Andrew McMurtryREVIEW: Die Hard (1988)
November 25th 2008 04:38
Die Hard is a film that has the simplest of films and simplest of narratives. It is about a man, John McClane (Bruce Willis), trying to save his wife, who is taken hostage in a terrorist attack. Lots and lots of guns and he is trying to save his damsel in distress. This is the basis of the action genre. It has been repeated many times throughout the 90's and seems to just be the updated version of the damsel in distress type story. This genre always seems to have a girl and the hero has to shoot his way around to save them. This is one of the quintessential action films because of its simple narrative. This is how every subsequent action film has been created. The obvious plot and narrative, and flawed hero character have all been used in many action films since Die Hard. And obviously, it uses a remarkable amount of special effects and stunts that look to be unbelievable, for example, when McClane falls down an elevator shaft to grab a ventilation shaft to crawl away to escape the terrorists gunfire.
The story pits wisecracking New York Cop John McClane against the wits of a highly intelligent and well financed terrorist organisation who plan to steal $6 million in bonds. The film starts rather slowly with a Christmas party in LA in which John McClane goes and meets his wife. This sets the premise of the film after she goes to speak to the workers while John stays in a room out of the way. As a trained police officer, when terrorists try to seize the building, he stays hidden, allowing someone to be able to talk with the outside world and try to get the LAPD to the scene. After a desperate struggle just to get the police to the scene, the police do one stupid move after another and, in the end, McClane has to do everything himself. This is seen in countless other films, where the main character has to fight his way out of a situation by himself again incredible odds.
This story is shown through the images of the film. It is not told via a narrator or even through the dialogue. It is told through the action. We are given the terrorists perspective as a cold and intelligent killer, so basically a terrorist, and we are given the heroes view from John McClane as the desperate man who tries to defeat the antagonists and foil their plot to steal the money and blow up the building. The dialogue between John McClane and Hans, the main terrorist is another way the filmmaker tells the story. The walkie talkie is the important prop in this film.
This is a classic narrative with an obvious beginning, middle and end. It is a very straight forward movie, done in chronological order. It takes an interesting twist when Hans goes looking for the detonators and actually confronts John as a fellow escapee. But otherwise it is a flimsy plot where the audience knows what is going to happen. This isn't why you watch this movie though. You watch it for the action. And the director, John McTiernan, does not try to hide this, giving the audience great action scenes and lots of them. He made a generic action movie where it is more about the action and special effects than the story.
This is a true action film, basically, along with Rambo and films of that ilk, defining the genre of action films and the action heroes. It keeps a dark and ominous soundtrack to keep with the films aesthetic. The director also chose to use a hand held camera for that shaky effect to make the action seem fast paced and in your face. If all you need for a film is a girl and a gun, Die Hard is the film. It deals with John McClane and his relationship with his wife, a lot of guns and massive explosions. I'd give this film 3 out of 5. It is a really good action film but doesn't really have much of a story. But there are no real surprises. It doesn't pretend to be anything that it's not.
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