Editor’s Note: Freeline Media’s movie critic, Mike Fried, looks at a classic action thriller … or is it a new classic Christmas movie?
By MIKE FRIED
DIE HARD
*****
Our hero is a cop who’s feeling “pretty f**king unappreciated”. He is a New York City cop with a 6 month backlog of scumbags he needs to put behind bars, he’s been separated from his wife for several months now when she moved out to Los Angeles for a career opportunity and, oh yeah, he’s been invited to his wife’s company’s Christmas Party on the very same evening when terrorists decide to take over Nakatomi Plaza and hold people hostage. And only one person on the outside has his back.
His name’s McClane. John McClane.
To say this is one of the greatest action movies ever is an understatement. Not only did it spawn its own franchise, it created a cottage industry of films subtitled “Die Hard on a (fill in the blank).” Such was the power of its premise.
But what makes this such a go to movie is its direction and, even more importantly, its two leading actors.
Bruce Willis was mainly a TV star, wisecracking his way through the TV series Moonlighting, when he did the movies Blind Date and Sunset. It was his work on Moonlighting that got him the job. And it was the right pick. Willis’ McClane chews the scenery and wisecracks his way through bad situation after bad situation as he strives to protect his wife, one of the hostages, while taking out the terrorists. He’s a wily guy who uses his street smarts to outwit the bad guys. And Willis has never been better. His “Come out to the coast, we’ll get together, have a few laughs …” is still one of my favorite lines from the entire franchise and that’s just the tip of the iceberg.
But John McClane would be nothing without Hans Gruber who is, to me, one of the greatest villains in movie history. (He was 46 on AFI’s villain list and should have been much higher IMO). As played by Alan Rickman, he is suave, debonair, charming, smart and absolutely lethal. Rickman brings a sense of class to the proceedings. “And Alexander wept, seeing as he had no more worlds to conquer” he proclaims when seeing the model of the Nakatomi building. “Benefits of a classical education,” he adds. He also knows suits.
The two of them (Willis and Rickman) serve as yin and yang to each other. They taunt each other over the portable walkie talkies that McClane finds when he kills a terrorist. But when they ultimately meet, it is a great moment in film.
And this is because of the director, John McTiernan, who had total command of the production. He decided that the meeting between the two leads should be unrehearsed. And the spontaneity in the scene adds to its suspense.
McTiernan also punctuates scenes of intense violence with humor. When Al Powell’s car is being shot up by the terrorists, you see Powell’s car go past Argyle the limo driver’s car and Argyle is just listening to music and talking to his girlfriend, oblivious to what’s going on around him.
McTiernan knows action, as he previously demonstrated with Predator. And the action in the film does not let up.
The script itself is quite humorous, poking lots of fun at the FBI and the LAPD, while maintaining a serious edge.
The supporting cast adds a lot to this movie. Reginald VelJohnson in yet another cop role is McClane’s only friend on the outside. Paul Gleason is terrific as an LAPD Deputy Chief who has risen to the level of his own stupidity. Bonnie Bedelia is fine as McClane’s estranged wife. William Atherton (yes, this man has no dick) is tremendous as the troublemaking broadcast journalist Richard Thorndyke. And Alexander Godunov brings the range as a terrorist who has a personal vendetta against McClane.
This is one of those movies where the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. And that’s rare for an action movie.
And yes it’s a F**KING CHRISTMAS MOVIE!!!!!
If you disagree, well then, Yippie Kay-yay motherf**ker.
Shut up and WATCH IT and be of good cheer.
DIE HARD 2: DIE HARDER
****
Terrorists seize control of the Nakatomi airport, excuse me, I mean Dulles airport where a drug lord from Val Verde (the country of Commando and Predator!) is being brought into U.S. Federal custody. The terrorists are a bunch of former military and their goal is to take the drug lord out of federal custody and go to a non-extradition island. They have taken control of the air traffic control system and have threatened to crash planes if there is any attempt to intervene. However, there is one thing that stands in their way … John McClane, whose wife, Holly, is on one of the planes and, according to McClane “that puts me on the playing field.”
A sequel that’s inferior to the original — but then again what movie wouldn’t be — is still an enjoyable ride. The action pieces are amped up and so is the humor.
Bruce Willis is as cocky as ever. He wisecracks his way through this sophomore outing as McClane. He’s okay. He’s having fun.
What makes this movie enjoyable is the supporting cast.
William Sadler is terrific as Colonel Stuart. He plays Stuart as a no-nonsense mercenary who will do anything to achieve his goal.
The great Fred Dalton Thompson plays Air Traffic Control Director Trudeau with the same efficiency that he played Knox Pooley in Wiseguy. He is a pragmatic man who is full of compassion for McClane’s plight.
Art Evans, a steady and good character actor, gets to shine as Leslie Barnes, the Chief Engineer of the ATC. He is the yin to McClane’s yang.
Thompson and Evans make up the Greek chorus that Paul Gleason and Reginald VelJohnson had in the first movie although Thompson’s Trudeau is smarter than the first movie’s Dwayne T. Robinson. But isn’t everyone?
Tom Bower is the comic relief as Marvin the dim witted maintenance man who aids McClane during his travails in the airport.
Franco Nero even shows up as the deposed drug lord (a riff in Manuel Noriega) but he isn’t given much to do.
In a more pivotal role, John Amos shows up as the head of a military unit designed to take out Colonel Stuart and his men. He’s a bad ass and sheds his “Good Times” James persona.
The real fun role is given to everybody’s favorite cop, Dennis Franz, who goes full Sipowicz-Buntz, in his role as Carmine Lorenzo the Dulles Airport Chief of Police, who doesn’t buy McClane’s story. The interplay between the Lorenzo and McClane is a lot of fun because they have the same low tolerance for nonsense. Once they are on the same page, they click.
And in a blink-and-you’ll-miss-him role is Robert Patrick who would gain fame the following year In Terminator 2: Judgment Day. Even John Leguizamo is a terrorist.
The stunts and action pieces are just first rate. From the annex skywalk scene to the Esperanza plane scene to the snowmobile scene to the McClane on the tarmac scene (which guaranteed this movie would never be shown in an airline) to the finale, this movie moves with breakneck speed.
William Sadler is no Hans Gruber but he makes a great Death, am I right? Still his bad guy is well-played.
Renny Harlin does a good job directing this film from a competent script by Steven DeSouza who wrote the first movie. It is so well constructed, well directed and funny that you can overlook the plot holes.
My only criticism of this film is the scene aboard Holly’s plane. First off, her character was not as strong as in the first film and, second, what are the odds she would be on the same plane as Richard Thornburg, the intrepid reporter from the first film. Those scenes aboard the plane could have been easily cut and it would have aided the pacing of the film tremendously.
Still, this is a fine, fun XMAS MOVIE (yeah, I said it) that is still enjoyable to watch thirty (holy smokes, 30?) years later.
“Oh man, I can’t f**king believe this. Another basement, another elevator. How can the same shit happen to the same guy twice?”
Major Grant: You’re the wrong guy, in the wrong place at the wrong time”
McClane: “Story of my life”
WATCH IT
Michael Fried has no formal training in movies, except having watched over 26,000+ movies — if not more — in his 60-plus years on this planet, starting with Goldfinger as his first cinema experience. He knows what he likes and he knows what he doesn’t like, and it’s quite often different from the conventional wisdom. He knows that the best franchise is Godzilla and he loves action movies and comedies. He has not been nominated for any awards except some boring insurance awards which has no applicability to movies (with the possible exceptions of Billy Wilder’s Double Indemnity and John Cassavettes’ Big Trouble). He is part of a team that won the 1980 SUNY Albany Trivia content by correctly guessing the question, “Who played the president of Klopstockia in Million Dollar Legs?” So he has that going for him, which is nice.
Contact Mike at moviemike3@yahoo.com and mike.fried@yahoo.com.
