Die Hard (1988)

Director: John McTiernan

Starring: Bruce Willis, Bonnie Bedelia, Alan Rickman, Alexander Godunov

An NYPD officer tries to save his wife and several others taken hostage by German terrorists during a Christmas party at the Nakatomi Plaza in Los Angeles.

‘Die Hard’ is not only one of the most memorable 80s action movies, but undoubtedly also one of the best action movies ever made – and one of the best cat and mouse thrillers.

Everything about ‘Die Hard’ is just perfect. From the character setup to the situations they find themselves in. Bruce Willis is perfectly cast as the protagonist, Officer John McClane, and Alan Rickman is equally perfectly cast as the somewhat creepy antagonist, Hans Gruber.

The film revolves around a group of terrorists – lead by Gruber – who seizes a high rise building in order to open a vault containing $640 million worth of bearer bonds. It’s truly fascinating to see the way they turn the building into a war zone. There’s plenty of action, plenty of gunfire, and also a good dose of humor – which is actually funny and never out of place. The production design is amazing, as well as the effects.

Also, movies like this just work so much better in a time before mobile phones. ‘Die Hard’ is the perfect action movie – entertaining and thrilling from beginning to climatic end. This is a superb production guaranteed to satisfy not only every action fanatic, but every movie buff! Pure adrenaline!

‘Die Hard’ is currently the 130th best rated movie of all time. It received four Oscar nominations (Best Sound, Best Film Editing, Best Sound Effects, Best Visual Effects). At the box office it earned $141.6 million on a $28 million budget.

Would I watch it again? Absolutely!