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

[DavidPla]

Unfortunately I read a quote from the director that stated that no one other than John McClane would appear from the previous films... which really sucks cause out of EVERYONE, I wanna see Veljohson back!

 

[Inspector Hammer!]

Ah, that sucks. :frowning: I think that this series is underestimating just how strong a bond they formed in the original film, it was Al who helped John keep going and supported him when it seemed like everyone else was ready to lynch him.

John's relationship with Holly is one thing, marriages fall apart, but a friendship like Al and John's should have lasted and it sucks that it's being ignored again.

 

[DavidPla]

I agree completely. I can understand their decision to not use Al in "Die Hard With a Vengeance" as Samuel L. Jackson sort of took over the type of role he had in the first film but at least a cameo would be nice in this latest film.

 

[Jonathan_]

The actor's name is Colm Meaney and he has been in a ton of stuff. He is a great actor.

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000538/

 

[CoreyII]

Hey Inspector, McClane may have had Samuel L. Jackson, but Colonel Stuart had J.J.'s father from "Good Times", John Amos, a.k.a. Seth from the "Beastmaster" .

Also, let's not forget that Die Hard 2 had a pre-Andy Sipowicz (NYPD Blue) Dennis Franz doing what he does best, playing an asshole. And who can forget a pre-Law and Order Fred Dalton Thompson.

As I have mentioned before, Die Hard 2 has a lot of good things going for it that almost puts it above the original.

 

[Inspector Hammer!]

Yep lol, but to me he'll always be Mr. McDowell in Coming to America.

My appreciation for Die Hard 2 extends almost as high as my appreciation for the original, it's the sheer scale of DH2 that I love the most, there's action everywhere in that film, on the ground, in the air, on wings of planes, underground, across ice fields, in terminals, in the baggage area and the sense of danger is palpable.

 

[Yee-Ming]

For that matter, pre-Senator Thompson. I always found it amusing that the cool-in-the-face-of-disaster chief air traffic controller became a senator, and was even an outside candidate for the Republican presidential nomination.

According to, IIRC, Wikipedia, Thompson was the first sitting US senator to accept a recurring role on a TV show, in the fall of 2002 since his term was ending in Jan 03 and he was not running for re-election. Still, seems odd and I'd wonder if the credits should have read at that time "Senator Fred Dalton Thompson" Would've been even funnier if he really was the outgoing DA of New York County, a actual case of art imitating life...

What odds of Arnie playing the Governor of California as a cameo anytime soon (does Cars count?), or in a more substantial role after he leaves office?

 

[CoreyII]

Talk about a quick response.

Inspector, I responded to your comment earlier at about 1:00 a.m. Pacific Time, but the Forum was having some techincal problems so I couldn't post my response.

Anyway, shame on me, how could I forget about Coming to America, it's like one of my four favorite Eddie Murphy films of all time.

Gotta love that McDonalds Operating Manual.

 

[CoreyII]

Inspector!, How dare you eat a Twinkie, you're a Krimpet man, never forget that! Or I'll revoke your Delaware card.

 

[Inspector Hammer!]

I loved Fred Dalton Thompson during his film years, for a time it seemed as if he was in everything from DH2, The Hunt for Red October and even Days of Thunder.

I'm laughing at that last one, I can't watch DoT anymore lol.

 

[Inspector Hammer!]

Very true, but in this case i'll make an exception, truth is I don't even really like Twinkies that much lol.

 

[Inspector Hammer!]

A little love for the Nakatomi building/Fox Plaza ...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fox_Plaza

The most striking feature of the building to me is the roof when seen from the ground, it resembles a Butterfly, which is why Richard Edlund named his large model of the roof 'The Butterfly wing'.

I've never been to California but if I were to go, forget the Capitol Records building, forget the Hollywood sign or any other tourist attraction, i'd go straight to Century City to see the Nakatomi building in person.

 

[Ashley Seymour]

Hans Gruber: You ask for a miracle, I give you the FBI

Holly: After all your posturing, all your speeches, you're nothing but a common thief
Hans Gruber: I am an exceptional thief, Mrs. McClane.

Big Johnson – Little Johnson

Hans Gruber: Uh, no I'm afraid not. But you have me at a loss. You know my name but who are you? Just another American who saw too many movies as a child? Another orphan of a bankrupt culture who thinks he's John Wayne? Rambo? Marshall Dillon?

John McClane: I was always kinda' partial to Roy Rogers actually. I really dig those sequined shirts.

Hans Gruber: Do you really think you have a chance against us, Mister Cowboy?

Dwayne T. Robinson: Jesus Christ, Powell, he could be a fucking bartender for all we know.

John McClane: Asshole? I'm not the one who just got butt-fucked on national TV, *Dwayne*.

FBI – Big Johnson: Figure we take out the terrorists. Lose twenty, twenty-five percent of the hostages.
FBI – Little Johnson: I can live with that.

John McClane: Whoa, these are very bad for you.

Richard Thornburg: This is Richard Thornburg, live from Century City. Tonight Los Angeles has joined the sad and worldwide fraternity of cities whose only membership requirement is to suffer the anguish of international terrorism.



Roger Ebert wrote a review of Die Hard in July 1988. For those of you who think Ebert is the master reviewer, this following excerpt may give you pause and explain why I think he is grossly over rated in his field.

On a technical level, there's a lot to be said for "Die Hard." It's when we get to some of the unnecessary adornments of the script that the movie shoots itself in the foot. Willis remains in constant radio contact with a police officer on the ground (Reginald Veljohnson) who tries to keep his morale up. But then the filmmakers introduce a gratuitous and unnecessary additional character: the deputy police chief (Paul Gleason), who doubts that the guy on the other end of the radio is really a New York cop at all.

As nearly as I can tell, the deputy chief is in the movie for only one purpose: to be consistently wrong at every step of the way and to provide a phony counterpoint to Willis' progress. The character is so willfully useless, so dumb, so much a product of the Idiot Plot Syndrome, that all by himself he successfully undermines the last half of the movie. Thrillers like this need to be well-oiled machines, with not a single wasted moment. Inappropriate and wrongheaded interruptions reveal the fragile nature of the plot and prevent it from working.

Without the deputy chief and all that he represents, "Die Hard" would have been a more than passable thriller. With him, it's a mess, and that's a shame, because the film does contain superior special effects, impressive stunt work and good performances, especially by Rickman as the terrorist. Here's a suggestion for thrillermakers: You can't go wrong if all of the characters in your movie are at least as intelligent as most of the characters in your audience.



Die Hard takes a swipe at many favorable stereotypes, the police, FBI, journalists. Police shows and movies had been mostly favorable, and then there is Dwayne Johnson. At the time his character may seemed over the top, but over the last twenty years we have learned that there are too many Dwaynes who have risen to the level just above their competence – a concept known as the Peter Principal. The FBI guys also are drawn as characters who are long on stones and short on intellect. Journalists had a favorable movie persona until Richard Thornburg made his vain glorious entrance and made us see a little of Thornburg in most TV and print journalists.

Ebert tends to miss significant elements in many of his reviews. It could be that he doesn’t get it, but I rather believe that he has a political agenda and covers up stuff he does not agree with.

McClain and Al are street cops, below the level of Dwayne Johnson who is the plodding bureaucrat. Regardless of what John and Al tell him, he has a preconceived idea that doesn’t mesh with the reports he gets from officers who are on the line. When Hans Gruber calls McClane a cowboy his is setting up a metaphor. The tough honest cop vs the plodding self serving bureaucrat. The United States vs world terrorism with the European Hans poking fun at the cowboy nature of the U.S. riding in to save the world.

Far from being a distraction, Dwayne Johnson is one of the key and critical elements that makes this film successful.

Here’s a suggestion for thrillmakers: You can’t go wrong if all the characters in your movie are at least as intelligent as most of the characters in your audience.

Here’s a suggestion for Roger Ebert: You can’t go wrong if you recognize that some of the characters in the movie and the audience are more intelligent that the self serving bureaucrats and corporate officers who worship the status quo over results.

No mentioned in this review, but Roger rates Die Hard 2 above Die Hard. That ought to be enough to suggest that he knows less than those who read his reviews.

 

[Inspector Hammer!]

I've always been stupified by Ebert's review of this film, how can it be that he saw this groundbreaking action film in theaters and was not impressed by it? While I often agree with Ebert there are examples, like this one, where I just don't understand how he thinks at all, he also gave a negative review of another of my favorites Predator, he went into an uncalled for analysis on how can the Predator be so big and jump through trees, pumping logic where it does not belong and was seemingly refusing to accept the film on it's terms and go with the fun.

Personally, I think he's in a bad mood when he does negative reviews like these for obviously great and incredibly entertaining films because his writing in those reviews just doesn't sound like the casual and accepting man that he usually is when it comes to films like DH and Predator. I can even recall one example of him changing his opinion on a film after about a decade of hindsight, the film was Planes, Trains and Automobiles, he initially didn't like it but now does from what i've read.

 

[Ashley Seymour]

Personally, I think he's in a bad mood when he does negative reviews like these for obviously great and incredibly entertaining films because his writing in those reviews just doesn't sound like the casual and accepting man that he usually is when it comes to films like DH and Predator.

Everyone always wants to give Ebert a free pass when he dises their favorite film. Roger Hackbert is the same: his is consistent across all boundaries. People credit him with “honest” reviews, but Roger skews his interpretation away from what the writer and director intends. Then he tries to cover up by saying how they got it wrong. Check out his reviews of True Lies, Crimson Tide, Cruel Intentions etc. and he finds fault with the central element of the films that make them a success. Perhaps this is why Hackbert has such a distinguished career in film writing.

 

[Geoff_D]

Damn that Ebert. One of the Dwayne T. Robinson lines that I really enjoy is the bit where the FBI choppers fly overhead and he mutters to Al, almost deferentially: "I don't like this Sarge".

Why do I like that line? Because it's another one of many moments in the film that tend to humanise the lesser characters, even if it's only for a beat.

My favourite one of these is the baddie reaching for a candy bar as he sets himself up for some murder and mayhem in the lobby.

 

[Inspector Hammer!]

Love that lol! It's probably the only time in the entire movie where I understand, and even reluctantly agree, with a bad guy's motivation, if I were him it would be hard for me to resist helping myself to a Reese's cup or two, I know he took a Nestles Crunch but I just can't get enough of Reese's cups.

I'd figure "what the hell, we're here to steal the bonds in the vault anyway, who's gonna give a shit about a couple of missing candy bars?", and with McClane running around I figure there's a good chance i'll be dead before the night's over anyway.

 

[Ashley Seymour]

Dwayne: We're gonna need some more FBI guys.

The DVD with special features provides a lot of great background information. I always loved the Nakatomi board room with the stone walls and the reception desk in the lobby. Great Japanese theme.

 

[Inspector Hammer!]

One part that I never understood was when John first arrives at the building and uses the touch-screen directory to locate Holly, the reception guy tells him AFTER he locates her on the 30th floor..."The party, they're the only one's left in the building."

Well if they were the only ones in the entire building why didn't he just direct John to go to the 30th floor before he went through all the hassel of using that computer? It can't be because the writers wanted him to see that she was using her maiden name 'Generro' because John saw that name on the door to her office before they had the argument.

I always just assumed that the dude in the lobby just liked showing that computer off to people lol.

 

[Dome Vongvises]

I was waiting for that one. There were times where I was thinking, "No Mr. McDowell, say it ain't so!".

It should go without saying that a lot of what makes Die Hard so successful is the direction of John McTiernan. Is it any coincidence he also made Predator and Hunt For Red October? One thing that makes Die Hard stand out is that the bad guys actually spoke their native language. A neat trick used in HFRO is when the camera zooms, and the language switches from Russian to English. It's a neat trick I wished more movies used to at least give some plausibility that these people are speaking their native tongues. It was always a pet peeve of mine when non-native English speaking villains spoke English.