Tuesday, December 29, 2009

Yippee-ki-yay, mother******!

Since it's Christmas, I thought it only right to commemorate the season by watching one of the most revered Christmas movies of all time. No, not "A Christmas Story". I'm talking, of course, about "Die Hard".

"Die Hard" is one of those movies that I always thought I had seen. I love action movies- I'm not sure how I missed this one. It never occurred to me that even though I could quote from it, that might have been just by osmosis. But when I really thought about it, I couldn't even tell you what the storyline to the movie was. I just knew the names John McClane, Hans Gruber, and a few memorable quotes.

I went into Die Hard with high expectations. I mean, there have been so many sequels, how could the original possibly be anything less than amazing? I was right - it was FUN! I mean, realistically, the story would likely never play out the way it did. But throughout the whole movie I was on the edge of my seat - it was quite a ride.

I have always had a soft spot in my heart for Bruce Willis. My mom loved him when I was a kid - we watched Moonlighting together when it was on TV and I've always thought him to be a great actor and a good guy (and easy on the eyes especially when he was younger; that helps). He's been in so many great roles, but "Die Hard" is obviously the film he is most well known for (though I have definitely been partial to his work on "That 70's Show" up to this point). To watch him in this movie as the wise-cracking tough guy was pretty cool. He was alone in many of the scenes, and even with the walkie-talkie as his only support, he still held his own. The action sequences were great - not as dated as I expected them to be. I definitely have a soft spot for old-style action where it's not all completely CGI.

I thought the whole message of family was nice as well- here is this guy just trying to put his family back together and having a hard time doing it, and it takes him literally saving his wife's life in order to make her see what a great guy he is. As a woman, sometimes we are forced to choose work over family. We don't always make the right choice - luckily for Holly she figured it out just in the nick of time. I also liked that the kids played a really minor role in the film - they were there and they moved the story along but for the most part it wasn't really about them. As a matter of fact, I'm sitting here trying to remember if there was 1 child or 2, and I can't remember. That's not a bad thing.

The thing that I found the most funny was the attitude of the cops (outside of John McClane and Al, or Carl Winslow, of course). You see this so often in movies in this time - the cops are automatically the arrogant, self-absorbed blowhards. They know everything (even when they don't), they don't need anyone's help (even when they do) and their decisions are the right ones (even when they aren't). But they always see the error of their ways in the end. This made me laugh.

As usual I'm not going to dig deep into the plot, because as usual I'm pretty much the only person who hasn't seen this movie. But it was a great way to end my Christmas Day and I'm really glad to have seen it. I'll probably watch the rest in the series at some point, but I have a feeling this was the pinnacle.

5 of 5 stars.

5 comments:

  1. bwahahaha! Nothing says Merry Christmas like Die Hard

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  2. I am really glad you loved it. If you've not seen them, the sequels are all pretty entertaining, as well. Especially Vengeance. Have you seen Lethal Weapon? All 4 of those are pretty outstanding action flicks, as well.

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  3. I too love Die Hard With a Vengeance, but Alan Rickman as Hans Gruber remains one of my favorite film characters of all time. Then again, so does his Sheriff of Nottingham, so maybe I'm just harnessing a dangerous crush.

    Nice review and I'm glad you enjoyed it!

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  4. I watched Die Hard on Christmas with the hubby - I loved it!

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  5. I am with you on the Bruce Willis thing. I still think he is easy on the eyes.
    I agree with the above post, Die Hard with a Vengence is great.

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