Note: These movies have been around for a considerable amount of time, so assume there will be spoilers all throughout.
This is the first installment in a series I’m calling Fly in the Ointment: A Die Hard Retrospective where I’m watching through the Die Hard film series and writing about it. The plan is to put these pieces out every two weeks or so, as my schedule allows. The title of this series is intentionally ridiculous and self-serious so I wouldn’t expect anything too highbrow out of this. Okay, I think I’ve laid enough track.
I spent most of last year writing about some of my favorite movies, the Bruce Willis vehicle Die Hard being one of them. Obvious pick, probably, but it’s one I don’t think a lot of people will argue about. I think we all can also agree that it’s undeniably one of the best action movies that happens to be set around Christmastime1.
Anyway, I concluded that piece with this:
To date, this is the only Die Hard film I have seen and I’m tempted to keep it that way. I’ve heard good things about the first two sequels and I’ve floated the idea of marathoning them but haven’t pulled the trigger. Maybe, just for the bit, I don’t watch them at all and keep this one as a special memory.
Well, earlier this year, I had a change of heart when A) I realized that’s a really dumb bit and B) I found this for ten bucks at Walmart.
You call it an impulse buy, I call it a sign. Fine, it’s an impulse buy but to keep it from gathering dust on my shelf, I made a commitment that no asked me to make: watch all of them and write about it as I go. Thank you for joining me on this journey. And no, you can’t back out, you’ve already agreed to this2.
The “fly in the ointment” line in Die Hard has always stayed with me because it’s my favorite element of the plot. If this were an Arnold Schwarzenegger or Sylvester Stallone movie, Die Hard would be about a massive tough guy taking down Hans Gruber (Alan Rickman) and his men through brute force and a rainstorm of bullets. John McClane is considerably smaller and more vulnerable than these action heroes. His best chance at survival is not to come out guns blazing but to be an irritant that knocks them off balance. A fly in the ointment, if you will.
According to my research assistant3, the McClane role was in fact turned down by likes of Schwarzenegger and Stallone. I’m sure it would’ve been a fine movie with Arnold or Sly, but I can’t imagine the character of John McClane having the same nerviness if he’s unbelievably swole. Like, try picturing either one of those slabs of beef squeezing their way through an air vent. I now present a visual reference appropriate to this time in movie history.
Moving on, you get the feeling that if this had happened at an earlier point in McClane’s life, he would’ve been the guy blasting through the door like a cowboy. A John Wayne or Roy Rogers, if you will. He might’ve been one of the “macho assholes” storming the building before getting taken down by Gruber’s men. Willis plays all of this so well, having several moments where he’s second guessing himself to make sure he doesn’t do something too stupid.
There’s not a whole lot I can add to the performances of Bruce Willis and Alan Rickman that hasn’t been said already. I will say it feels a little bittersweet now with Rickman gone and Willis retiring because of his dementia diagnosis. It’s incredible that this was the launching pad for both of them.
The movie was directed by John McTiernan, who was in the middle of an incredible run with Predator, Die Hard, and The Hunt for Red October. I watched all three recently around the same time and it’s stunning how well-constructed each of these movies are. I watched the movie recently with McTiernan’s audio commentary and one the first things he says is that he wanted the movie to have a sense of joy. In the original script, Gruber and his men were terrorists and McTiernan felt it would remind the audience too much of the real world, it would go against that sense of joy he was trying to create. It’s why Gruber’s an old-fashioned robber in the final movie who’s after $640 million in bearer bonds. We here at Nathan’s Emergency Bulletin HQ do not condone robbery of any kind, but we will say the stakes do feel significantly lower than a terrorist attack.
The other thing I love about Die Hard is that it turns to be more of an ensemble movie where McClane is interacting with not just with Gruber, but with Holly and Sgt. Powell (Reginald VelJohnson) as well as all the cops and reporters on the ground getting caught with their pants down. It’s what makes McClane different from and—in my strictly personal opinion—better than most action heroes. It’s one of the few action movies where I feel like the lead and supporting characters are equally nuanced and interesting.
VelJohnson is undeniably great, giving Powell the same sense of regret and world-weariness as McClane, as well as a desire to do the right thing this time. Bonnie Bedelia is terrific, being less of a damsel in distress and more of a co-consipriator in mucking up Gruber’s plan. The other person I clocked this time was Clarence Gilyard (Theo the hacker) who I knew as Jimmy Trivette on Walker, Texas Ranger and a pastor, I think, in the Left Behind series. Truly a man of range.
I don’t know what else to say about this one other than, great movie! If you haven’t seen the film Die Hard, I recommend watching the film Die Hard. I can’t speak for the other sequels yet; just give me a few months and I’ll get back to you.
Who knows if this will carry over to future installments, but I do enjoy the intellectual exercise of wondering how I would do in John McClane’s position. Specifically in the moment when the action starts up. Let’s say I’m in a white tank top, slacks, and barefoot having just had an argument with my wife when I hear gunshots. I have a gun at my disposal, being a officer of the law, but if I’m in McClane’s shoes, the first thing I’m doing is finding a pair of shoes because there’s no way I’m doing this barefoot. I think I’d get pretty far until the shoes squeak and blow up my spot.
This is the only time I’m addressing this, that horse was beaten to death a long time ago.
Totally kidding, I understand if you need to back out. This is more directed at me than it is you.
Wikipedia.