villain in the Patriot, not only was he very smart like Colonel Stuart, but also like Colonel Stuart, he had no problem go mano e mano with the hero, or in the case of the Patriot, Mel Gibson's Benjamin Martin.

 

[Tim Glover]

I just liked the smart, savvy, and loved to hate Hans Gruber, but yes, Stuart was good. And may I also suggest that Jeremy Irons baddie in Die Hard with a Vengence is rather underrated. I thought the whole Simon Says deal was pretty cool.

 

[Inspector Hammer!]

Jeremy was good, although I think they were trying too hard to make Targo another Karl.

BTW, i'm glad that Die Hard 2 was made when it was made, I doubt we would have gotten that plane crash nowadays, that was THE single most dreadful act by any baddie in the DH universe.

 

[Dome Vongvises]

And wasn't the captain of that plane random Irish dude that appeared in a Star Trek show and maybe that movie Con Air?

Die Hard is my favorite of the series, but I think the third one comes awful close. Samuel Jackson just kills me every time he's on screen.

Colonel Stuart loses points for butt exposure.

 

[Inspector Hammer!]

Yep, that was the same actor. I just love how Harlin twisted the knife by making it a point to show old ladies and children on the plane, sick bastard lol. Sam Jackson was the single greatest addition to the cast of DHWAV, his everyman attitude and sensibilities perfectly countered McClane's reckless bravado.

 

[Geoff_D]

Damn. I always thought McClane was just eyeing up the girl in the opposite apartment. But you're absolutely right: it's about the phone the woman is using. It's a subtle little moment, the intent of which has eluded me for two decades. That's why I love this movie, man. All those little details, instead of the audience being bombarded with information.

And even when Die Hard gets the exposition out of the way, like when Argyle is chatting to McClane in the limo at the start, it doesn't feel artificial or over-written. Argyle has to virtually drag info out of the typically gruff McClane, making the process just as torturous for the characters as it usually is for the audience. Genius.

Another thing: Alan Rickman's fall away from camera at the end is one of the greatest falls I've ever seen in a movie, mainly because it's real! So many times we see static actors 'falling' against a moving backdrop, or CG doubles, or even stop-motion doubles like the hilariously long-armed Dick Jones model that takes a fall at the end of Robocop.

But in Die Hard they dropped Rickman onto a crashmat, shot it at high-speed and had the balls to do another incredible job on the compositing. And watch as he falls: even the lighting changes authentically as he passes the windows of the 'building'!

Did I mention that I love Die Hard?

 

[Geoff_D]

Oh, and the little bet that Karl and Theo have on whether Takagi gives up the code key or his life is cold, man, real cold. But it's another reason why the movie rocks: this is merely a day at work for these guys, where they can casually lay a few bucks on a man's life even though they'll be a few million dollars richer at the end of the night (or not). And I love how Theo snatches the money out of Karl's hand when he hands over the bill.

 

[Inspector Hammer!]

Hell yes, this film used optical compositing to the best that it could be done IMO, nary a matte line can be seen around composited people or objects, I also loved how they worked the watch into the scene. I refer to that scene as 'Ellis' revenge' as it was he who gave Holly the watch, I mean Ellis may have been a shmuck but he didn't deserve to be killed.

One of the things that I was hoping for when I started this thread was that it would kindle more excitement in me about Live Free or Die Hard, not that I wasn't excited before because I certaintly was but talking about the previous films has brought that excitement up to an almost fever pitch, I cannot wait for July 4th!

No matter what roles Bruce does he'll always be John McClane in my heart and it feels great to have him return to the role that made him famous.

 

[Tim Glover]

I'll say one thing and kudos to John for starting this thread...I am in the major mood for some Die Hard! ...2moro night is Die Hard night for Timobi.



Menu: In honor of this man...

 

[Inspector Hammer!]

Ah yes, the great Reggie Veljohnson, i'm throwing a Twinkie in my lunch for tomorrow in honor of him.

I wonder if he'll make a cameo in LFoDH? We've already gone one sequel without him and that's too long, although it was cool that he hosted the HBO behind the scenes special on DHWAV.

I recently had my DH fix, I watched all three films at work last week, my boss wasn't there for Die Hard so I was able to crank it up in the workplace.

BTW, i've always found it cool that my apartment number is C4 lol.

 

[ThomasC]

 

[Inspector Hammer!]

"Dee dum dee dum delightful.."

 

[Nate Anderson]

True...I suppose there is a statute of limitations on movie spoilers.